The Commission proposes the rule amendment to update the rule regarding pre-licensing education for broker and sales associate applicants.

 

DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL REGULATION

Florida Real Estate Commission

RULE NO.:RULE TITLE:

61J2-3.008Pre-licensing Education for Broker and Sales Associate Applicants

PURPOSE AND EFFECT: The Commission proposes the rule amendment to update the rule regarding pre-licensing education for broker and sales associate applicants.

SUMMARY: The rule will be updated in regards to pre-licensing education for broker and sales associate applicants.

SUMMARY OF STATEMENT OF ESTIMATED REGULATORY COSTS AND LEGISLATIVE RATIFICATION:

The Agency has determined that this will not have an adverse impact on small business or likely increase directly or indirectly regulatory costs in excess of $200,000 in the aggregate within one year after the implementation of the rule. A SERC has not been prepared by the Agency.

The Agency has determined that the proposed rule is not expected to require legislative ratification based on the statement of estimated regulatory costs or if no SERC is required, the information expressly relied upon and described herein: During discussion of the economic impact of this rule at its Board meeting, the Board, based upon the expertise and experience of its members, determined that a Statement of Estimated Regulatory Costs (SERC) was not necessary and that the rule will not require ratification by the Legislature. No person or interested party submitted additional information regarding the economic impact at that time.

Any person who wishes to provide information regarding a statement of estimated regulatory costs, or provide a proposal for a lower cost regulatory alternative must do so in writing within 21 days of this notice.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY: 475.05 FS.

LAW IMPLEMENTED: 475.04, 475.17, 475.182, 475.183, 475.451 FS.

IF REQUESTED WITHIN 21 DAYS OF THE DATE OF THIS NOTICE, A HEARING WILL BE SCHEDULED AND ANNOUNCED IN THE FAR.

THE PERSON TO BE CONTACTED REGARDING THE PROPOSED RULE IS: Lori Crawford, Executive Director, Florida Real Estate Commission, 400 W. Robinson Street, #N801, Orlando, Florida 32801, [e-mail].

 

THE FULL TEXT OF THE PROPOSED RULE IS:

 

61J2-3.008 Pre-licensing Education for Broker and Sales Associate Applicants.

(1) through (3) No change.

(4)(a) A grade of 70% or higher on the Commission-prescribed end-of-course examination constitutes satisfactory course completion. The school shall administer the examination upon completion of the instruction, provided the student has not missed in excess of 8 hours of classroom instruction.

(b) The school must submit to the Commission the course materials and end-of-course examinations. The school must also submit a copy of the course, and access to the course, in the format in which the course will be offered to the student. Primary schools shall submit Ppre-license courses shall be resubmitted for evaluation prior to every second renewal  every new edition.  In no event may a course evaluation submission for renewal be made more than four years after after the original approval date. Secondary schools shall resubmit pre-license courses for evaluation prior to every second renewal. A primary school is a school that develops the course material for evaluation under its school name.  A secondary school is a school that has been given authority by the primary school to submit the course material for evaluation under its school name.  Secondary schools must submit, with the course evaluation, a letter from the primary school authorizing the secondary school to submit the course for evaluation under its school name. When delivered by distance education, the course and examination shall comply with the “Course Approval criteria” as follows:

1. through 2. No change.

3. Schools must demonstrate that the credit hours awarded for distance learning are appropriate to the course offered. The schools may accomplish this objective by demonstrating that students engaged in distance learning have acquired the knowledge, skills, and/or competencies that are at least equivalent to those acquired by students enrolled in classroom studies. Pre-licensure courses shall not be offered by correspondence methods, except by reason of a hardship as defined by rule.

a. through g. No change.

h. Pre-licensing courses must conform to follow the order of the Course I and Course II syllabus. Courses must include learning objective for each session of the syllabus. The course school must describe the method of assessment of the student’s performance periodically throughout the course of instruction.

i. through k. No change.

(c) No change.

(d) The school shall develop at least 2 forms of the end-of-course examination, and submit them for approval as provided in paragraph (4)(b) above. No end-of-course examination shall contain more than 15% duplication of questions. Examinations must test the course material. The answer key must be unique for each form of the examination. The answer key must reference the page number(s) containing the information upon which each question and correct answer is based. At least 70% of the questions on each form of the test shall be application oriented. Application level means the ability to use the learned material in a completely new and concrete situation. It usually involves the application of rules, policies, methods, computations, laws, theories, or any other relevant and available information. No more than 10% of the questions on each form of the test shall be at the knowledge level. Knowledge level means the recall of specific facts, patterns, methods, terms, rules, dates, formulas, names, or other information that should be committed to memory. A school offering the Commission-prescribed courses must maintain a sufficient bank of questions to assure examination validity. The sales associate end-of-course examinations shall contain at least 100 items, or 2 items per instruction hour. The broker end-of-course examinations shall contain at least 95 items, of which 5 items are 2 points each, which shall cover closing statements or escrow accounts, or 2 items per instruction hour. All Questions shall be multiple-choice with 4 answer choices each. The order of the examination questions may not follow the sequence of the course content and the item must not refer the student to the course material. The overall time to complete the end-of-course examination must not exceed the equivalent of 1.8 minutes per item.

(5) through (9) No change.

Rulemaking Authority 475.05 FS. Law Implemented 475.04, 475.17, 475.182, 475.183, 475.451 FS. History–New 1-1-80, Amended 8-24-80, 9-16-84, Formerly 21V-3.08, Amended 7-16-86, 10-13-88, 5-20-90, 1-13-91, 7-20-93, Formerly 21V-3.008, Amended 12-13-94, 6-14-95, 8-2-95, 12-30-97, 9-1-99, 1-18-00, 11-6-00, 1-12-04, 11-3-15, 3-27-18,                  .

 

NAME OF PERSON ORIGINATING PROPOSED RULE: Florida Real Estate Commission

NAME OF AGENCY HEAD WHO APPROVED THE PROPOSED RULE: Florida Real Estate Commission

DATE PROPOSED RULE APPROVED BY AGENCY HEAD: September 19, 2018

DATE NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE DEVELOPMENT PUBLISHED IN FAR: July 2, 2018