The California Legislature passed into law last July 2015 Assembly Bill 345 ('AB 345') which now requires "broker licensees complete upon their first renewal as a broker, a three-hour continuing education course in the management of real estate offices and supervision of real estate activities (Management and Supervision)." The law will take effect on Jan. 1, 2016.
Bob Hunt, who wrote an article about the new law which appeared in RealtyTimes , says the mandate may not be a big deal on the part of the licensees, but he sees its greater impact on the providers of continuing education for if they want to give a full complement of the required courses, these people " will need to have their Management and Supervision course written, approved by the BRE, and ready for delivery by January of 2016. They will also need to have made, and had approved, the mandated modifications to the eight-hour survey course. "
From the guidelines provided, Hunt came up with this list of the topics that will be included in the course.
1. How to establish policies, rules, and procedures including systems to review, inspect, and manage offices.
2. Supervision of all transactions involving a real estate license.
3. Retaining and reviewing documents which may have a material effect upon the rights or obligations of a party in a transaction.
4. The proper filing, storage and maintenance of documents.
5. Proper handling of trust funds.
6. Advertising of any service for which a license is required.
7. Familiarizing salespersons with the requirements of federal and state laws relating to the prohibition of discrimination.
8. Regular and consistent reports of licensed activities of salespersons.
9. The role and responsibilities of branch or division managers, including salespersons acting as branch or division managers.
10. The responsibilities of a broker to ensure salespersons working as "teams" are in compliance with [recent Code amendments].
11. Supervision over restricted licensees.
Hunt included in his articles that most of the topics listed were taken from existing Commissioner's Regulations and the Business and Professions Code, except for no. 8 and no. 10. He likewise added this advice from the guidelines "Coverage of appropriate court decisions and practical examples and/or case studies as related to the management and supervision of licensed agents are recommended, including decisions adopted by the real estate Commissioner involving violations of B&P [Business and Professions Code] 10177(h), failure to supervise."
