Texas real estate license holders should be conversant with the latest laws and standard practice updates that impact the real estate industry in Texas. This course comprises a comprehensive discussion about various laws, regulations, and guidelines directly affecting license holders’ practice of real estate. Scenarios and case studies are woven throughout the content to illustrate practical applications of pertinent points, as well as consequences when a license holder fails to comply.

This four-hour course provides license holders with a strong foundation in the latest legal and ethical procedures. Without such, license holders can place themselves—and their clients—in risky circumstances.

Course highlights include:

• TREC rules and updates
• TREC advisory committees
• Key legislative updates from the 89th Texas Legislature
• Broker-Lawyer Committee and TREC contract forms
• Mandatory vs. voluntary use of TREC contract forms
• Matching contract forms with transaction types
• Water rights and types of water
• Distinguish groundwater from surface water
• Licensee’s role regarding water rights in real estate transactions
• History of fair housing in Texas
• Fair housing complaint trends and investigations
• Steering
• Fair housing advertising and marketing prohibitions
• Fair housing best practices
• Rental properties and disability rights
• Assistance animal requests
• Reasonable accommodations requests

The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) Legal Update I and II courses are four hours of curriculum each. This online course, Legal Update II, includes four main topics: agency, TREC disclosures, representing veterans and military service members, and enforcement, case studies, and commission practices.

This four-hour course reinforces the Canons of Professional Ethics and Conduct and the fiduciary duties license holders owe to consumers, reviews the allowable duties of unlicensed assistants and transaction coordinators, presents the role, risk, and benefits of using artificial intelligence (AI) in your real estate business, considers benefits of VA loans for both buyers and sellers, and emphasizes the importance of compliance with TREC rules, advertising guidelines, and best practices.

Course highlights include:

• Chapter 531 TX Canons of Professional Ethics and Conduct
• Texas agency relationships
• TREC advertising rules
• Transaction coordinators, showing agents, and unlicensed assistants
• Role of AI in real estate business
• Risks and benefits using AI
• History of the VA loan
• Benefits and considerations about the VA loan for buyers and sellers
• Texas Veterans Land Board Lending Program
• TREC complaint process and common violations
• TREC case studies and best practices

As a Texas real estate license holder, competence is incumbent on you, whether it’s geographical competence, property type competence, or competence within your niche. Every transaction, no matter where the property is located, what type of property is being transferred, or what market segment is being served, involves contracts. You might say contractual competence is at the top of your competency pyramid. The view from up here can be daunting if you don’t know what you’re doing. But after this course you will. You’ll have command of promulgated forms, contract rule and laws, contract formation, deadlines and contingencies. 

Course highlights include:

• How the Texas License Act applies to contracts
• License holder duties related to promulgated forms
• How to avoid the unauthorized practice of law
• Essential elements for a binding contract
• How and when oral negotiation is appropriate
• How to handle document irregularities
• How to avoid common contract mistakes
• Deadlines and the difference between time is of the essence and "reasonable time"
• Common contract contingencies and their role in the real estate transaction

There’s a reason real estate agents often rank among the least trusted professionals in the U.S. But what can you do to improve the public’s perception? And what should you do when you run into an ethical dilemma or into a licensee who’s not behaving ethically? As a real estate professional, you can help raise the bar and improve the reputation of the industry. You can lead by example.

Aligned to the requirements of the current NAR cycle, this course will empower you to recognize and respond to ethical dilemmas, inspiring consumer confidence. For answers, we’ll look to several articles of the National Association of REALTORS® Code of Ethics, and draw from real-life ethical scenarios. In four short hours, you’ll be better prepared to exemplify the professionalism and cooperation that’s the true foundation of the real estate industry.

Course highlights include:

• Meets both regular ethics renewal requirements and new licensee ethics course requirements
• The importance of ethical behavior in NAR members and non-members alike, fostering a spirit of cooperation
• History and evolution of the Code, the preamble, and the Code’s influence on state licensing laws
• Structure of the Code
• Review and application of articles 1, 2, 3, 9, 12, 15, and 16 of the NAR Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice
• Case studies of real-life ethical challenges
• Mediation and arbitration, with arbitration as the monetary dispute resolution process between REALTORS®
• Application of Article 17 of the NAR Code of Ethics to the complaints and hearing process
• Grievance committee vs. professional standards committee
• The ethical dilemmas presented by newer technologies
• Best practices for demonstrating ethical behavior every day

*This course was designed by us to meet the REALTOR® Code of Ethics Training Requirement. Please confirm that your local association, who administers the Code of Ethics training, will accept this course.

In this course, you’ll learn about the history of housing discrimination and its lasting impact in order to better understand why fair housing laws are necessary. You’ll review the federal laws that provide protection against housing discrimination and what actions are prohibited and required by these laws in the business of real estate. This will include reviewing the personal characteristics—race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status, and disability--that federal law protects from discrimination in housing. Besides these federal protections, there are state and local government fair housing laws that protect additional personal characteristics from discrimination in housing and you’ll find out where to get more fair housing information for your clients.

You’ll also learn some best practices for fair housing marketing and some strategies to avoid steering and making assumptions based on stereotypes. You’ll role play some scenarios to practice interrupting any implicit biases so that consumers are treated with equal concern, respect, and fairness. By allowing consumers to choose which communities/neighborhoods they want to live in, you can do your part to uphold fair housing laws and end housing discrimination.

This course was designed to meet the REALTOR® Fair Housing Training Requirement. Please confirm that your local association, who administers the Fair Housing training, will accept this course.