MARYLAND REAL ESTATE COMMISSION



MARYLAND REAL ESTATE COMMISSION

500 North Calvert Street

Baltimore, MD 21202

Mission: Protecting the health, safety, and welfare of the public

through examination, licensing, and regulatory activities regarding real estate

BUSINESS MEETING MINUTES

JANUARY 19, 2011, 10:30 a.m.

Highlights from the meeting:

Proposed legislation

Current license count 42,867

Guaranty Fund balance now $2,269,042.98

$43,000 GF payout in December

Required Agency CE now available

Consent for Dual Agency form revised 1-2011

Form Understanding Whom R E Agents Represent revised 1-2011

What “directly connected to” means for teams

PRESENT:

Commissioner Anne S. Cooke, Chair (Industry)

Commissioner J. Nicholas D’Ambrosia, Vice Chair (Industry)

Commissioner Marla S. Johnson (Industry)

Commissioner Juan Munoz (Consumer)

Commissioner Robin L. Pirtle (Consumer)

Commissioner Nancy R. Simpers (Industry)

Commissioner Jeff Thaler (Consumer)

Commissioner Georgiana S. Tyler (Industry)

Commissioner Colette P. Youngblood (Consumer)

Stanley Botts, Commissioner, O & P Division

Elizabeth Trimble, AAG, Counsel

Katherine F. Connelly, Executive Director

J. Steven Long, Assistant Executive Director

Patricia Hannon, Education Administrator, Session Recorder

PUBLIC IN ATTENDANCE:

Mark Feinroth, MAR

Winnie Gathitu, PDI

Donald White, MREEA & PG Comm Coll

Bob Johnston AACAR

Dave Harris, licensee

CALL TO ORDER:

Anne S. Cooke, Chair, called the meeting to order at 10:35 a.m.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Motion (made by Nancy R. Simpers, seconded by Marla S. Johnson) To approve the minutes of the December 15, 2010 business meeting. Unanimous approval.

REPORT OF COMPLAINTS/ADMINISTRATIVE DISMISSALS:

Motion (made by Nancy R. Simpers, seconded by J. Nicholas D’Ambrosia) To approve the Administrative Dismissals for the month of January 2011. Motion carried.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

1. Education – Georgiana S. Tyler, Education Chair, read the education report. For the month of December 2010, PSI administered 389 salesperson and 31 broker exams.

2. Legislative – J. Nicholas D’Ambrosia/Marla Johnson, Legislative Co-Chairs – The Commissioners’ proposed legislation to alter the time periods within which a licensee must reinstate or reactivate is moving forward.

COMMENTS FROM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Katherine F. Connelly

1. Current license count is 42,867, of which 4,736 are brokers, 3,113 are associate brokers, 34,154 salespersons, 642 branch offices, 6 time shares, 64 reciprocal brokers, 14 reciprocal associate brokers, and 138 reciprocal salespersons. Of the total, 4,251 are inactive.

2. Guaranty Fund balance as of November 30, 2010 was $2,306,123.95. As of December 31, 2010 the GF balance was $2,269,042.98, as $43,000.00 in claims were paid out in December.

3. Commissioners received today a copy of the Department of Legislative Services final Sunset Report, which includes the Department’s response. A hearing is scheduled tomorrow before the House and Senate.

4. Training of instructors for the required Agency course is completed, and many boards and schools now have approval to offer it. Agency Task Force members were Al Monshower, Joan Lowrey, Paulette Shaduk, Linda Doherty, Chuck Kasky, Deborah Hutson, Colin McGowan, Bill Frost, Don Martin, Mark Feinroth, and Commissioners Johnson, Simpers, Cooke, and Youngblood. The task force met five times for three hours each to develop the curriculum, FAQs, and forms, and then held eight all-day training sessions, which were taught by Mr. Monshower, Mr. McGowan, and Mr. Kasky. Thanks to this group’s commitment and motivation, licensees are better informed about the law of agency.

5. After March 1, 2011, no other agency course can be offered. Agency-type courses completed prior to the March 1 cutoff will be honored for the 2012 renewal. Maryland education providers will be informed.

6. The final revisions of the “Consent for Dual Agency” and “Understanding Whom Real Estate Agents Represent” were approved by legal counsel and the Maryland Association of Realtors. The forms were reviewed again today by Commissioners. Motion (made by Nancy R. Simpers, seconded by J. Nicholas D’Ambrosia) To accept the revisions for both forms. All in agreement; Motion passed. The forms will be posted on MD REC’s website and an e-notice to brokers to use the new form. MAR will also notify its members.

7. Department Secretary Alexander M. Sanchez has issued a Legislative Policy for Board and Commission members. The memorandum will be e-mailed to all Commissioners later this week.

8. An education provider has asked if our policy has changed on holding continuing education courses on a cruise ship. Commissioners agreed the policy has not changed. A prior approved continuing education course is allowed on a cruise ship, so long as the setting is a classroom environment conducive to learning, with no distractions or walk-throughs by other passengers, no meals, etc. The responsibilities of the school or board are the same for all approved programs.

9. The new advertising law for teams requires that the team name be directly connected to the name of the brokerage. Licensees are asking what is meant by “directly connected to.” Commissioners decided the language means a word which connects the team name to the brokerage name in a direct manner. The two choices would be “with” or “of” in the same font. Examples will be posted on the MD REC website.

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10. Commissioners reviewed a copy of the website Potomac Secret Agent, the purpose of which is to publish and promote real estate activities. The Commissioners discussed the obvious violations in the advertisement. Both the agent and broker will be contacted by Executive Director Connelly and Assistant Director Long.

11. Ms. Connelly and Vice Chair D’Ambrosia attended the ARELLO Board of Directors’ meeting in Arizona on January 4. Sadly, the CEO of ARELLO passed away suddenly on January 1. Mr. Joseph McClary is acting as interim director. Future travel includes the Maryland Association of Realtors’ Legislative Day, Supervision class training, sales meeting in Bowie, and back to Arizona at the end of the month to participate in PSI’s evaluation of its exams.

12. Baltimore is the host city for the 2011 ARELLO Annual Conference from September 28 to October 1, 2011. The conference hotel is the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront. Commissioners who have not had an opportunity to attend a Commissioner College will be able to do so in Baltimore; it is excellent training. More information will be available in early summer.

13. The West Virginia Real Estate Commission initiated a reciprocal agreement with Maryland. The agreement was e-mailed to all Commissioners; Counsel is also reviewing it for discussion next month.

14. Kirks Institute in Maryland has been approved by the Maryland Higher Education Commission to offer 60 classroom hours of Principles and Practices for Salespersons.

15. Seven pre-licensing schools closed in 2010.

16. Dates to train instructors in the new Supervision curriculum have been scheduled in January at various locations around the state. All training will be conducted by task force members. Only trained instructors will be able to teach the required Supervision course.

COMMENTS FROM COUNSEL: Elizabeth Trimble

1. Briefly, the legislative policy from Secretary Sanchez applies when the General Assembly is in session and when testifying before a committee. A board member can comment as a consumer but cannot be identified as a Maryland Real Estate Commissioner unless the board member is expounding only the position the Commissioners have taken. Commissioners with questions are to call Ms. Trimble for advice in advance of any comments or testimony. The memorandum from Secretary Sanchez will provide the details.

2. Commissioners agreed to the posting of Counsel’s rebate memo, with her recent additions.

3. Commissioners discussed the team law and who can designate a dual agent and how to broaden the language beyond the three components which describe a team. Counsel advised that MAR is drafting legislation on who can designate. As to expanding the team description, Counsel advised to work with the present new law; changes can be proposed in the future as needed. Brokers can set up their own company policies to control their teams.

COMMENTS FROM CHAIR: Anne S. Cooke

The new Required Agency classes will be audited by Mr. Long, Ms. Connelly, or MD REC staff. Auditing functions stay within the Commission.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS: None

NEW BUSINESS:

1. Two advertisements in MAR’s December 2010-January 2011 issue had multiple violations of advertising and supervision. MAR will be asked to review real estate ads before accepting for publication. Brokers for both ads will be contacted by MD REC staff.

2. One factor of adequate supervision is whether the broker is holding training sessions for affiliates. Commissioners discussed whether a webinar could be an acceptable format for training. It was agreed that it could, provided the webinar was interactive and the broker could produce e-records to show training and attendance.

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3. Commissioners were informed about Harvey S. Jacobs’ article on agency representation in the January 7, 2011 issue of the Washington Post. The article will be e-mailed to Commissioners. While the focus appeared to be directed toward helping consumers, Maryland licensees had questions. Counsel will review the article and advise.

4. The Commissioners may decide to re-visit proposed changes to COMAR 09.11.02.02D to create consistent language to disclose a licensee’s or a relative’s interest in both purchasing and selling residential property. [12-16-09 minutes]

5. Vice Chair D’Ambrosia reported that the DC Real Estate Commission is moving forward with pre-licensing and continuing education by internet delivery.

ADJOURNMENT:

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 12:15 p.m. on Motion by Nancy R. Simpers, seconded by Marla S. Johnson, and agreed by all. The next monthly business meeting is Wednesday, February 16, 2011.

APPROVED AS PRESENTED ____________________________________________________

Anne S. Cooke, Chairperson

APPROVED AS AMENDED ______________________________________________________

Anne S. Cooke, Chairperson

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