As you are aware, there has been a difference of opinion between the Florida Association of Realtors and the Division of Real Estate regarding agency disclosure requirements. On October 22, 1999, the Florida Association of Realtors filed a Petition for Declaratory Statement with the Commission pursuant to Section 120.565, F.S.  This is a mechanism in the Administrative Procedures Act whereby a substantially affected person may seek an agency's opinion as to the applicability of a statutory provision or rule.  Specifically, the Florida Association of Realtors, on behalf of its licensee members, asked the Commission to issue a declaratory statement as to the effect the amendments to the agency disclosure law have on real estate licensees when dealing with customers the licensee does not represent.

On December 15, 1999, the Commission heard the Florida Association of Realtor's Petition.  After much discussion the Commission passed a motion which is the Declaratory Statement.  This Declaratory Statement is a final order, appealable to the District Court of Appeal.  (So the matter may not be entirely settled if an appeal is filed.)

The Commission said that the Important Notice must be given to any potential buyer or seller in a residential transaction no later than the showing of property when the licensee does not represent the buyer or seller.  The entire form consisting of Important Notice and either the Transaction Broker Notice or Single Agent Notice does NOT have to be given.  Only that portion titled Important Notice, as follows, must be given:
 
 

The Florida Association and the FREC also discussed what constitutes a showing, particularly as it pertains to an open house or model home.  (Remember, the exemptions from both of these situations were also repealed effective October 1, 1999.)  Therefore, the Commission will begin to discuss this and other questions with a Rule Development Workshop to be held on January 19, 2000 during its January Commission meeting. If you would like a voice in this matter, plan to attend this important Commission meeting.        2-28-2000

• elimination of the definition of the term "first contact".
• elimination of the Notice of Nonrepresentation disclosure form.
• elimination of section 475.272(2), which required real estate licensees to disclose to customers on first contact in residential real estate transactions that they are not and would not be represented by a licensee unless they engaged the licensee in an authorized form of representation.
• incorporation of the "important notice information" into the Single Agent Notice and the Transaction Broker Notice disclosure forms.
• repeal of section 475.276, F.S., eliminating the exemptions from the notice requirements for licensees in situations where: (1) the licensee knows that a potential seller or buyer is represented by a single agent or a transaction broker; or (2) an owner is selling new residential units built by the owner. Because this language was repealed, the DBPR has interpreted this to mean that the "important notice information" must be disclosed to all potential buyers and sellers of residential real estate. Licensees should give the "important notice information" to all buyers and sellers before the showing of property.
• a requirement that the Single Agent Notice or the Transaction Broker Notice disclosure forms be given to all buyers and sellers before, or at the time of, entering into a listing agreement or an agreement for representation. 
• addition of 475.011(12), providing a regulatory exemption for certain registered securities dealers and financial institutions in connection with the purchase and sale of business enterprises.

To help assist you with making the necessary revisions to your classroom presentations, we have developed a set of agency transparencies in PowerPoint. The transparencies may be downloaded from our exclusive website. The revised agency disclosure forms are also posted at this website. 

Thank you for your continued support of the Florida real estate education textbook series including: Florida Real Estate Principles, Practices and Law, Post-Licensing for Real Estate Salespersons, Florida Real Estate Broker's Guide, Real Estate Math, Florida Real Estate Exam Manual and Florida Continuing Education for Real Estate Brokers and Salespersons.     1-10-2000

The Florida Real Estate Commission held its September meeting on Tuesday, October 19, 1999 (delayed because of the hurricane). Assistant Attorney General James Mitchell reported that 37 EDOs had been reviewed, considered and acted upon during the prior month. The FREC approved all 37 EDOs. In other business, the Commission approved a recommended change to Section 475.175, F.S. The recommended revision will be forwarded to the DBPR for inclusion in the year 2000 legislative package. The recommended change states:

(3) An applicant who fails to pass the examination may take subsequent examinations as many times as necessary to pass, except that the commission may specify by rule reasonable time frames for rescheduling the examination and shall adopt rules specifying additional educational requirements for applicants who, after the third attempt, fail to pass the examination.

Director, Herb Fecker, introduced Commissioner Richardson, the newest Commissioner. Ms. Richardson is from Panama City and is a consumer member. Director Fecker also announced that he had made the FREC Advisory Committee (a.k.a., The Research Foundation) a priority project for the Division. In other business, 15 Summary of Applicants were considered by the Commission. Twenty-nine cases were on the appearance docket of the legal agenda.

Bureau Chief of Enforcement, Fred Seli, reported that 473 office inspections had been conducted in August, 1999, compared to 428 inspections one year prior. During the same period, 267 audits were conducted (239 one year prior). Thirty-five Citations and 40 Notices of Noncompliance were issued during the month of August, 1999.

Bureau Chief of Licensure, Mary Stimmel, reported that applications are down from 1998. Applications approved in August, 1998 totaled 3,266 (2,938 salesperson, 318 broker and 6 instructor applications). During August, 1999, only 2,048 applications were approved (1,843 salesperson, 200 broker and 5 instructor applications).

Education Coordinator, Alex Grist, reported that in August, 1999, a total of 55 FREC courses were submitted; 30 of which were pre/post courses and the remaining 25 were continuing education courses. He also reported that during the month of August, 1999, there were 2,747 salesperson examination candidates—1,165 passed the exam and the remaining 1,582 failed, yielding a pass ratio of just 42.4%. During the same period, there were 422 broker exam candidates of which 196 passed and 226 failed, yielding a pass ratio of 46%.       10-25-1999

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A recently updated version of Rule 61J2, in the Florida Real Estate Commission Handbook, (effective June 1, 1999) is available at the DRE's web site. (A link to DRE's home page is provided from this site.) To facilitate use of 61J2, download this Word document file that contains a table of contents to be used with the new version of 61J2.       6-9-1999