Sec. 1101.455. CONTINUING EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS. (a) In this section, "property tax consulting laws and legal issues" includes the Tax Code, preparation of property tax reports, the unauthorized practice of law, agency law, tax law, law relating to property tax or property assessment, deceptive trade practices, contract forms and addendums, and other legal topics approved by the commission.

(b) A license holder who is not subject to the education requirements of Section 1101.454 must attend during the term of the current license continuing education courses approved by the commission. The commission by rule shall prescribe the number of classroom hours of continuing education courses the license holder must attend, which must be at least 15 classroom hours. The commission may not increase the number of required classroom hours by more than three over the term of a license.

(c) The commission by rule may:

(1) prescribe the title, content, and duration of continuing education courses that a license holder must attend to renew a license; and

(2) approve as a substitute for the classroom attendance required by Subsection (b):

(A) relevant educational experience; and

(B) alternative delivery or correspondence courses.

(d) Repealed by Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1158 , Sec. 92, eff. January 1, 2016.

(e) At least eight of the continuing education hours required by Subsection (b) must provide current information on the following legal topics:

(1) commission rules;

(2) fair housing laws;

(3) Property Code issues, including landlord-tenant law;

(4) agency law;

(5) antitrust laws;

(6) Subchapter E, Chapter 17, Business & Commerce Code;

(7) disclosures to buyers, landlords, tenants, and sellers;

(8) promulgated contract and addendum forms;

(9) unauthorized practice of law;

(10) case studies involving violations of laws and regulations;

(11) Federal Housing Administration and Department of Veterans Affairs regulations;

(12) tax laws;

(13) property tax consulting laws and legal issues;

(14) other legal topics approved by the commission; or

(15) the ethical requirements of engaging in real estate brokerage.

(f) The remaining hours may be devoted to other real estate-related topics and courses approved by the commission.

(g) Repealed by Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1158 , Sec. 92, eff. January 1, 2016.

(h) The commission shall automatically approve the following courses as courses that satisfy the mandatory continuing education requirements of Subsection (f):

(1) qualifying real estate courses; and

(2) real estate-related courses approved by the State Bar of Texas for minimum continuing legal education participatory credit.

(i) The commission may not require an examination for a course under this section unless the course is:

(1) an alternative delivery or correspondence course; or

(2) a course described by Subsection (e) or Section 1101.458.

(j) Daily classroom course segments offered under this section must be at least one hour and not more than 10 hours.

(k) Notwithstanding the number of hours required by Subsection (e), a member of the legislature licensed under this chapter is only required to complete three hours of continuing education on the legal topics under Subsection (e).

(l) An applicant, license holder, or education provider may not report to the commission the completion of an alternative delivery or correspondence course offered under this section until the elapsed time between the time the applicant or license holder registers for the course and the time the completion of the course is reported is equal to or greater than the number of hours for which credit is claimed.

Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1421, Sec. 2, eff. June 1, 2003. Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1276, Sec. 14A.159(a), eff. Sept. 1, 2003.

Amended by:

Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 825 (S.B. 810), Sec. 6, eff. September 1, 2005.

Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 297 (H.B. 1530), Sec. 8, eff. September 1, 2007.

Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1411 (S.B. 914), Sec. 20, eff. September 1, 2007.

Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 87 (S.B. 1969), Sec. 27.001(72), eff. September 1, 2009.

Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1064 (S.B. 747), Sec. 17, eff. September 1, 2011.

Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1158 (S.B. 699), Sec. 53, eff. January 1, 2016.

Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1158 (S.B. 699), Sec. 92, eff. January 1, 2016.