Texas Legal Update I (2024-2025)

All real estate license holders operating in Texas are required by the Texas Real Estate Commission to complete two four-hour courses on legal updates to state and federal rules, laws, and best practices. This course will explore several areas of real estate practice that saw amendments to legal language, rules, and forms.

Chapter One discusses legislative changes and TREC rule updates. It begins by discussing who makes the rules, TREC Advisory Committees, TREC rule changes, and updates from the 88th Texas Legislative Session. 

Chapter Two discusses promulgated contract forms and addenda. It begins by discussing the changes made to promulgated forms before moving on to addendum changes, and TREC forms to help licensees avoid practicing law. It also covers questions and answers that TREC has received, mandatory versus voluntary uses of TREC contract forms, and ends with adopted changes to multiple TREC forms.

Chapter Three is all about fair housing, with particular focus on how to ensure diversity and inclusion is present in real estate practice. It begins with a discussion of why fair housing rules exist and the history thereof, moves through fair housing complaint trends, covers investigations into fair housing complaints, looks at the limited exceptions to fair housing rules, and ends with discussion questions and the new fair housing executive order.

Chapter Four goes over land-lord tenant issues and property management. It begins with the Do’s and Don’ts of Property Management, covers Best Practices, resources for fair housing information, definitions of disabilities, assistance animal requests, and upcoming applicable legislation. 

Forms, articles, and videos referenced throughout the course are reproduced at the end in the Appendices and throughout the course. Licensees should read or watch them thoroughly. After each chapter, students will be asked a single review question about the material. Then at the conclusion of the course there will be a final exam. 

Please note that the information provided in this course is largely assembled by TREC and Texas A&M University’s Real Estate Center with minimal adaptation by AYPO.