Summary of Changes
(Effective April 11, 1980)

The Real Estate Licensing Board held a rule-making hearing on February 6, 1980 at its Raleigh offices to afford interested persons an opportunity to present views and arguments regarding certain proposed changes in the Board's Rules and Regulations.

Summarized below are the recent amendments to the Rules and Regulations of the Licensing Board which were subsequently adopted by the Board at its March 6 meeting. These changes will become effective April 11, 1980,

Rule .0107, HANDLING AND ACCOUNTING OF FUNDS, was amended by establishing certain record-keeping requirements for trust monies and certain other requirements regarding the proper disposition of disputed trust monies.

Under the new Rule, your trust or escrow account must be designated by your bank (or savings and loan association) as a "Trust Account" or "Escrow Account", and your checks and deposit tickets must likewise bear the words "Trust Account" or "Escrow Account". (if your current supply of checks and deposit tickets do not contain these words you may add the words by hand or stamp.)

You must also maintain (and retain for three years) records which are sufficient to verify that you are properly using your trust account. These records shall include bank statements, cancelled checks, deposit tickets, and copies of contracts and closing statements-- and, at the very minimum, your records must show (1) the date you receive trust monies, (2) the amount, nature and purpose of deposits and from whom received, (3) the date the trust monies are deposited in your trust or escrow account, (4) the amount, date and purpose of withdrawals and to whom paid, and (5) a current running balance. These records must be available for inspection by the Board or its authorized representatives without prior notice.

Also, in the event of a dispute over the return or forfeiture of any deposit which you are holding, you must retain the deposit in your trust or escrow account until (1) you have obtained a written release from the parties consenting to its disposition, or (2) until disbursement is ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction.

Rule .0301, (APPLICATION) FORM, was amended by adding the requirement that applicants for real estate licenses shall furnish fingerprints with their applications. These fingerprints will, in turn, be forwarded to the State Bureau of Investigation for the purpose of retrieving any criminal history record information concerning the applicant.

This amendment was adopted by the Licensing Board in response to concerns expressed by the North Carolina General Assembly and the Governmental Evaluation Commission that the Licensing Board should investigate more thoroughly the ethical background of applicants for real estate licenses.

Rule .0403, RE-EXAMINATION, was amended by deleting the provision calling for the re-scheduling of applicants who do not appear at their first scheduled examination.

Under the previous Rule, license applicants who did not appear for their first scheduled licensing examination were automatically scheduled for a second examination without payment of any additional fee. Noting that 15% to 20% of all applicants did not appear for examination, the Board determined that a substantial savings could be realized by discontinuing its policy of automatically re-scheduling these applicants.

However, applicants who fail to pass their first scheduled examination will continue to be re-scheduled for a second examination (the examination to be held two months later) without payment of an additional fee or filing of another application.

Corporations

Rule 0502, CORPORATIONS, was amended by adding the requirement that applicants for corporation real estate licenses shall furnish a copy of their corporate charter with their applications. This will enable the Board to immediately verify that the corporation is authorized to engage in real estate brokerage and will greatly expedite the processing of the application.

Rules .0503, .0504, and .0505 were amended by changing from $10.00 to $15.00 the annual fee charged to renew real estate broker and salesman licenses.

Recognizing that existing license fees could no longer support the Board's licensing and regulatory programs, the North Carolina General Assembly recently approved a $5.00 increase in all real estate license fees (application and renewal fees). While the Licensing Board had hoped to be able to defer the increase in renewal fees until the 1981-82 fiscal year, recent events have made it necessary to immediately implement the increase, these events include unexpected increases in examination costs, additional expenses in carrying out new programs directed or mandated by the General Assembly (e.g. $100,000 Recovery Fund, more comprehensive investigation of license applicants, etc,), and general increased costs of doing business (postage, printing, rent, etc.).

Despite this $5.00 increase, your annual license renewal fee remains one of the lowest in the country, (Nationwide, the average fee for renewing a real estate broker license is approximately $28.00 with only eight states charging less than $15.00.)