UPDATED 06/23/2009.  Updates appear in blue.

Proposed DRE Regulation #2728: Extension of broker partnerships and branch locations
Brokers licensed by the DRE would be allowed to form partnerships that perform acts requiring a real estate broker’s license as long as each partner performing such acts through the partnership is a licensed real estate broker. Such a partnership would be permitted to employ licensed salespersons to act on behalf of the partnership. Licensed brokers who are also members of such a partnership would be permitted to conduct from a branch office of the partnership without obtaining a branch office license, so long as another broker-licensed member of the partnership at the same location holds a current branch office license.

Proposed DRE Regulation 2731(d): Changes to escrow office advertising
A business with a fictitious business name containing the term “escrow” would be required to also include the phrase “a non-independent broker escrow” following the name. DRE licensees who obtain a license with a fictitious business name with the term “escrow” , or any term implying escrow services are provided would also be required to include the phrase “a non-independent broker escrow” in any advertising, signs, or electronic promotional material.

Proposed Regulation 2773: Advertising-related DRE license disclosure:
Brokers and salespersons would be required to disclose their DRE license number in a font size no smaller than the smallest size used on all solicitation materials, including:

  • business cards;
  • stationery;
  • websites;
  • promotional advertising flyers, brochures, email and regular mail, leaflets and any materials designed to solicit the creation of a professional relationship between the licensee and a consumer.

This new regulation would not apply to the following:

  • advertisements in electronic media, such as television or radio;
  • print advertising in any newspaper or periodical; and
  • “For Sale” signs placed on or near a property to advertise the property is available for lease, purchase, or trade.

The license number of employing or corporate brokers whose names, logos, or trademarks appear along with the name of the soliciting agent or broker do not need to be included on the aforementioned advertisements.

Proposed DRE Regulation 2848: Added disclosures for advertisements touting trust deed investments
Amendments to this section would expand the list of false, misleading, or deceptive statements to include any advertisement for investments in trust deeds secured by one or more interests in real property that does not include the statement “investments in trust deeds secured by one or more interests in real property are subject to risk of loss.” Also, this amendment would require advertisements for trust deeds secured by one or more interests in real property to be retained for a period of three years from the date of its last publication or use. Upon notice, any advertisement for investments in trust deeds secured by one or more interests in real property shall be made available for examination, inspection, and copying by the DRE Commissioner.

Proposed DRE Regulation 2903: Added disclosure of dual agency
If added, this section would require any real estate licensee who acts as both an agent in connection with a transfer of real property and arranges financing for the transaction to make a written statement within 24 hours of the undertaking, disclosing their dual role as sales agent and arranger of financing to all parties of the transfer of real property. All parties to the transfer would be required to sign the licensee’s disclosure. If the real estate licensee is salesperson, his employing broker would be required to make the written disclosure.

Proposed DRE Regulation 2930: Remedy for trust fund violations
An amendment to this section would require a licensee with a license suspended due to trust fund violations to complete a continuing education course on trust fund handling within 120 days of the date of his application for a restricted license.

Proposed DRE Regulation 2971: New DRE forms for advanced fee agreements
If adopted, this section would make available DRE Forms RE 880 and RE 880A. Brokers using these forms would meet compliance requirements when contracting for advance fees for loan modification services. However, this section would allow for variants of DRE Forms RE 880 and RE 880A, so long as alternative forms are submitted to the DRE Commissioner at least 10 calendar days before they are used.

The following proposed regulations are currently being revised:

Proposed DRE Regulation 3006: Continuing education course requirements
If approved, each clock hour for DRE-approved continuing education would be based on a 50-minute hour and schools providing continuing education for real estate licensees would be required to:

  • produce textbooks with a minimum length of 3,750 words per credit hour;
  • comply with provisions in the Americans with Disabilities Act;
  • limit registration in courses to one year;
  • provide a completion certificate to students within 15 days of completion;
  • install a method of control, limiting the speed with which a student completes a course to no less than amount of credit rewarded;
  • insure by affidavit that the enrolled student is the person completing the course;
  • implement incremental assessments (quizzes, case studies or other exercises) to gauge a student’s mastery of subjects; and
  • avoid marketing or selling products or services to students during their enrollment.

Also, all students enrolling in a live course offering would be required to be physically present for 90% of the offering time exclusive of the time allocated for administering the final exam. For live course offerings, the school would be required to provide the student with a written, narrative outline consisting of not less than 3 pages per credit-hour, with each page containing an average of 325 words.

Proposed DRE Regulation 3007: Receiving DRE-approval for continuing education offerings

If added, this section would require sponsors of DRE-approved continuing education to submit to the DRE for approval, the following:

  • permission from the copyright holder of any materials used in a course if the sponsor is not the copyright holder;
  • a Consent to Service of Process if applicant is a non-resident of California;
  • a C.E. Instructor Certification for each live course offering;
  • all instruction materials used as part of the course offering;
    • CDs used during the course of instruction would be submitted along with a table of contents for each CD and, if the CD contains textbook, a copy of the text cover, publication page and corresponding table of contents must also be included;
    • DVDs used during the course of instruction would be submitted along with a written, narrative outline consisting of not less than 3 pages per credit-hour, with each page containing an average of 325 words;
  • a General Information Page provided to participants prior to course registration that explains all requirements and policies affecting their enrolment and completion of the course offering;
  • a written course outline consisting of not less than 3 pages per credit-hour, with each page containing an average of 325 words;
  • questions for final exams along with a corresponding answer key;
  • exam questions sufficient to constitute an additional final exam if the continuing education provider is permitting re-examinations for students who fail their initial exam; and
  • a sample certificate of completion containing at least:
    • student’s name and license number;
    • a statement certifying student has satisfied attendance and/or examination criteria;
    • the name of the course as approved by the DRE;
    • the number of credit hours;
    • if completed via correspondence, the date of registration;
    • the date of successful completion;
    • the course category;
    • the eight-digit DRE approval number;
    • the sponsor’s name, address and telephone number; and
    • the course verifier’s printed name, signature and telephone number.

Any sponsor offering a course conducted via live seminar or conference that will be presented no more than once annually and in no more than 2 locations, covering changing trends or current concepts relevant to the real estate industry must submit to the DRE a letter identifying the course as a one-time offering along with the date of its premier.

In addition, correspondence schools would be required to submit a detailed plan addressing the following:

  • protocol for administering and protecting the integrity of online exams;
  • procedures for insuring the length of time spent navigating online course work directly correlates with the number of clock hours a course is approved for;
  • incremental assessments to be used in evaluating student comprehension of course material along with a means for remediation;
  • a copy of the affidavit to be signed by the student;
  • instructions for administering the final exam as provided to the student and student’s proctor; and
  • the Certificate of Administration provided to the proctor, certifying compliance with rules for administering the final exam.

Proposed DRE Regulation 3007.3: Continuing education final exam requirements
If approved, this section would require a final examination for all continuing education courses as well as make passing the final examination the sole requirement for students to be awarded a certificate of completion for the approved course. Sponsor’s must also:

  • modulate access to the exam so as to prevent cheating;
  • allow only 15 credit hours-worth of testing per 24-hour period;
  • limit to 10% the amount of true/false questions on an exam consisting only of multiple choice, true/false or fill-in the blank
  • enforce a maximum time limit of 1 minute per question for exams consisting entirely of multiple choice, true/false or fill-in the blank;
  • insure all students have equal opportunities to take an open-book exam and only use the instructional material approved for the course as a reference when taking the final exam;
  • obtain certification from a student’s test proctor that he or she is not related by blood, marriage, domestic partnership or any other relationship which may create a bias toward the student when administering the exam;
  • enforce restrictions on correspondence courses completed via the internet, locking students out after expiration of the time limit;
  • keep exams from being printed, downloaded, or accessed more than once;
  • allow for one re-taking of the final exam if a student fails the original examination as long as questions on the second exam are different from the original;
  • may not duplicate any more than 10% of questions used in any other quiz or assessment used during the course;
  • may not allow students to possess the final exam outside of the controlled environment where the exam is administered;
  • provide students enrolled in correspondence courses with access to course materials for the amount of hours for which the course is approved prior to completion of the final exam, adhering to the following standards:
    • for correspondence courses offered via electronic media, such as CDs or DVDs or internet download, a maximum of 8 hours per day of reading time would be used to calculate the number of days that must lapse between registration and administration of the final exam; or
    • for correspondence courses administered via internet, a log of the time spent engaged with online lessons and assessments must equal the amount of time corresponding to the amount of credit-hours for which the course is approved prior to allowing access to the final exam.
  • weight final exams consisting only of true/false, multiple choice or fill-in the blank questions with the following minimum ratios of credit hours to questions:
    • 1 credit hour – 5 questions;
    • 2 credit hours – 10 questions;
    • 3 credit hours – 15 questions;
    • 4 credit hours – 20 questions;
    • 5-7 credit hours – 25 questions;
    • 8-10 credit hours – 30 questions;
    • 11-13 credit hours – 35 questions;
    • 14-15 credit hours – 45 questions;
    • 16-18 credit hours – 50 questions;
    • 19-21 credit hours – 60 questions;
    • 22-24 credit hours – 70 questions;
    • 26-28 credit hours – 80 questions;
    • 29-31 credit hours – 90 questions;
    • 32-34 credit hours – 100 questions; or
    • 35 credit hours and over – 3 questions per hour.

Proposed DRE Regulation 3007.6: Requirements for continuing education advertisments
If enacted, this section would require all advertising and promotional materials used by a sponsor of DRE-approved continuing education to include the sponsor’s four-digit identification number as assigned by the DRE, immediately following the words “DRE Sponsor No.”. Also, sponsors would be barred from including the full 8 digit course approval number on any advertisement.