(a) - (j)(No change.) (k)Non-elective [Required legal update and ethics] courses. The commission shall approve bi-annually a legal update course and a legal ethics course required by §1101.455(e) of the Act, and a broker responsibility course required by §1101.458(a) of the Act which shall be conducted through providers by instructors certified by the commission under this subchapter. The subject matter , [and] course materials, and final examination for the courses shall be created for and approved by the commission. The legal update and legal ethics courses expire on December 31 of each odd-numbered year; the broker responsibility course expires on December 31 of each even-numbered year; and shall be replaced with new courses approved by the commission. A provider may not offer a new course until an instructor of the course obtains recertification by attending a new instructor training program. Providers must acquire the commission-developed course materials and utilize such materials to conduct the non-elective [required legal] courses. The non-elective [required legal] courses must be conducted as prescribed by the rules in this subchapter and the course materials developed for the commission. (l)Modification of the non-elective [required legal] courses. Providers and instructors may modify a non-elective [required legal] course only to provide additional information on the same or similar topics covered in the course or to create distance learning courses that are substantially similar to the live courses developed for the commission. To the extent that a non-elective [required legal] course is modified or integrated into a longer course for which additional elective credit is requested, the commission shall grant elective and non-elective [ legal] credit for the combined course. (m)Instructor certification. Only instructors certified by the commission may teach the non-elective [required legal] courses or develop distance learning courses for the presentation of non-elective [required legal] courses. An instructor must obtain prior commission approval under subsection (n) of this section prior to attending an instructor training program. The commission shall issue a written certification to an instructor to teach the applicable non-elective [required legal] course(s) upon the instructor's satisfactory completion of a training program to teach the non-elective [required legal] course(s) that is acceptable to the commission. Satisfactory completion of the training program for each of the non-elective courses may include passing a final course examination approved by the commission. An instructor may obtain certification to teach either one or all non-elective [both required legal] courses. A certified [legal] course instructor may teach the non-elective [required legal] courses for any approved provider after the instructor has attended an instructor training program. A certified [legal] course instructor may not independently conduct a non-elective [required legal] course unless the instructor has also obtained approval as a provider. An instructor must obtain written certification from the commission prior to teaching the non-elective [required legal] courses and prior to representing to any provider or other party that he or she is certified or may be a certified [as a legal] course instructor. An instructor's certification to teach a required legal course expires on December 31 of every odd-numbered year. An instructor's certification to teach the broker responsibility course expires on December 31 of every even-numbered year. An instructor may obtain recertification by attending a new instructor training program. (n)Standards for approval of instructors of non-elective [required legal] courses. Prior to attending an instructor training course, a person must obtain commission approval to be an instructor using Instructor Application - Core, Legal Update, [and] Ethics and Broker Responsibility Course, approved by the commission. (1)To be approved as an instructor of a required legal update or ethics course, a person must possess the following qualifications: (A)[(1)] a college degree in the subject area of Real Estate, or five years of professional experience in the subject areas of Principles of Real Estate, Law of Agency, and Law of Contracts; and (B)[(2)] three years experience in teaching or training; or (C)[(3)] the equivalent of subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this paragraph [paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection] as determined by the commission after due consideration of the applicant's professional experience, research, authorship or other significant endeavors in the subject area. (2)To be approved as an instructor of a broker responsibility course, a person must possess the following qualifications: (A)a college degree in the subject area of Real Estate, or five years of professional experience in the subject areas of Principles of Real Estate, Law of Agency, Law of Contracts, and Real Estate Brokerage; and (B)three years experience in teaching or training; or (C)the equivalent of subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this paragraph as determined by the commission after due consideration of the applicant's professional experience, research, authorship or other significant endeavors in the subject area. (o) - (q)(No change.) (r)Legal update, [and] legal ethics course and broker responsibility course application. A provider must submit a MCE Course Application Supplement and receive written acknowledgment from the commission prior to offering a non-elective [required legal update or required legal ethics] course. (s)(No change.) (t)Acceptable combined courses. An elective credit course offered by a provider to satisfy all or part of the [nine] hours of other than legal topics required by §1101.455 of the Act may be offered with a non-elective [the required legal update course or required legal ethics] course. (u)Non-elective [Required legal] courses for real estate related courses. Non-elective [MCE legal update and legal ethics] courses may be accepted by the commission as real estate related courses for satisfying the education requirements of §1101.356 and §1101.358, of the Act. (v)Correspondence courses for elective credit. An MCE provider may register an MCE elective course by correspondence with the commission if the course is subject to the following conditions: (1) - (2)(No change.) (3)the course does not include a request for non-elective [required legal] course credit. (w)Alternative delivery method courses for elective credit. An MCE provider may register an MCE elective course by alternative delivery method with the commission if the course is subject to the following conditions: (1)(No change.) (2)the course does not include a request for non-elective [required legal] course credit; and (3)(No change.) (x)Correspondence courses for required non-elective [ legal] credit. The commission may approve a provider to offer a non-elective [an MCE required legal ethics] course by correspondence subject to the following conditions: (1)(No change.) (2)the content of the course must satisfy the requirements of §1101.455 or §1101.458 of the Act and this section and must be substantially similar to the non-elective [ legal] courses disseminated and updated by the commission [ Commission]; (3) - (4)(No change.) (y)Each non-elective [required legal] course offered by correspondence must contain the following: (1) - (8)(No change.) (z)Alternative delivery method courses for non-elective [required legal] credit. The commission may accept non-elective [required legal] courses offered by alternative delivery method subject to the following conditions. (1) - (4)(No change.) (aa)(No change.) (bb)Supervised Video Instruction for non-elective [ required legal] course credit. A provider may register a course under subsection (r) of this section to be taught by supervised video instruction if the provider: (1) - (3)(No change.) (cc)An applicant must submit an MCE Course Application Supplement to seek approval to offer an MCE distance learning non-elective [required legal] course and receive written acknowledgment from the commission prior to offering the course. (dd) - (ff)(No change.)
This agency hereby certifies that the proposal has
been reviewed by legal counsel and found to be within the agency's
legal authority to adopt.
Filed with the Office
of the Secretary of State on December 15, 2011
TRD-201105567 Loretta R. DeHay
General Counsel
Texas Real Estate Commission
Earliest possible date of adoption: January 29, 2012
For further information, please call: (512) 936-3092
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