The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) proposes amendments to §535.64, concerning Accreditation of Schools and Approval of Courses and Instructors, and §535.66, concerning Payment of Annual Fee, Audits, Investigations and Enforcement Actions. The amendments would reduce the period of accreditation of schools from five years to two years in order to better implement the statutory requirement that schools demonstrate a 55% examination passage rate to renew their accreditation. The proposed rules also define how a school's passage rate will be calculated and published by the commission and clarify that the commission will consider a number of factors in determining whether to renew the accreditation of a school with a pass rate below 55%. The amendments would also update the Education Provider Application, form ED 1-0, to form ED 1-1 to reflect a revised fee for a two-year accreditation instead of a 5-year accreditation plus annual fees. Elsewhere in this issue, proposed amendments to §535.101 would change the accreditation fee to $480 for a two-year period, incorporating the previous $400 fee for a 5-year accreditation and the $200 annual fee paid at the beginning of years 2-5 of the accreditation period. The amendments would eliminate the annual fee for schools that are accredited for a 2-year period but retains the annual fee for the duration of any remaining 5-year accreditation periods. Last, the amendments propose to adopt a revised application for instructor approval pursuant to changes to requirements to teach the required legal update and ethics courses, proposed elsewhere in this issue in §535.71.

Devon V. Bijansky, Assistant General Counsel, has determined that for the first five-year period the amendments are in effect, there will be no fiscal implications for the state or for units of local government as a result of enforcing or administering the amendments. There is no anticipated economic cost to persons who are required to comply with the proposed amendments. There is no anticipated impact on small businesses, micro-businesses or local or state employment as a result of implementing the amendments.

Ms. Bijansky also has determined that, for each year of the first five years the amendments as proposed are in effect, the public benefit anticipated as a result of enforcing the amendments will be compliance with the statutory requirement to consider examination pass rate in reaccrediting real estate schools and greater efficiency in regulating these schools.

Comments on the proposal may be submitted to Devon V. Bijansky, Assistant General Counsel, Texas Real Estate Commission, P.O. Box 12188, Austin, Texas 78711-2188.

The amendments are proposed under Texas Occupations Code, §1101.151, which authorizes the Texas Real Estate Commission to make and enforce all rules and regulations necessary for the performance of its duties and to establish standards of conduct and ethics for its licensees in keeping with the purpose and intent of the Act to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Act.

The statute affected by this proposal is Texas Occupations Code, Chapter 1101. No other statute, code or article is affected by the proposed amendments.