The California Department of Real Estate (DRE) in their Spring 2026 Real Estate Bulletin reminds licensees of fiduciary duties, advance fee requirements and how to become a real estate broker.
DRE Bulletin Digest: Spring 2026
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Implicit Bias, Office Management & Supervision, Agency, Fair Housing, Trust Funds, Ethics and Risk Management
Cap off your license renewal with this one-stop interdisciplinary volume included with your renewal course. Stay current on the latest news, videos, forms, and updates for Implicit Bias, Office Management & Supervision, Agency, Fair Housing, Trust Funds, Ethics and Risk Management.
Recent updates to the course e-book
05/25: The 2025 rules for buyer representation and fee-splitting avoidance have been edited into this e-book.
Newly published related content
Opinions with erroneous conclusions
Learn the difference between opinions, assurances and guarantees as well as estimates, projections and forecasts.
Form-of-the-Week: Escrow instructions, and beneficiary statement — Forms 401 and 415
An agent or escrow officer uses RPI Form 401 when preparing instructions to open a purchase escrow with an escrow officer, and RPI Form 415 when escrow requests mortgage information from a mortgage holder regarding their lien on a property to confirm the terms of the debt or obtain a payoff demand.
California’s for-sale inventory growth: buyer caution rises faster than owner need to sell
In early 2026, low-tier priced housing has the lowest level of inventory available for sale or rent.
The rise and fall of real estate brokers and agents
This article analyzes the historical population of active DRE licensees, with discussions and forecasts about future licensing trends.
Form-of-the-Week: Partial payment agreement — Forms 558 and 559
Commercial landlords and tenants agreeing to partial payments use RPI Form 558, and residential landlords and tenants use RPI Form 559. The forms commit to writing the portion of remaining delinquent rent the tenant owes the landlord, the date the balance is due, and when not paid by the due date, what action the landlord may take to enforce payment.
The seller agent and the prospective buyer
Learn the difference between a broker’s specific agency duty owed only to their client and the limited general duty they owe to others in a transaction and how to observe and disclose conditions adversely affecting value and qualify statements when they are opinions, not facts.
The diligent effort for an opinion of value
WLearn the due diligence obligations required from a broker to a client when performing, drafting, delivering and maintaining records for a broker price opinion (BPO).
Mortgage complaint trends
Compliance doesn’t prevent all consumer complaints, but it goes a long way toward happier customers and borrowers — and better business for MLOs.