Happy New Year, Texas REALTORS®!
Here’s a question I get all the time: What’s the difference between the Texas Association of REALTORS and the Texas Real Estate Commission? Well, I’ll tell you …
The Texas Real Estate Commission is the state agency that regulates your real estate license. It handles things like renewals, education, fingerprints and other mandated details of holding a license to sell real estate in the state of Texas. To be a real estate salesperson or broker in Texas, you must be licensed through TREC. The easiest way to contact TREC is usually by e-mail. Give yourself plenty of time before your renewal is due to contact the agency with any questions or problems you may have.
The Texas Association of REALTORS® is the state-level trade association for licensed real estate brokers and salespeople who hold themselves to a higher standard than the law requires: the Code of Ethics. The Texas Association of REALTORS is founded and funded by its members and is responsible for bringing you zipForm, the Legal Hotline, and many affordable and easy-to-acquire educational opportunities. In addition to the benefits you get from your membership, the Texas Association of REALTORS® is your advocate in local and state government, making sure that private-property rights and interests of the real estate professionals are protected.
Winter Meeting registration is open - click the link to the Texas Association of REALTORS® on the right to get more information and to register.
TAR has adopted changes to the following forms:
2001 – Residential Lease
2003 – Residential Lease Application
2006 – Residential Lease Inventory and Condition Form
2009 – Agreement for Application Deposit and Hold on Property
2201 – Residential Leasing and Property Management Agreement
2212 – Adverse Action Notice and Credit Score Disclosure
One may access the revised forms under the forms section here. Redline versions showing the changes will be posted here. We have notified the form-fill vendors who should update their libraries.
2001 – Residential Lease
2003 – Residential Lease Application
2006 – Residential Lease Inventory and Condition Form
2009 – Agreement for Application Deposit and Hold on Property
2201 – Residential Leasing and Property Management Agreement
2212 – Adverse Action Notice and Credit Score Disclosure
One may access the revised forms under the forms section here. Redline versions showing the changes will be posted here. We have notified the form-fill vendors who should update their libraries.
TREC has adopted the following changes:
A new law requires you to provide TREC with your current contact information, contact TREC using the link on the right to check your information.
The Texas Real Estate Commission recently adopted changes to six contract forms and 17 addenda. Most of the revisions relate to TREC's new Web address and phone number, but here are a few other changes that were adopted:
- The seller agrees to have the utilities on during the entire time the property is under contract.
- There are new choices for a buyer if a seller fails to complete repairs as agreed.
- Language was added to advise parties of a property owner’s right to receive certain information from a homeowners association. The added information also explains what a resale certificate is and that some documents must be made available to the parties.
- Language was added to advise the parties that, if the property is subject to a private transfer fee, the law requires a seller to notify a buyer that the private transfer fee obligation may be governed by the Texas Property Code.
The forms will be posted soon for voluntary use. Required use begins March 1.
A few tips from Texas CPAs:
o The January/February issue of Texas REALTOR® magazine will have a feature article with tax information for Texas REALTORS® from Texas CPAs. In the meantime, here are a few tips from those accountants:
• To have a reliable record of your annual mileage, get your oil changed at the beginning of every year. The receipt from the shop should have your mileage on it, so you can get the total from one year to the next.
• A credit-card receipt may not be enough to substantiate a work-related meal or entertainment. Be sure to record who was there, when and where you went, the nature of the expense (e.g., dinner, cocktails), and why it should be considered a business expense (what was the substantive business discussed?).
• If you get audited, hire a professional to represent you. Many times, taxpayers dig themselves deeper holes simply because they do know how to proceed or conduct themselves at an audit.
