GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2019
SESSION LAW 2019-195
SENATE BILL 590
AN ACT to modify continuing education requirements for real estate brokers and to modify real estate licensing requirements for time share salespeople.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. G.S. 93A‑4 reads as rewritten:
"§ 93A‑4. Applications for licenses; fees; qualifications; examinations; privilege licenses; renewal or reinstatement of license; power to enforce provisions.
(a) Any person, partnership,
corporation, limited liability company, association, or other business entity hereafter
desiring to enter into business of and obtain a license as a real estate broker
shall make written application for such license to the Commission in the form
and manner prescribed by the Commission. Each applicant for a license as a real
estate broker shall be at least 18 years of age. Each applicant for a license
as a real estate broker shall, within three years preceding the date the
application is made, have satisfactorily completed, at a school approved through
a real estate education provider certified by the Commission, an education
program consisting of at least 75 hours of instruction in subjects determined
by the Commission, or shall possess real estate education or experience in real
estate transactions which the Commission shall find equivalent to the education
program. Each applicant for a license as a real estate broker shall be required
to pay a fee. The application fee shall be one hundred dollars ($100.00) unless
the Commission sets the fee at a higher amount by rule; however, the Commission
shall not set a fee that exceeds one hundred twenty dollars ($120.00). The
application fee shall not increase by more than five dollars ($5.00) during a
12‑month period.
(a1) Each person who is issued
a real estate broker license on or after April 1, 2006, shall initially be
classified as a provisional broker and shall, within three years 18 months
following initial licensure, satisfactorily complete, at a school
approved through a real estate education provider certified by the
Commission, a postlicensing education program consisting of 90 hours of
instruction in subjects determined by the Commission or shall possess real
estate education or experience in real estate transactions which the Commission
shall find equivalent to the education program. The Commission may, by rule,
establish a schedule for completion of the prescribed postlicensing education
that requires provisional brokers to complete portions of the 90‑hour
postlicensing education program in less than three years, 18 months, and
provisional brokers must comply with this schedule in order to be entitled to
actively engage in real estate brokerage. Upon completion of the postlicensing
education program, the provisional status of the broker's license shall be
terminated. When a provisional broker fails to complete all 90 hours of
required postlicensing education within three years 18 months following
initial licensure, the broker's license shall be placed on inactive status. The
broker's license shall not be returned to active status until he or she has
satisfied such requirements as the Commission may by rule require. Every
license cancelled after April 1, 2009, because the licensee failed to complete
postlicensing education shall be reinstated on inactive status until such time
as the licensee satisfies the requirements for returning to active status as
the Commission may by rule require.
(a2) An approved school A
certified real estate education provider shall pay a fee of ten dollars
($10.00) per licensee to the Commission for each licensee completing a
postlicensing education course conducted by the school, provided that these
fees shall not be charged to a community college, junior college, college, or
university located in this State and accredited by the Southern Association of
Colleges and Schools.
…
(d) The Commission is
expressly vested with the power and authority to make and enforce any and all
reasonable rules and regulations connected with license application,
examination, renewal, and reinstatement as shall be deemed necessary to
administer and enforce the provisions of this Chapter. The Commission is
further authorized to adopt reasonable rules and regulations necessary for the approval
certification of real estate schools, education providers,
instructors, and textbooks and rules that prescribe specific requirements
pertaining to instruction, administration, and content of required education
courses and programs.
…."
SECTION 2.1. G.S. 93A‑4.1 is repealed.
SECTION 2.2. G.S. 93A‑4.2 reads as rewritten:
"§ 93A‑4.2. Broker‑in‑charge qualification.
To be qualified to serve as a
broker‑in‑charge of a real estate office, a real estate broker
shall possess at least two years of full‑time real estate brokerage
experience or equivalent part‑time real estate brokerage experience
within the previous five years or real estate education or experience in real
estate transactions that the Commission finds equivalent to such experience and
shall complete, within a time prescribed by the Commission, a course of
study an education program prescribed by the Commission for brokers‑in‑charge
not to exceed 12 classroom hours of instruction. A provisional broker
may not be designated as a broker‑in‑charge.
SECTION 3. Article 3 of Chapter 93A of the General Statutes reads as rewritten:
"Article 3.
"Private Real Estate Schools.Education
Providers and Continuing Education Requirements.
"§ 93A‑32. Definitions.
As used in this Article:
(1) "Commission" means the North Carolina Real Estate Commission.
(2) "Private real estate
school" education provider" or "education provider"
means any individual or real estate educational entity which is
privately owned and operated by an individual, partnership, corporation,
limited liability company, or association, and which conducts, owned and
conducting, for a profit or tuition charge, real estate broker prelicensing
or postlicensing prelicensing, postlicensing, or continuing education courses
prescribed by G.S. 93A‑4(a) or (a1), (a1) or G.S. 93A‑38.5,
provided that a proprietary business or trade school licensed by the State
Board of Community Colleges under G.S. 115D‑90 to conduct courses
other than those real estate courses described herein shall not be considered
to be a private real estate school.education provider.
"§ 93A‑33.
Commission to administer Article; authority of Commission to conduct
investigations, issue licenses, and promulgate regulations.Article.
The Commission shall have authority
to administer and enforce this Article and to issue licenses to certify
private real estate schools education providers as defined
herein which have complied with the requirements of this Article and
regulations promulgated by the Commission. Through licensing certification
applications, periodic reports required of licensed schools, education
providers, periodic investigations and inspections of schools, investigations,
and appropriate regulations, the Commission shall exercise general
supervisory authority over private real estate schools, education
providers, the object of such supervision being to protect the public
interest and to assure the conduct of quality real estate education programs.
To this end the Commission is authorized and directed to promulgate such
regulations as it deems necessary which are not inconsistent with the
provisions of this Article and which relate to the subject areas set out in
G.S. 93A‑34(c).
"§ 93A‑34. License Certification required;
application for license; certification; fees; requirements for issuance
of license.certification.
(a) No person, partnership, corporation
or association corporation, association, individual, or other entity shall
operate or maintain or offer to operate in this State State,
whether live or in any online format, as a private real estate school education
provider as defined herein unless a license certification is
first obtained from the Commission in accordance with the provisions of this
Article and the rules and regulations promulgated by the Commission under this
Article. For licensing certification purposes, each branch
location where a school an education provider conducts courses
shall be considered a separate school location requiring a
separate license.certification.
(b) Application for a
license certification shall be filed in the manner and upon the
forms prescribed by the Commission for that purpose. The Commission may by rule
set nonrefundable application fees not to exceed two hundred fifty dollars
($250.00) for each school location education provider and fifty
dollars ($50.00) for each real estate broker prelicensing or postlicensing
course. The application for a license certification shall be
accompanied by the appropriate fees and shall contain the following:fees.
(1) Name and address of the applicant and the
school;
(2) Names, biographical data, and qualifications of
director, administrators and instructors;
(3) Description of school facilities and equipment;
(4) Description of course(s) to be offered and
instructional materials to be utilized;
(5) Information on financial resources available to
equip and operate the school;
(6) Information on school policies and procedures
regarding administration, record keeping, entrance requirements, registration,
tuition and fees, grades, student progress, attendance, and student conduct;
(7) Copies of bulletins, catalogues and other
official publications;
(8) Copy of bond required by G.S. 93A‑36;
(9) Such additional information as the Commission
may deem necessary to enable it to determine the adequacy of the instructional
program and the ability of the applicant to operate a school in such a manner
as would best serve the public interest.
(b1) Applications for education providers utilizing methods other than only distance education shall contain all of the following:
(1) Name and address of the applicant.
(2) Names, biographical data, and qualifications of director, administrators, and instructors.
(3) Description of education provider school facilities and equipment, if any.
(4) Description of course or courses to be offered and instructional materials to be utilized.
(5) Information on policies and procedures regarding administration, record keeping, entrance requirements, registration, tuition and fees, grades, student progress, attendance, and student conduct.
(6) Copies of bulletins, catalogues, and other official publications.
(7) Copy of bond required by G.S. 93A‑36.
(8) Any additional information as the Commission may deem necessary to enable it to determine the adequacy of the instructional program and the ability of the applicant to operate in such a manner as would best serve the public interest.
(c) After due investigation
and consideration by the Commission, a license certification shall
be issued to the applicant when it is shown to the satisfaction of the
Commission that the applicant and school are in compliance with the following
standards, as well as the requirements of any supplemental regulations of the
Commission regarding these standards:
…
(4) The school education
provider has adopted adequate policies and procedures regarding
administration, instruction, record keeping, entrance requirements,
registration, tuition and fees, grades, student progress, attendance, and
student conduct.
(5) The school education
provider publishes and provides to all students upon enrollment a bulletin,
catalogue or similar official publication which is certified as being true and
correct in content and policy by an authorized school official, and which
contains all of the following information:
a. Identifying data and
publication date;date.
b. Name(s) Name or
names of school education provider or providers and its full‑time
officials and faculty;faculty.
c. School's Education
provider's policies and procedures relating to entrance requirements,
registration, grades, student progress, attendance, student conduct and refund
of tuition and fees;fees.
d. Detailed schedule of
tuition and fees;fees.
e. Detailed course outline of all courses offered.
…
(9) The school's education
provider's owner(s), director, administrators and instructors are of good
reputation and character.
(10) The school's education
provider's facilities and equipment comply with all applicable local, State
and federal laws and regulations regarding health, safety, and welfare,
including the Americans with Disabilities Act and other laws relating to
accessibility standards for places of public accommodation.
(11) The school education
provider does not utilize advertising of any type which is false or
misleading, either by actual statement, omission or intimation.
(12) Such additional standards
as may be deemed necessary by the Commission to assure the conduct of adequate
instructional programs and the operation of schools education
providers in a manner which will best serve the public interest.
"§ 93A‑35. Duration and renewal of licenses; certifications;
transfer of school ownership.
(a) All licenses certifications
issued shall expire on June 30 following the date of issuance.
(b) Licenses Certifications
shall be renewable annually on July 1, provided that a renewal application
accompanied by the appropriate renewal fees has been filed not later than June
1 in the form and manner prescribed by the Commission, and provided further
that the applicant and school education provider are found to be
in compliance with the standards established for issuance of an original license.
certification. The Commission may by rule set nonrefundable renewal
fees not to exceed one hundred twenty‑five dollars ($125.00) for each school
education provider location and twenty‑five dollars ($25.00)
for each real estate broker prelicensing and postlicensing course.
(c) In the event a school
an education provider entity is sold or ownership is otherwise
transferred, the license certification issued to the original
owner is not transferable to the new owner. Such The new owner
must make application apply for an original license certification
as prescribed by this Article and Commission regulations.
"§ 93A‑36. Execution of bond required; applicability to branch schools; actions upon bond.
(a) Before the Commission
shall issue a license certification the applicant shall execute a
bond in the sum of five thousand dollars ($5,000), payable to the State of
North Carolina, signed by a solvent guaranty company authorized to do business
in the State of North Carolina, and conditioned that the principal in said bond
will carry out and comply with each and every contract or agreement, written or
verbal, made and entered into by the applicant's school education
provider acting by and through its officers and agents with any student who
desires to enter such school and to take any courses offered therein by
the education provider and that said principal will refund to such students
all amounts collected in tuition and fees in case of failure on the part of the
party obtaining a license certification from the Commission to open
and operate as a private real estate school education provider
or to provide the instruction agreed to or contracted for. Such bond shall
be required for each school education provider for which a license
certification is required and shall be first approved by the
Commission and then filed with the clerk of superior court of the county in
which the school is located, to be recorded by such clerk in a book provided
for that purpose. A separate bond shall not be required for each branch location
of a licensed school.an education provider.
(b) In any and all cases where the party licensed by the Commission fails to fulfill its obligations under any contract or agreement, written or verbal, made and entered into with any student, then the State of North Carolina, upon the relation of the student(s) entering into said contract or agreement, shall have a cause of action against the principal and surety on the bond herein required for the full amount of payments made to such party, plus court costs and six percent (6%) interest from the date of payment of said amount. Such suits shall be brought in Wake County Superior Court within one year of the alleged default.
"§ 93A‑37. Contracts with unlicensed schools and
evidences of indebtedness made null and void.
All contracts or agreements
entered into on or after October 1, 1980, by private real estate schools, as
defined in this Article, with students or prospective students, and all
promissory notes or other evidence of indebtedness taken on or after October 1,
1980, in lieu of cash payments by such schools, shall be null and void unless
such schools are duly licensed as required by this Article on the date of such
contract or agreement or taking of any promissory note or other evidence of
indebtedness.
"§ 93A‑38. Suspension, revocation or denial of license.certification.
The Commission shall have the power
to suspend, revoke, deny issuance, or deny renewal of license to operate certification
of a private real estate school. education provider. In all
proceedings to suspend, revoke or deny a license, certification, the
provisions of Chapter 150B of the General Statutes shall be applicable. The
Commission may suspend, revoke, or deny such license certification or
renewal thereof when it finds:finds that the applicant or
principal thereof or holder of such certification has done any of the
following:
(1) That the applicant for
or holder of such license has refused Refused or failed to comply
with any of the provisions of this Article or the rules or regulations
promulgated thereunder;thereunder.
(2) That the applicant for
or holder of such license has knowingly Knowingly presented to the
Commission false or misleading information relating to matters within the
purview of the Commission under this Article;Article.
(3) That the applicant for
or holder of such license has presented Presented to its students or
prospective students false or misleading information relating to its
instructional program, to the instructional programs of other institutions or
to employment opportunities;opportunities.
(4) That the applicant for
or holder of such license has failed Failed to comply with the
provisions of any contract or agreement entered into with a student;student.
(5) That the applicant for
or holder of such license has at At any time refused to permit
authorized representatives of the Commission to inspect the school, or failed
to make available to them upon request full information relating to matters
within the purview of the Commission under the provisions of this Article or
the rules or regulations promulgated thereunder; orthereunder.
(6) That the applicant for
or holder of such license or any officer of a corporate licensee or corporation
applying for a license, any partner of a partnership licensee or partnership
applying for a license, or any member of a limited liability company licensee
or limited liability company applying for a license has pleaded Pleaded guilty,
entered a plea of nolo contendere or been found guilty of a crime involving
moral turpitude in any state or federal court.
"§ 93A‑38.5. Continuing education.
(a) The Commission shall establish a program of continuing education for real estate brokers. An individual licensed as a real estate broker is required to complete eight hours of instruction a year during any license renewal period in subjects the Commission deems appropriate. Any licensee who fails to complete continuing education requirements pursuant to this section shall not actively engage in the business of real estate broker.
(a1) The Commission may, as part of the broker continuing education requirements, require real estate brokers‑in‑charge to complete during each annual license period a special continuing education course consisting of not more than four hours of instruction in subjects prescribed by the Commission.
(b) The Commission shall establish procedures allowing for a deferral of continuing education for brokers while they are not actively engaged in real estate brokerage.
(c) The Commission may adopt rules not inconsistent with this Chapter to implement the continuing education requirement, including rules that govern:
(1) The content and subject matter of continuing education courses.
(2) The curriculum of courses required.
(3) The criteria, standards, and procedures for the approval of courses, real estate education providers, and course instructors.
(4) The methods of instruction.
(5) The computation of course credit.
(6) The ability to carry forward course credit from one year to another.
(7) The deferral of continuing education for brokers not engaged in brokerage.
(8) The waiver of or variance from the continuing education requirement for hardship or other reasons.
(9) The procedures for compliance and sanctions for noncompliance.
(d) The Commission may establish a nonrefundable course application fee to be charged to private real estate education providers for the review and approval of a proposed continuing education course. The fee shall not exceed one hundred twenty‑five dollars ($125.00) per course. The Commission may charge the private real estate education providers of an approved course a nonrefundable fee not to exceed seventy‑five dollars ($75.00) for the annual renewal of course approval.
A private real estate education provider shall pay a fee of ten dollars ($10.00) per licensee to the Commission for each licensee completing an approved continuing education course conducted by the sponsor.
The Commission shall not charge a course application fee, a course renewal fee, or any other fee for a continuing education course sponsored by a community college, junior college, college, or university located in this State and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
(e) The Commission may award continuing education credit for an unapproved course or related educational activity. The Commission may prescribe procedures for a licensee to submit information on an unapproved course or related educational activity for continuing education credit. The Commission may charge a fee to the licensee for each course or activity submitted. The fee shall not exceed fifty dollars ($50.00)."
SECTION 4. G.S. 93A‑40(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a) It shall be unlawful
for any person in this State to engage or assume to engage in the business of a
time share salesperson without first obtaining a real estate broker license
issued by the North Carolina Real Estate Commission under the provisions of
Article 1 of this Chapter, and it shall be unlawful for a time share
developer or time share salesperson to sell or offer to sell a time
share located in this State without the time share developer first
obtaining a certificate of registration for the time share project to be
offered for sale issued by the North Carolina Real Estate Commission under the
provisions of this Article.Article. A time share salesperson shall be
a licensed real estate broker subject to the provisions of this Chapter unless
the time share salesperson (i) meets the requirement for exemption set forth in
G.S. 93A‑2(c)(1) or (ii) is an employee of the registered time share
developer, whose income is reported on IRS Form W‑2 of the registered
time share developer."
SECTION 5. Section 4 and this section become effective when this act becomes law. The remainder of this act becomes effective July 1, 2020.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 1st day of August, 2019.
s/ Carl Ford
Presiding Officer of the Senate
s/ Tim Moore
Speaker of the House of Representatives
s/ Roy Cooper
Governor
Approved 3:40 p.m. this 9th day of August, 2019