Summertime in Oklahoma, where real estate signs are in full bloom in neighborhoods everywhere!
It was my honor at our last meeting to swear in our new Executive Director of the Oklahoma Real Estate Commission, Sherry Kueffler. This December, Sherry will celebrate her 20th year at the Commission and her experience and knowledge are making the transition easy. If you haven’t met her already, soon she’ll be in your town giving a presentation or putting on a continuing education seminar. Take the time to say "hi" to her.
We were happy to see legislation passed this spring that will make marketing your business a little easier without having to worry about being investigated or fined. SB104 brings clarity to the difference between influencing a buyer to buy a particular house versus marketing yourself or your company to prospective buyers as a group. The Commission was pleased to have the Oklahoma Association of Realtors collaborate on this piece of legislation. The new law goes into effect on November 1, 2019 so make sure you familiarize yourself with the new law before then.
Other Task Forces that we have working together with the Oklahoma Association of Realtors on right now are a Wholesaling Task Force and a Broker In Charge Education Task Force. The wholesaling issue keeps bringing complaints to the Commission and we are trying to come up with a plan to address this issue without restricting the ability of a property owner to sell their property on their own. The Broker in Charge task force is looking into updating the 15 hour required course for Brokers and possibly creating a one day course that could be used for continuing education. These task forces could make suggestions for the next legislative session in 2020.
Property Management cases have been the most costly cases in the three years that I’ve served on the Commission. When a property management case involves embezzlement, those funds typically come from homeowners in the form of rent not being forwarded or expenses being overcharged. Several of our recent cases have involved losses of several hundred thousands of dollars. These cases often result in payouts from your Education and Recovery Fund. Remember that all activities performed by an associate are to be under the supervision of the Broker. Associates are prohibited from opening or maintaining a trust account for purposes of managing property for others. The bottom line is that the broker is always responsible for the actions of their associates.
One final note, I’ve received several requests for the Disciplinary Actions to be included in the Commission Comments. We are currently working through a backlog of cases requiring approval by the Oklahoma Attorney General of all formal actions adopted by the Commission. As we clear this backlog we will begin putting those actions in future Commission Comments. You might even see a special edition of the Comments with just the cases that have been resolved to keep you informed of actions the Commission has taken. We know that many licensees learn a great deal by reading about the cases and the disciplinary actions handed down in them.
I wish you a fruitful selling season in Oklahoma!
Doug Emde, Chairman
|
Future Commission Meetings
July 26, 2019 (Strategic Planning)
August 14, 2019
September 11, 2019
Commission meetings are traditionally held on the second Wednesday of each month beginning at 9:30 am. If there is not enough agenda material to warrant a meeting, or there are extenuating circumstances, we will either postpone or cancel that meeting date.
Unless otherwise noted, all meetings are held at the Denver N. Davison Building, 1915 North Stiles Avenue - Suite 200, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105-4915.
A licensee is eligible to receive up to three (3) hours of core/required continuing education credit for attending a Commission meeting. In order to obtain this credit, please register with the Education Department prior to the meeting.
All real estate licensees are invited to attend two seminars being offered across the state by the Oklahoma Real Estate Commission. These seminars are offered at no charge to Oklahoma licensees and are underwritten by the Oklahoma Real Estate Education and Recovery Fund. To receive credit for the courses you must be on time and present for the entire class.
9:00 a.m. to Noon
20 years of Investigations presented by OREC Executive Director Sherry Kueffler
3 hours CAR Credit - required subject
1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
OREC Contracts presented by Don Lorg, Contract Committee Member
3 hours CON Credit - required subject
Class dates and locations are as follows:
August 23, 2019 - Lawton
Great Plains Vo Tech, 4500 SW Lee Blvd, Lawton, OK
August 30, 2019 - El Reno
Canadian Valley Vo Tech, 6505 E Hwy 66, El Reno, OK
September 27, 2019 - Tulsa
Tulsa Technology, 801 W 91st St, Tulsa, OK
October 4, 2019 - McAlester
Kiamichi Technology, 301 Kiamichi Dr, McAlester, OK
November 1, 2019 - Woodward
High Plains Tech Center, 3921 34th St, Woodward, OK
Each workshop is limited to 100 attendees, so registration is strongly recommended as we cannot guarantee availability without a confirmed registration. To register, email orec.help@orec.ok.gov.
|
In order for our licensees to become more familiar and acquainted with our staff, we'll be highlighting several employees in the upcoming issues of the Commission Comments.
 |
|
ANA VASSER-Receptionist
Ana was born in North Carolina on June 2, 1989. She moved to Nicoma Park, Oklahoma at the age of nine and graduated from Choctaw high school in 2008. She has four beautiful kids, Mercedez (11) Jeffery lll (5) Lyric (2) and Dario (11 months). She married her best friend on May 11, 2018. She and her family currently live in Del City, Oklahoma. Ana started working for the Commission in September, 2018 as the receptionist and says, "I love it here; I can’t wait to see what the future holds for me!"
|
|
RIECE BAKER-Investigator
Riece has been in the real estate business since 2006, working in virtually every aspect of the business. In the private sector, she worked as a licensed assistant, sales associate, office manager and compliance manager. She is versed in real estate contracts and forms, as well as the Oklahoma Real Estate License Code and Rules. She loves traveling the great State of Oklahoma and engaging with licensees about the real estate business.
Riece is a lifelong resident of Cashion, Oklahoma (Go Wildcats), where she resides with her husband, sons and bulldogs.
|
|
 |
 |
|
DENIECE VARDAMAN-Licensing
Deniece Vardaman was born and raised in Del City, Oklahoma. She is married to Ron Vardaman, a retired Army Veteran, and has two boys. Her older son, Steven is married to Averie, and her younger son, Chris is a senior at Midwest City High School. She also has Apollo, a Boston terrier fur baby, and master of the house, and two grand dogs, Tank and Gus.
She enjoys spending time with family and friends, loves reading and watching the Hallmark channel.
Deniece is new to the Commission in the Licensing Department as of March 11, 2019, and says, "I am learning a lot of new information but really enjoy my new co-workers. They have been a huge support in my learning efforts and I appreciate their help."
|
|
KEILA HILL-Education
Keila is from Mustang, Oklahoma and still resides there with her family. She is a Southwestern Oklahoma State graduate of 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in Health Information Management. Keila started working for the Real Estate Commission as the Education Supervisor in July, 2018.
Keila said, "Since working for the Real Estate Commission I have met so many encouraging and kind people that have made my experience this first year more than I ever could have imagined. I love all the connections and friendships I've made with the schools and instructors I've come in contact with so far and look forward to many more friendships to come.
Keila enjoys riding horses and going to team ropings with her family. She is a mother of a beautiful six year old little girl that is in the 1st grade, Gracelyn, and has a brand new little one, Hadley, born May 11th.
|
|
 |
As many of you know we have implemented a new fingerprinting process wherein each applicant now goes to the Identogo website, https://ok.ibtfingerprint.com, to schedule an appointment to have their fingerprints scanned when applying for a license. We are now receiving background results within hours rather than weeks!
As a result of this change, we are asking all applications be submitted to us as soon as possible, delaying the fingerprint process until after completion of the pre-license course. Since background results include information from the FBI, we are required to have an application on file before we can access someone's criminal history results. Therefore, the process for applying for a license, whether it's for a provisional sales or broker, will be to submit an application, complete the required education, and then schedule an appointment for prints.
 |
|
Larry Lide, Edmond
Lloyd Jackson, Tulsa
Lawrence Heiliger, Tulsa
Annette Thuresson, Tulsa
Joann Dean, Edmond
Beverly Wiggins, Ringwood
Billy Williams, Gainesville, TX
Ted Eversoll, Stilwell
Henretta Hawkins, Tulsa
Mollie Burton, Lawton
Ron Ivey, Edmond
Frank Kell, Jr, Tulsa
Jimmy Davis, Durant
|
The most current report of the total number of individual licensees, including brokers, sales associates and provisional sales associates is 18,581. Licenses issued to entities such as a corporation or branch offices is 2,896; for a combined total of 21,477.
For the first quarter of 2019, there were 65 broker examinations taken with a pass rate for first time takers of 65%. There were 909 sales examinations taken with a first time pass rate of 53%.
Referral fees are a part of everyday business within real estate transactions. However, they may only be shared between licensees.
In order for an individual or entity to receive a referral fee relating to the sale of real estate, they must possess a real estate license. That's not to say only an Oklahoma real estate license is required, but they must have an active license in another jurisdiction before the referral fee can be paid.
Also, you should remember it is a violation of the Oklahoma Licensing Code and Rules to knowingly cooperate with an unlicensed person or entity to perform licensed real estate activities. This means you would be in violation if you agreed to pay a referral fee to someone you knew did not have a real estate license.
Robert Duncan, 028281, Robert Curnutt, 028282, Rodger Erker, 028283
These three men received their licenses consecutively in 1972, and here they sit all these years later, each still actively licensed in Tulsa. Congratulations gentlemen!
As a result of new legislation this year, there will be statute changes taking effect November 1, 2019 that will impact your licensing practices.
SB104 was signed by the Governor on April 16, 2019. This legislation changes 858-312(12) which previously restricted offerings to purchasers or prospective purchasers. Licensees will now be able to "use prizes, money, gifts or other valuable consideration for marketing purposes provided they are not contingent or limited to individuals making an offer or purchasing a specific property."
HB2395 was signed by the Governor on April 16, 2019. This legislation permits landlords to take possession of certain property left in a dwelling unit by a former tenant who has abandoned or surrendered possession of such dwelling.
HB1373 was signed by the Governor on May 14, 2019. This legislation requires state licensing agencies to list specific crimes that will disqualify an applicant from licensure, removes language referring to "good moral character," and removes 858-301.1(b), the 10 year time period for license disqualification.
May 31, 2019, Governor Still approved the proposed permanent rules for 2019. This means all proposed rules will go into effect November 1, 2019. These rules included a change to the passing score for the sales examination from 75% to 70% and the new advertising rule regarding broker reference on all advertising.
Here are a list of the rule changes with a brief summary:
605:10-3-5
The purpose of the proposed rule amendments is to change the passing grade on the real estate salesperson exam from 75% to 70% so the scoring algorithms align with those established by the testing vendor.
605:10-5-3
The purpose of the proposed rule amendments is to reduce the provisional sales associate and post-license end of course examination questions from 200 to 150, and will change the end of course examination questions on the broker examination from 250 to 200 so as to avoid test exhaustion of the examination testers.
605:10-7-2
The purpose of the proposed rule amendment is to fully implement Title 59, Section 4003 and define the provisions of the statute related to the waiver of license fees for low-income individuals.
605:10-7-7
605:10-7-8
605:10-7-8.1
605:10-7-8.2
The purpose of the proposed rule amendments is to allow 30 days for the appointment of a new managing broker member or manager after the retirement or cessation of employment for any reason by a branch broker, managing corporate broker, managing partner, or managing broker member or manager.
605:10-9-4
The purpose of the proposed rule amendment is to clarify “prominent, conspicuous and easily identifiable” regarding a broker’s name as being at least half the size of any other associate and/or team name within an advertisement.
605:10-13-1
The purpose of the proposed rule amendment is to clarify the requirement of all supervising brokers in maintaining trust accounts and their duty when depositing escrow/trust funds.
605:10-17-4
The purpose of the proposed rule amendment is to require licensees to include the date of a signature when preparing a purchase offer or contract.
During the June meeting, the Commission voted to elect the 2019-2020 Chairman and Vice-Chair. Congratulations to Steve Burris of Oklahoma City for being elected as Chairman and Mack Barnes of Moore for being elected as Vice-Chair.
Thank you to Doug Emde, Stillwater, and Julie Tetsworth, Tulsa, for their service as Chairman and Vice-Chair, respectively. Your demonstration of care and consideration for the real estate industry is very much appreciated and we honor you for your continued service on the Commission.
|
