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Committee continues Division of Real Estate with technical changes, removes restitution provision
Summary
The committee voted unanimously to continue the Division of Real Estate and adopt technical amendments clarifying trust‑account scope, supervisory confidentiality and affiliated‑business disclosures; it removed the commission restitution authority and sent the bill to Finance (11‑0).
Sponsors asked the committee to continue the Division of Real Estate and adopt Sunset Commission recommendations to clarify statutory language and strengthen consumer protections. "This bill continues the division and commission because of their important role in overseeing tens of thousands of licensees and protecting consumers in high‑stakes transactions," Representative Brooks said.
Consumer‑facing witnesses and policy groups supported several recommendations from the Sunset report. Michael Chambers, CEO of a real‑estate technology company, urged retaining strong consumer protections including tools to make harmed consumers whole; Andrea Kuik of the Bell Policy Center supported adding commission authority to order restitution when a broker misappropriates funds, arguing court action can be costly for harmed consumers.
Other stakeholders sought clarifications: amendments clarified the scope of trust‑account requirements to funds held in connection with licensed real‑estate activities, adjusted affiliated‑business disclosure mechanics to align with federal practice and resolved a supervision/confidentiality tension so supervising brokers may receive limited information for oversight while requiring express written consent for other disclosures. The committee adopted technical amendments L1, L3, L4 and L5 and passed the bill out to the Committee on Finance by unanimous roll call (11‑0).
