The Texas Real Estate Commission met on August 7 and adopted amendments to existing rules and proposed several more. View the meeting materials packet, which provides more details about all the changes, on TREC’s website. Here’s a breakdown of a proposal related to forms. Find a list of other rule changes proposed by TREC here.

A proposed rule change to Section 537.11 would eliminate TAR’s ability to create and provide forms to members that amend existing mandatory forms from TREC. If adopted, TAR could not provide certain forms such as the Release of Earnest Money (TAR 1904) or the Relocation Addendum (TAR 1941), which change the rights and responsibilities of principals in mandatory TREC contract forms and addenda. TAR is in the process of reviewing the proposed rules and will provide comments to TREC.

The current rule provides an exception to using forms promulgated by TREC by allowing license holders to use other forms, like TAR forms, in transactions for which no TREC contract form exists. The proposed language clarifies that the exception “does not permit a license holder to use a form that changes the rights, remedies or responsibilities of a principal contained in a mandatory contract form or addendum.”

Share your feedback on proposed rule changes with TREC

The earliest these proposed rule amendments could be adopted is during the next TREC meeting, scheduled for November 13.

You can provide comments about these proposed rule changes for at least 30 days after they are published in the Texas Register by emailing general.counsel@trec.texas.gov. The proposals from the August 7 meeting will likely go live August 25; you can enter “Texas Real Estate Commission” in the Agency Name field on this page to read the rules when they’re published in the Texas Register.

Comments made on this blog post will not be read by TREC and do not count as official feedback on proposed rule changes.

Other adopted or proposed rule changes from TREC: