[{"_1":2,"_100":-5,"_101":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6590324,"mediaKeyId","5591068-e5fc860e2476fd152457ccef422375ca","parentId",5591068,"title","TREC workshop examines temporary-suspension authority after contested-case timeline revealed","audioSeconds",665,"startMs",2785295,"endMs",3450735,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5591068-e5fc860e2476fd152457ccef422375ca&start=2785&end=3450","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5591068-e5fc860e2476fd152457ccef422375ca/thumbnail_2785295.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6590324/Texas/TREC-workshop-examines-temporary-suspension-authority-after-contested-case-timeline-revealed","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6590324-a256bebc7fc78a110942e5a7e42195f8/orig.mp4?Expires=1770507244&Signature=XNsD5QHvyC9KUGHSlVt5q6Nr0L6oPoWJWkl4viHQxnMh8mBZcqY-W~j7FRHZbGQO~COJWSfjGxNhI4TNpe1OW6h9RFyu6a57CMemHqHkGCuYyaxUEv06FmKFKGBLTOVKJnuQhaDZVDCUwqDDIM-Qa~mC4X8QklJIXLmm0PVnaUFyqSVr8M1Kbvwe68-WkRVEMP5p5JW6OKd5wrreLiz~A7UrouXeqdpVYvXu2OUSLoUua6NeYKe1I~8MrFs4kDTnMp2SvcZRUJTM~GKhT5fklVOHaTkCCOrgNyN1U-f79KEnd9CDOwVX~gJujPbsgf-wo6Og6gTDJPw5g6HFr5Xnmg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Texas Real Estate Commission","date","2025-08-16T00:27:37Z","article","Commission staff led a workshop on the commission's authority to temporarily suspend licenses, explaining statutory standards and how the provision has been used historically.

Staff explained that a three-commissioner disciplinary panel — traditionally the enforcement committee — may temporarily suspend a license when it determines that a licensee's continued practice would \"constitute a continuing threat to the public welfare.\" Staff emphasized the high legal standard for suspensions, particularly when seeking a temporary suspension without notice or hearing, because doing so bypasses the normal enforcement process and triggers a simultaneous contested case that must be set \"as soon as possible.\"

Staff reviewed past agency uses of the authority and said the tool is used sparingly. Examples cited included cases in which a licensee repeatedly failed to remit trust funds as a property manager (multiple complaints alleging similar facts), and a separate case where an appraiser repeatedly accepted payment and failed to deliver appraisal reports. In those earlier matters, staff said the repeated, similar allegations supported the finding that continued practice presented an ongoing threat.

Staff also reviewed a recent contested case in which a sales agent pled guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and to filing a false tax return connected to roughly $4 million in donations to two charities. The transcript summary staff provided included these steps: the respondent's guilty plea was reported in August 2022; staff opened a case in January 2024 after notification from the respondent's attorney; the respondent was sentenced in federal court in February 2024; an NOAV (notice of alleged violation) was sent Feb. 27, 2024; the respondent requested a hearing and the final contested-case matters were not before the commission until May 2025. Staff told commissioners the enforcement team's view was that the temporary-suspension standard would have been difficult to meet in that matter because it did not present the repeated, like-pattern allegations that often justify a suspension.

Staff noted that other licensing agencies sometimes have separate statutory language or rules that guide temporary-suspension use and that many health-related boards have written rules providing additional guidance; TREC currently does not have a comparable rule. To address uncertainty, staff offered options including drafting a rule that would describe internal process, potential triggers (for example, a high volume of substantially similar complaints or clear evidence of trust-account misappropriation), and workflow steps for presenting cases to the disciplinary panel.

Commissioners asked practical questions about timing, red flags during intake and whether to route borderline matters to the enforcement committee for early review. Several commissioners urged staff to consider a rulemaking exercise to add \"meat on the bones\" of the current statutory standard so enforcement staff and commissioners have clearer, documented criteria for when temporary suspension should be considered.

Staff said they will draft possible rule language and present it first to the enforcement committee for discussion prior to any formal rule proposal to the full commission.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) Meeting Workshop 08.11.2025","oneSentenceSummary","Staff reviewed the legal standard and past uses of temporary-suspension authority, outlined a contested-case timeline tied to a federal guilty plea and recommended the commission consider rulemaking to clarify triggers and process for temporary suspensions.","taxTitle","Texas Real Estate Commission, Boards & Commissions, Executive, Texas","taxId",36448,"location","Texas","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6590329,"TREC staff outlines implementation steps for recent bills affecting licensees, HOA filings and broker requirements",573,1976695,2549980,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5591068-e5fc860e2476fd152457ccef422375ca&start=1976&end=2549","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5591068-e5fc860e2476fd152457ccef422375ca/thumbnail_1976695.jpg","/articles/6590329/Texas/TREC-staff-outlines-implementation-steps-for-recent-bills-affecting-licensees-HOA-filings-and-broker-requirements","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6590329-fc495f94f21664e2a706dc62a6f033b4/orig.mp4?Expires=1770507244&Signature=H7L5YsjmOG-c8vGKc9-~JqNqvIFUXyshepGMoJn8GO7b7MbXf~2cTsLbwJGQlTFJbzYbq4bYVb9aG6wlbm2KEGIu6PXH7IIpyc-Vu88tSDcMFK8OUl~0n9dplozMRc6iPXKauvdr9YilEcT1~~T4E6UuA70qeLUKwSv9cqF~rxcHL~yo0aaZtxApynaHeTFHtG5KBfw7-5fOhdBWY64t5ie1XeeJQ00kmXekoBvJEOuVfPp8qsKsz03rmOPJH0p2-2CQA8kMyMZNNvz8W0aX6K0RSOzSPP7DBeV6Uha22Fd4akeEY8um2MAMDvCZ3wBdn2bynA7G7wMc0TM37eJg-Q__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Commission staff presented an implementation update on legislative changes that the agency must put into effect over the coming months and years.

Staff said S.B. 711 will require condominium associations to upload management certificates to hoa.texas.gov; the commission is coordinating with web developers to update that site so users can distinguish condo associations from property owners associations when S.B. 711 becomes effective Sept. 1.

Staff described H.B. 5629 (military/licensure): effective Sept. 1, the statute removes a \"substantially equivalent\" requirement that had complicated reciprocity for service members; the change also adds veterans. Staff said they will add fields and reporting tags in the Realm portal to identify applicants licensed under the new state route and to generate quarterly complaint reports required by statute while protecting confidential information.

S.B. 1968, described by staff as a housekeeping bill effective Jan. 1, 2026, will require a broker-responsibility course for all brokers on renewal and give the commission rulemaking authority to adjust qualifying education requirements by rule rather than by statute. Director Jennifer Wheeler was noted as the staff member who will discuss practical implications for qualifying education.

Staff also explained statutory changes requiring associated broker affiliations to be collected and displayed: associated brokers must identify their affiliation in the portal, and the commission will enable a verification step so sponsor brokers can confirm the association before it appears on the public license-holder search.

Another change under recent legislation requires license holders' business contact information to be collected for public display in a designated field in the portal. Staff said that collection is separate from the service or mailing address required for agency records and that a P.O. box may be used for the publicly displayed business contact.

Staff warned that the commission's authority to publish business-contact data and where that information appears (for example, high-value datasets used by third parties) remains under discussion. They said the commission is weighing how to provide timestamps or nightly update signals to data consumers who maintain external license-holder files.

Staff said other statutory changes discussed in the meeting — including updates to notice rules and nonrepresentation status forms — will be handled through rulemaking and guidance documents. They recommended continuing stakeholder outreach as rules and portal fields are configured.

Staff asked commissioners whether a rule to clarify the temporary-suspension process would be useful; that topic was discussed separately in the meeting's enforcement workshop.","Staff summarized several recently passed bills and rule changes that TREC must implement, including condo association management certificate uploads to hoa.texas.gov, changes for military applicants, a new broker responsibility course, associated-broker data collection and publication of business contact information.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":92,"_45":93,"_47":94,"_49":95,"_51":96,"_53":97,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":98,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":99,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6590333,"TREC shows demo of Realm portal for licensing, complaints and account management",954,18545,973045,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5591068-e5fc860e2476fd152457ccef422375ca&start=18&end=973","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5591068-e5fc860e2476fd152457ccef422375ca/thumbnail_18545.jpg","/articles/6590333/Texas/TREC-shows-demo-of-Realm-portal-for-licensing-complaints-and-account-management","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6590333-33f1a93c358b03dd7fcac390b351ec5a/orig.mp4?Expires=1770507244&Signature=L9jZ7zUPT0SbIxL2x4SSED0jtG0rDGfIdTUINUR3B4AMGwh3lgZQbeUwmrc-BSo8tn2dvYRaHa1kgiO1uALXhiFJTdLNVtumJSaa9-nvIMlQ2xoVx87Z4KRBl9cgw4gU6nyZDoMlnhnZqCfyyn4N8dV-fsyDsDKvoj3Or0q7jfueEktfb4kpkTKpuYh2xo2NuOFedreELUuzBScFMyb38FapPaAgfJSpr~l2dpxR1veohmWUqvEDOZtgcARkyFHkHBdz-7ig4SjiawRfyILuS2MZ2KWvUWGCicPNuep-F4XMBPg~is67gaYin6otYI2ICLIt14Wdewx3Kg4VC~DgnA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Texas Real Estate Commission on Tuesday previewed a demo of the Realm portal, a new online system intended to handle licensing, renewals, complaints and payments.

Commission staff emphasized that users will need to create accounts to apply for or renew licenses, file complaints and track case status. \"I'm Denise Sample, the director of licensing, we put this together to kind of just show an overview of what will be the first step as someone engages with the system,\" Denise Sample said during the demonstration.

The portal demo showed an account-creation flow that branches to different application types (individual, applicant, organization), a save-and-resume feature for in-progress applications, and a final review and automated payment screen. Staff said the system will produce an application number and an email confirmation immediately after submission so applicants and staff can track processing status.

A built-in skip-logic step was described for military applicants so qualifying service members, spouses and veterans can have fees waived and be routed into a fast-track review queue. Staff explained the waiver will be validated during the back-end review process against documentation required by statute and rules; if an applicant is incorrectly routed, staff can invoice later.

For complaints, staff said complainants will also have to create accounts to file through the portal. The complaint intake includes an option to look up a licensee by name or license number, add witnesses, provide transaction details and upload supporting documents (photos, videos, PDFs). Staff said consumers may still submit paper complaints if they prefer; the online option is intended to improve document handling and communications.

Staff described routing logic behind complaint intake: complaint answers and uploaded files will allow staff to triage and route complaints to the appropriate enforcement team (for example, advertising compliance). Complainants will receive a complaint number and periodic status notifications; the portal will display a high-level processing status but will not disclose confidential investigative steps.

Presenters said existing accounts from the old system will not transfer automatically; users will be asked to create new accounts after launch. Staff also noted a public-facing license-holder search will remain available separately to look up license numbers and limited public information.

Staff cautioned that the demo shown focused on functionality and back-end integration rather than final visual design. They said data conversion and final language for disclaimers and application text are still being completed, and launch messaging will encourage early account creation ahead of renewal deadlines.

What happens next: staff said they will continue configuration and testing, collect feedback from internal reviewers and external stakeholders, and finalize roll‑out communications and training before going live.","Texas Real Estate Commission staff demonstrated the Realm portal mockup, outlining required account creation, application flows, military fee waivers, document uploads and a new online complaint intake that will track status and send automated notifications.","actionData","errors"]

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TREC workshop examines temporary-suspension authority after contested-case timeline revealed

TREC staff outlines implementation steps for recent bills affecting licensees, HOA filings and broker requirements

TREC shows demo of Realm portal for licensing, complaints and account management