Following a November 14, 2001 rulemaking hearing, the Real Estate Commission amended a number of its rules. If the General Assembly makes no objection, the amendments will become effective September 1, 2002.

Here is a summary. For a complete text, contact the Commission office.

• If you undertake to act as a "dual agent," you must obtain written authority to do so as soon as the agency relationship is formed; however, if you have an oral agency agreement with the buyer, you do not have to obtain the written authority from the buyer until an offer on the property is made.
• Rental property management agreements must be in writing.
• When managing property owner associations, you must keep certain records relating to your management of the associations and follow new rules for handling their monies, including setting up a separate trust account for each association and reporting to the association (at least once every 90 days) the balance of funds in the account.
• On checks drawn from your trust account, you must state on the check the purpose of the check and identify the payee.
• You may under limited conditions keep cancelled trust account checks that have been "digitally imaged" by your bank instead of the actual checks.
• It has been clarified that the three-year period during which you must keep transaction records begins with the termination of the transaction and after all funds have been disbursed.
• A broker may under certain conditions pay a business referral fee to a travel agent in a vacation rental transaction (as defined in the Vacation Rental Act).
• Sole proprietors must designate themselves as broker-in-charge if they handle trust monies, advertise their services, or have salespersons associated with them.
• The Commission will terminate the status of any broker-in-charge who has not completed the broker-in-charge course within the allowable time; the broker-in-charge must complete the course before again being designated a broker-in-charge.
• A minor change was made to the wording of Item #12 of the Residential Property Disclosure Statement regarding problems with other systems and fixtures.
• The license renewal fee of $35 has been increased by $5 to $40.
• You may be disciplined by the Commission for giving it a "bad check" or dishonored credit card payment for any fees paid to the Commission.
• The procedure for requesting a Commission hearing when a license applicant's character is in question has been expanded to include applicants for approval as real estate instructors, directors, coordinators, schools or sponsors.
• A procedure has been established for dismissing claims made to the Real Estate Recovery Fund when the application for payment is incomplete or incorrectly filed.
• Real estate schools will no longer be required to get advance approval from the Commission for certain program changes or to submit quarterly reports on courses or students. Other education rules were amended affecting program structuring, course completion requirements, videotapes submitted in connection with applications for instructor approval, update course instructor requirements, the completion of "distance education" elective courses, and the electronic transfer of continuing education course information to the Commission.