The Texas Real Estate Commission met on August 7 and adopted amendments to existing rules and proposed several more. View the meeting materials packet, which provides more details about all the changes, on TREC’s website. Here’s a breakdown of proposals related to the Consumer Protection Notice. Find a list of other rule changes proposed by TREC here.

Where does the Consumer Protection Notice go on your business website?

The Consumer Information Rule currently states that brokers must provide a link to TREC’s Consumer Protection Notice (TREC CN 1-2)—which must be labeled as “Texas Real Estate Commission Consumer Protection Notice”—in at least 10-point type and in a readily noticeable place on the homepage of a business website.

TREC proposed an amendment to prohibit placing the link to the Consumer Protection Notice in the footer of a business website’s homepage. The amendment also calls for an increase in the size of the link to 12-point type. TREC defines a “business website” in the proposed rule as “a website on the internet” that the public can access, has information about a license holder’s real estate brokerage services, and content on the website is controlled by the license holder.

When it comes to social media, the proposed amendment says the link may be located on the account holder profile or “on a separate page or website through a direct link from the social media platform or account holder profile.” See Supplement Item 20 on TREC’s website for more details.

TREC taking extra steps to emphasize consumer protection enforcement

TREC also proposed a change to Section 535.191, Schedule of Administrative Penalties. TREC wants to add administrative penalties for violations of Sections 531.18 and 531.20, which deal with the Consumer Protection Notice and Information About Brokerage Services, respectively. If adopted, this means TREC can assess an administrative penalty ranging from $500 to $3,000 per violation per day for violating the rules about providing TREC’s Consumer Protection Notice and the Information About Brokerage Services form.

Share your feedback on proposed rule changes with TREC

You can provide comments about these proposed rule changes for at least 30 days after they are published in the Texas Register by emailing general.counsel@trec.texas.gov. The proposals from the August 7 meeting will likely go live August 25; you can enter “Texas Real Estate Commission” in the Agency Name field on this page to read the rules when they’re published in the Texas Register.

Comments made on this blog post will not be read by TREC and do not count as official feedback on proposed rule changes.

Other adopted or proposed rule changes from TREC: