The California legislature recently amended the continuing education requirements for real estate brokers (broker) licensed by the California Bureau of Real Estate.
AB 345, signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown on July 13, 2015, requires a licensed real estate broker, as part of the broker’s 45 hours of continuing education, to successfully complete a 3-hour course in the management of offices and supervision of licensed activities in their offices.
California Real Estate Law already provides for the licensure and regulation of real estate brokers and their subordinate, salespersons. Specifically, the law requires a salesperson to be supervised by a responsible broker, as defined. Furthermore, it allows an employing broker or corporate designated broker officer to appoint a licensee as a manager of a branch office or division of a real estate business if specified requirements are met. The requirement, “to exercise reasonable supervision over the activities,” of their salespersons will now have some more refined definition and training as brokers will include that specific training in their continuing education.
AB 345 also provides salespersons the opportunity to take a course containing relevant information to assist them in understanding how to be more effectively supervised by a responsible broker or branch manager.
The bill, which had bipartisan support in the Assembly and state Senate, was also backed by the California Association of Realtors.
“I’m pleased that the state and the business community can partner and take a pro-active approach on this matter,” Assemblyman Jim Frazier, D-Solano, author of AB 345 said. “By ensuring that real estate brokers have an understanding of their role as supervisors, we hope to see a drop in the number of ‘failure to supervise’ [license discipline] cases.”