This article covers the California Department of Real Estate’s (DRE’s) expected timeline for the availability of the upcoming Implicit Bias course and the restructured Fair Housing course which includes Access for All: A Fair Housing Game™.

New continuing education (CE) requirements for real estate licensees

Real estate agents and brokers who expire after 2022 will soon find themselves studying some new and innovative course content.

Passed at the end of 2021, Senate Bill (SB) 263 requires two hours of implicit bias training to be incorporated into continuing education (CE). Further, the mandated three-hour Fair Housing (or Survey) renewal course has been restructured, including an interactive participatory component.

The new course requirements will apply to real estate agents and brokers with licenses expiring on or after January 1, 2023.

Late renewals — licensees with expiration dates prior to January 1, 2023, but who renew after the implementation date — will also need to take the additional Implicit Bias course and restructured Fair Housing which includes the interactive participatory component.

Free for firsttuesday students

firsttuesday was one of the first schools to submit the new education to the California Department of Real Estate (DRE) in April 2022.

The new education has been “pre-approved” by the DRE as of July 2022, though schools are unable to formally enroll students until fall of 2022.

When the DRE advises firsttuesday we can release the new courses for completion, the new education will be posted to accounts of firsttuesday students who need the education prior to October 2022.

Editor’s note – The DRE will not accept renewal applications from students who expire in 2023 until October 2022.

Rest assured – all this is at no additional cost for firsttuesday students.

Students with license expiration dates after 2022 will be advised by email when we are authorized to post the new education to their accounts.

For licenses expiring prior to 2023, you do not need to take this additional education until your next renewal.

When your license expires after 2022 and you’re currently enrolled in a renewal package, you may complete the majority of your existing enrollment now. However, the current Fair Housing course has been made unavailable until we are authorized to convert it to the newly restructured version of the course in early fall.

If you’re not a firsttuesday student and need the updated CE, you may enroll in these new offerings together with the rest of your required CE, or separately after we receive final approval by the DRE in early fall 2022. The new Implicit Bias and enhanced Fair Housing courses are priced as a combo at $17.50.

Editor’s note – Want to be notified when we’re able to take enrollments? Please leave your email here.

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Implicit Bias course content – a look into the future

Implicit bias training is now taking place across industries — in healthcare, policing, and now real estate, thanks to 2021’s passage of SB 263.

firsttuesday’s two-hour Implicit Bias training will prepare real estate professionals to identify and counteract elements of systemic racism — conscious and unconscious — in real estate transactions.

Specifically, the course will cover:

  • federal and state fair housing law in the context of explicit and implicit bias;
  • predatory lending and redlining both from a contemporary and historical perspective;
  • the wealth and homeownership gap between white, Black and Latinx households, and how it is perpetuated by discriminatory lending and real estate practices;
  • the proper implementation of fair hiring practices;
  • reporting discriminatory practices observed in the industry;
  • adherence to advertising guidelines in order to avoid discrimination in marketing; and
  • the need for greater financial literacy to create a more stable housing market.

Access for All: A Fair Housing Game™

firsttuesday’s Access for All: A Fair Housing Game™ is taken in conjunction with the restructured three-hour Fair Housing course.

Access for All ™ presents a variety of interactive scenarios. In some, students will take the role of a real estate licensee. In others, students will take the role of a principal. Based on the decisions made by students, the scenarios change – poor choices yield negative outcomes, and virtuous choices yield positive outcomes.

Access for All™ blends video, animation, text, and voice in an engaging educational experience that puts the student directly into the shoes of transaction participants and is hosted by frequent collaborator, Summer Goralik. Summer was employed as a Special Investigator for the DRE for six years and worked closely with former Real Estate Commissioner Wayne Bell.

Get a sneak peak of the Access for All™ welcome video below.