Amendments Proposed To Commission Rules

Following is a summary of the proposed rule amendments the Commission approved for publication in the North Carolina Register at its December 2017 meeting. The text for the proposed rule amendments under consideration may be found on the Commission’s website under ‘License Law and Rule Changes.’  Members of the public may submit oral or written comments on any proposed rule(s) by contacting Melissa Vuotto, Rulemaking Coordinator. If approved, the proposed rules will have an effective date of July 1, 2018.

Section A .0100 General Brokerage

21 NCAC 58A .0105 Advertising – To amend the rule in paragraph (a)(1) to clarify that a broker must include the name of the broker and the firm or sole proprietorship with which the broker is affiliated.

21 NCAC 58A .0106 Delivery of Instruments – To amend the rule in paragraph (a) to require every broker to deliver a copy of any written instrument to their customer or client within 3 days of the document’s execution.

21 NCAC 58A .0108 Retention of Records –To amend the rule to include a broker’s duty to protect the security/confidentiality of consumer data in the broker’s possession, including secure email, encryption, etc. and to require brokers to provide a copy of all transaction files to their firm within three days of receipt.

21 NCAC 58A .0110 Broker-in-Charge – To amend the rule to (1) clarify the rule text; (2) remove the North Carolina GRI program as an exception to the Broker-in-Charge experience requirement; and (3) require nonresident brokers to complete the 12-hour BIC Course and BIC Update Course.

21 NCAC 58A .0114 Residential Property and Owner’s Association Disclosure Statement – To amend the rule to (1) change “Purchaser” to “Buyer” (the purpose of this change is to make the rule match the word usage commonly used by brokers), (2) include a question that asks if a radon mitigation system is present in the home and to clarify whether the dwelling’s sewage disposal system is permitted by the State, and (3)  separate the issue of deed restrictions and Property Owners Associations, since not all properties with deed restrictions are governed by a Property Owners Association and to include “Master Insurance” under services and amenities of a owners’ association.

Section A .0500 Licensing

21 NCAC 58A .0503 License Renewal – To amend the rule to remove the sentence that states a broker can renew by calling the Commission’s offices in order to safeguard credit card information. The Commission no longer accepts payments over the telephone.

21 NCAC 58A .0505 ReinstatementTo amend the rule in paragraph (a) to remove the fee associated with suspended licenses, in paragraph (b) to add language clarifying that criminal background checks will be conducted pursuant to a reinstatement application,  and to amend the rule to require persons requesting reinstatement after less than six months from expiration to disclose any criminal convictions or disciplinary actions by other occupational licensing boards, including any such offenses that occurred since the person’s license expired or was revoked.

21 NCAC 58A .0511 Licensing of Persons Licensed in Another Jurisdiction – To amend the rule to include provisions for licensing military-trained applicants and their military spouses with temporary practice permits in compliance with G.S. 93B-15.1, as enacted in Section 3 of S.L. 2017-28.

Section A .1700 Mandatory Continuing Education

21 NCAC 58A .1702 Continuing Education Requirement – To amend the rule to clarify continuing education credit for a broker-in-charge or broker taking the General Update Course.  This provision was previously located in 21 NCAC 58A .0110.

21 NCAC 58A .1703 Continuing Education for License Activation – To amend the rule to require brokers on inactive status for more than two years to complete additional education prior to activating their license.

21 NCAC 58A .1711 Continuing Education Required of Nonresident Licensees – To amend the rule to eliminate the requirement of nonresident brokers to notify the Commission of affiliation with a North Carolina office.

Section B .0100 Time Share Project Registration

21 NCAC 58B .0103 Renewal of Time Share Registration – To amend the rule to eliminate the notary requirement on the renewal form in order to proceed with electronic time share renewals.

Section G .0100 Real Estate Education – General

21 NCAC 58G .0103 Definitions – To amend the rule to include additional definitions of terms.

Section H .0200 Real Estate Schools

21 NCAC 58H .0211 Prelicensing and Postlicensing Roster Reporting – To amend the rule to require schools to submit a Roster Report electronically within 7 days following the course, instead of 30 days.

Section H .0400 Approved Instructors

21 NCAC 58H .0404 Renewal of Sponsor Approval – To amend the rule to change a rule reference.

This article came from the February 2018-Vol48-3 edition of the bulletin.