Your Practice | firsttuesday Journal

Mortgage complaint trends

by Carrie B. Reyes | May 8, 2026 | Finance, Mortgages, Real Estate, Your Practice | 1

Compliance doesn’t prevent all consumer complaints, but it goes a long way toward happier customers and borrowers — and better business for MLOs.

DRE Bulletin Digest: Winter 2026

by Lily Hart | May 5, 2026 | Fundamentals, Laws and Regulations, Licensing and Education, Real Estate, Your Practice | 0

The Winter 2026 Real Estate Bulletin lays out the California Department of Real Estate’s expectations for ethical conduct by its licensees in the age of ARMs, digital brokerages, and AI.

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac accept new credit score model

by Carrie B. Reyes | May 4, 2026 | Finance, Mortgages, Real Estate, Your Practice | 0

Lenders and MLOs now have more Enterprise-approved options for qualifying homebuyers with thin credit histories.

The representation of a seller-client

by Amy Platero | Apr 30, 2026 | Buyers and Sellers, Fundamentals, Laws and Regulations, Licensing and Education, Real Estate, Your Practice | 0

Learn how to manage licensed activities as a seller agent from soliciting a seller-client and organizing the marketing of their property through closing a transaction.

CFPB cuts into mortgage discrimination rules

by Carrie B. Reyes | Apr 29, 2026 | Buyers and Sellers, New Laws, Real Estate, Your Practice | 0

A new CFPB federal rule shaves down the definition for what lender actions qualify as mortgage discrimination.

Designated officer missteps

by Carrie B. Reyes | Apr 28, 2026 | Feature Articles, Licensing and Education, Real Estate, Your Practice | 1

This article presents three real-life scenarios in which each licensed brokerage corporation’s designated officer conducted unlawful activities which led to disciplinary and enforcement actions by the DRE.

Changing a real estate corporation’s Designated Officer

by Carrie B. Reyes | Apr 20, 2026 | Feature Articles, Real Estate, Your Practice | 0

Avoid the cancellation of licenses attached to a corporate license by following proper DRE procedures to make Designated Officer changes.

A Designated Officer’s diligence guidance

by Carrie B. Reyes | Apr 19, 2026 | Feature Articles, Laws and Regulations, Real Estate, Your Practice | 0

Learn about a designated officer’s duties to maintain corporate and employee compliance with Real Estate Law.

Duties owed by designated officers

by Carrie B. Reyes | Apr 13, 2026 | Feature Articles, Licensing and Education, Real Estate, Your Practice | 0

Learn how an individual becomes a designated officer of a DRE-licensed corporation and provides supervision and oversight of all its employees for compliance with real estate law.

Home sales volume impacts sales agent licensing and renewals

by ft Editorial Staff | Apr 13, 2026 | Charts, Licensing and Education, Real Estate | 1

View California sales agent trends from 2002-present, and examine the effect of home sales volume on licensing.

Referral fees to transaction agents from third-party providers prohibited

by Amy Platero | Apr 6, 2026 | Fundamentals, Licensing and Education, Real Estate, Your Practice | 2

Learn to identify impermissible fees for your referral of a transaction participant to a third-party provider as a duplicate charge and a prohibited kickback and establish broker-owned services and refer clients to use them to capture legally entitled profit from transactional services otherwise received by third-party providers.

Condition of property: the owner’s disclosures for symmetric information

by Amy Platero | Mar 26, 2026 | Buyers and Sellers, Fundamentals, Laws and Regulations, Real Estate, Your Practice | 0

Learn the seller broker duty to inspect and disclose their observations and knowledge about a property’s condition to prospective buyers, preparation and delivery of the seller’s Transfer Disclosure Statement (TDS) and recognize the home inspection report (HIR) as a risk mitigation activity.

DRE offers tips and caution for AI usage in real estate

by Carrie B. Reyes | Mar 23, 2026 | Real Estate, Your Practice | 4

The DRE cautions that responsibility for AI-generated content ultimately rests with the broker.

Analyzing the buyer representation agreement

by Amy Platero | Mar 13, 2026 | Buyer Representation, Buyers and Sellers, Forms, Fundamentals, Laws and Regulations, Real Estate, Your Practice | 2

Learn to explain to your buyer and tenant clients the provisions contained within the buyer representation agreement and tenant representation agreement.

Form-of-the-Week: Designated Officer Employment Agreement, and Real Estate Team Agreement — Forms 511 and 512

by Amy Platero | Mar 11, 2026 | Forms, Fundamentals, Real Estate, Your Practice | 0

A corporate broker uses RPI Form 511 to establish a corporate broker-officer’s duties and fee schedule for earnings as designated officer of the real estate corporation and licensees held under the same broker use RPI Form 512 to form a real estate team and establish each team member’s responsibilities and fee sharing.

Buyer representation

by Amy Platero | Feb 26, 2026 | Buyer Representation, Buyers and Sellers, Fundamentals, Laws and Regulations, Real Estate, Your Practice | 4

Learn when to enter into a buyer representation agreement with a buyer-client and distinguish between representing individual and entity clients and the forms and retainer periods used for each.

Newly-licensed sales agent and broker population

by ft Editorial Staff | Feb 13, 2026 | Charts, Licensing and Education, Real Estate | 0

This article examines the number of broker and sales agent licenses issued by the DRE from 1998-present, with forecasts about future licensing trends.

Video Renewal Course: Real Estate Matters™ — the 2026 cinematic CE release for your DRE renewal

by ft Editorial Staff | Feb 9, 2026 | Buyer Representation, Feature Articles, Features, Fundamentals, Licensing and Education, Real Estate, Your Practice | 1

Our latest and greatest 45-hr renewal course ups the theatrical flair with actor-packed scenarios, humor and California-specific concepts.

The power of many: Building and operating a real estate team in California

by Carrie B. Reyes | Jan 30, 2026 | Feature Articles, Real Estate, Your Practice | 0

Learn the rules and strategies behind real estate teams in California.

Form-of-the-Week: Modification of Representation Agreement and Release and Cancellation of Employment Agreement — Forms 120 and 121

by Amy Platero | Jan 15, 2026 | Buyers and Sellers, Forms, Fundamentals, Real Estate, Your Practice | 0

After entering into a representation agreement with a client, an agent uses the Modification of Representation Agreement to change the terms of the employment without canceling it and to terminate the authorization to represent, an agent uses the Release and Cancellation of Representation Agreement.

Category: Your Practice