OREC Report - March 2023 Oklahoma Real Estate Commission Meeting
Mar 24, 2023
There is a lot to report inform the March 2023 Oklahoma Real Estate Commission meeting, so let's dive right in.
Applicant Appeals
The most common reason an applicant for a real estate license is denied is due to a criminal history. When applying for a license, the Real Estate Commission conducts a criminal background check, and prior criminal convictions can become a roadblock for obtaining a license. If an applicant is denied, they have the opportunity to address the Commission and seek approval of their license. It is rare that the Commission will grant an exception, and even in the case of receiving a pardon from the Governor. The best avenue for overcoming a license denial is to get an expungement. In this meeting, all applicant appeals were denied.
Motion to Reconsider
A respondent in a case missed a meeting due to a medical issue. The Commission took adverse action against the individual, and the respondent is now asking the Commission to reopen the case to reconsider the action taken. The Commission denied the Motion to Reconsider because the respondent did not show good cause for why the Commission should reopen the case.
Consent Orders
Most violations these days are settled with the Real Estate Commission through Consent Orders. This process can expedite resolution of the case by avoiding a hearing and receiving potentially lower penalties when settling. The other benefit is that you have more control over the outcome when working directly with the Commission to resolve the case. If you choose to proceed with a hearing, the result is decided by the Hearing Examiner, which means you are rolling the dice with the penalties they impose. There were a LOT of cases settled in consent orders in this meeting. Here are just a few highlights:
- One case involved a broker that did not timely appoint a new branch broker to a branch office leaving it without a branch broker for three months, failed to adequately respond to an investigation, and did not catch an associate that had a lapsed license and paying them a commission. The broker agreed to surrender their broker's license and move down to a sales associate license (eligible to re-apply for a broker license after 12 months) and pay a $15,000 fine.
- A fine of $5,000 and $1,500 was agreed to by two licensees for not disclosing in writing to all parties that the broker had an interest in the title company proving closing services in the transaction. I have been told before by OREC staff they are seeing a lot of inadequate disclosure of these beneficial interests in transactions and are taking them very seriously.
- An associate was fined $7,500 for failing to disclose a family relationship in a transaction, failing to disclose in writing an interest she had in the property she was selling, and failing to disclose known material defects in the condition of the property. Inadequate disclosure issues are clearly a major point of interest for the Commission right now.
- An agent was fined $7,000 for doing property management activities outside of their brokerage including not accounting for tenant's money correctly, opening an unauthorized trust account, and commingling personal funds with funds of others.
- A couple cases involved providing access to property without the owner's authorization.
- A few cases involved doing licensable activity without a license.
- A couple cases involved small fines for operating as a team without registering the team name.
Executive Director's Report
- Commission is undergoing an audit with the State Auditor. First time since 2018. This is done with all agencies periodically, so nothing out of the ordinary with this.
- Legislation is working through the legislature to update some statutes.
- Newsletter will be going out shortly with some updates from OREC.
- OREC is working on a mobile app that will be useful for licensing, resources for compliance, brokerage management, etc. Estimated to be rolled out this summer.
- App to pay another agent for a showing, OREC says this is not permitted in Oklahoma under current rules.
- Test vendor will be terminating and will likely be going with a different test vendor for licensing testing.
Highlights of Proposed Rule Changes
- All registered team names must end in “team” or “group.”
- Some fee changes - a few increases and a few removals, but nothing substantial.
- Post-license education is required to be completed within six months, and would be placed on inactive for an additional six months if not completed. This is an administrative nightmare, so they are going back to the rule that gives a year to complete the post-license class.
- If you’ve moved, make sure you update your home address with OREC, which can be done online in the OREC portal.
- If you list a property, and you want to buy it, you will have to make a written disclosure to the owner. Currently the disclosure is not required to be written.
- If you are purchasing a property for yourself or an entity you have an interest in, you have to make a written disclosure to all parties in the transaction.
- Family relationship disclosure must be in writing rather than just verbal.
Other Updates
18,406 active licenses in Oklahoma.