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Licensees press to host continuing education in broker offices; staff warns of oversight, recruiting and AI risks
Summary
A principal broker urged allowing required continuing education inside brokerage offices to rebuild in‑person engagement; staff opposed the change on independence and enforcement grounds and commissioners asked staff for data on online versus in‑person course uptake.
A principal broker and certified instructor urged the Tennessee Real Estate Commission on June 15 to allow required continuing education classes to be hosted in brokerage offices. In public comment, Kayla Pearson said in‑brokerage instruction increases facetime with agents, improves collaboration and counters a growing reliance on online providers and automation that can reduce meaningful participation.
Staff and commission counsel pushed back. Counsel and education staff said the existing rule intentionally separates required regulatory education from brokerage operations to avoid the appearance of recruiting or unfair business advantage. Staff noted enforcement challenges if broker‑hosted courses were permitted: advertising access, recruitment during sessions, monitoring attendee participation and consistent statewide enforcement would be difficult to sustain. They also described current safeguards for asynchronous and synchronous online CE — including camera‑on rules and provider monitoring — and said staff conduct unannounced audits of virtual sessions.
Commissioners asked staff for metrics — how many CE hours are delivered online versus in classroom — and requested that TRE attempt to assemble statistics for the August meeting to inform any rule discussion. Staff said TRE has conducted statewide outreach and free CE events, reporting roughly 1,100 free CE hours delivered since July 1 last year, and will gather participation metrics for commissioners.
The debate also touched on emerging technology: commissioners asked whether AI‑assisted completion or other abuses are occurring. Staff said providers are adopting technologies to detect fraudulent completion and that complaints will trigger investigations and potential disciplinary referrals. Commissioners signaled a desire for better data before changing the rule and asked staff to report back at the August meeting and after the real estate education association conference in July and August, where TRE staff expect to gather additional information about enforcement practices and AI mitigation.
