The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) adopts amendments to 22 TAC §533.3, Filing and Notice; §533.7, Final Decisions and Orders; §533.8, Motions for Rehearing; Finality of Decisions; and new §533.10, Hearing: Subpoenas and Fees. Section 533.3 is adopted with changes to the proposed text as published in the September 4, 2015, issue of the Texas Register (40 TexReg 5687). The other sections are adopted without changes.

The amendments align the rules with statutory changes to Chapter 2001, Texas Government Code, adopted by the 84th Legislature, to delegate authority to hear motions for rehearing to the Commission's Enforcement Committee and to move the text of §535.171 to new §533.10 where the subject matter more appropriately belongs.

The reasoned justification for the amendments is greater clarity throughout the rules and compliance with statutory changes.

The revisions to the rules as adopted do not change the nature or scope so much that the rules as adopted could be deemed a different rule. 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 rules.

No comments were received on the proposal as published. However, staff updated terminology from "salesperson" to "sales agent" to correspond with the new statutory terminology where applicable.

The amendments and new rule 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 license holders to fulfill the purposes of Chapters 1101 and 1102 and ensure compliance with Chapters 1101 and 1102.

The statutes affected by these amendments and new section are Texas Occupations Code, Chapters 1101 and 1102. No other statute, code or article is affected by the adoption.