The California Bureau of Real Estate (CalBRE) is requesting input from the public and licensees on three critical actions that will impact California real estate practice.
Each of these three actions are already part of California’s law. However, the Real Estate Commissioner is seeking input on how CalBRE is to best interpret and implement these laws. Your practice will hinge on this interpretation. The devil, they say, is in the details.
1. Petition process for website discipline information removal
CalBRE is required to report each licensee’s record of public information associated with any disciplinary action taken by CalBRE online. This online database allows a buyer or seller (or other licensee) to view a licensee’s history, including:
- notes about misconduct; and
- disciplinary actions taken by CalBRE. [Calif. Business & Professions Code §10083.2]
Beginning January 1, 2018, a CalBRE licensee who received disciplinary action may petition CalBRE for removal of the disciplinary action when:
- the disciplinary action has been posted for at least ten years;
- the licensee provides the CalBRE with proof they no longer pose a risk to the public; and
- the licensee pays a fee to the CalBRE with the petition, in an amount to be determined by CalBRE Regulations. [Bus & P C §10083.2]
The Real Estate Commissioner proposes to include this section in the real estate law, and to set the fee required to be paid with the petition to remove a disciplinary action.
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2. Broker reporting contractual relationships between real estate brokers
CalBRE displays the employment relationship of salespersons and their employing brokers on its website for review by the buying and selling public.
Beginning January 1, 2018, CalBRE will also be required to display employment relationships between employing brokers and their broker-associates. [Bus & P C §10161.8]
The Real Estate Commissioner is seeking comment on how to implement this new reporting requirement in a manner that is most transparent to the public.
3. Clarifications to license number requirement on advertising
Real estate license numbers need to appear on any advertising that may be considered a “first point of contact” between a licensee and a member of the public. Licensees also need to include the licensee’s name and the name of their employing broker. [Bus & P C §10140.6]
However, this requirement has proven to be confusing for some real estate licensees. Thus, the Real Estate Commissioner proposes to include clarifying language in the real estate law to better state this requirement.
Under the new law, the types of advertising included under these rules include:
- print advertisement;
- real estate purchase agreements;
- business cards;
- stationary;
- advertising flyers;
- television advertisements;
- electronic media;
- signs, including:
- for sale signs;
- for lease signs;
- open house signs; and
- directional signs (except those without name or branding); and
- any other materials used for the solicitation of business from the public.
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Updated CalBRE licensee identification requirements on signs and advertising
How to submit comments
Please share your comments with the CalBRE to help promote an efficient and stable California real estate market. No one truly knows the intricacies of practice in the Golden State like those in the trenches — YOU.
Any licensee or member of the public may comment on any of the proposed actions by sending written comment to:
Post
Bureau of Real Estate
Attn: Daniel E. Kehew, Sacramento Legal Office
P.O. Box 137007
Sacramento, CA 95813-7007
Fax
916-263-8767
To be considered, comments need to be submitted by 5pm on April 2, 2018.
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