The Texas Real Estate Commission adopts amendments to §535.62, concerning Acceptable Courses of Study; and §535.64, concerning Obtaining Approval to Offer a Course, with changes to the proposed text as published in the September 20, 2013, issue of the Texas Register (38 TexReg 6163). The differences between the rules as adopted and as proposed is the correction of a typographical error in the form number in §535.62(d) and the removal of the proposed changes to §535.62(h)(2) consisting of the phrase "and eligible for academic credit." Corrections were also made to the form adopted by reference in §535.64 to fix typographical errors and correct the name of three subsections.

The amendments to §535.62 add Law of Agency as new subsection (d) which is a 30 hour core course with specific topics, subtopics, and units, with mandated time periods in which instructors must teach each topic or subtopic. The addition of subsection (d) requires the relettering of the remaining subsections in the rule.

The amendments to §535.64 remove the phrase "Core Real Estate Course Approval Form" from the titles of the TREC Form No. PRINS 1-0, Principles of Real Estate 1, and PRINS 2-0, Principles of Real Estate II, adopted by reference in this rule. The amendments also adopt by reference a form to be used for schools in requesting approval to offer the new Law of Agency course.

The amendments are recommended by the Education Standards Advisory Committee, a committee formed, in part, to review and recommend revisions to existing core course curricula and Commission rules addressing school, course and instructor approval.

The revision to the rules as adopted does not change the nature or scope so much that it could be deemed different rules. The rules as adopted do not affect individuals other than those contemplated by the rules as proposed. The rules as adopted do not impose more onerous requirements than the proposed version and do not materially alter the issues raised in the proposed rules and forms.

The Education Standards Advisory Committee of the Commission received one comment on the rules as proposed from an education provider. The commenter thought that requiring correspondence courses to be approved for academic credit was not a good idea since a real estate license is not a degree program. The Committee declined to make any changes based on this comment since correspondence courses offered in association with an accredited college or university are not subject to any Commission approval process and there is a need to ensure the quality of those courses. That commenter and two additional education providers commented at the Commission meeting regarding their concern that this requirement might not be a practical or viable option and requested that more research be performed on this option as well as other ways to ensure quality correspondence courses before adopting this standard. The Commission agreed and adopted the rule without that additional proposed standard.

The reasoned justification for the amendments is to have an improved Law of Agency core course curriculum and better educated applicants resulting in improved protection for consumers of real estate services.

The amendments are adopted under Texas Occupations Code, §1101.151, which authorizes the Texas Real Estate Commission to adopt and enforce rules necessary to administer Chapters 1101 and 1102; and to establish standards of conduct and ethics for its licensees to fulfill the purposes of Chapters 1101 and 1102 and ensure compliance with Chapters 1101 and 1102.

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