GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
1995 SESSION
CHAPTER 22
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1. G.S. 93A-4 reads as rewritten:
"§ 93A-4. Applications for licenses; fees; qualifications; examinations; bond; privilege licenses; renewal or reinstatement of license; power to enforce provisions.
(a) Any person, partnership, association, or corporation hereafter desiring to enter into business of and obtain a license as a real estate broker or real estate salesman shall make written application for such license to the Commission on such forms as are prescribed by the Commission. Each applicant for a license as a real estate broker or real estate salesman shall be at least 18 years of age. Each applicant for a license as a real estate salesman shall, within five years preceding the date application is made, have satisfactorily completed, at a school approved by the Commission, a real estate fundamentals course consisting of at least 30 hours of classroom instruction in subjects determined by the Commission, or possess real estate education or experience in real estate transactions which the Commission shall find equivalent to the course. Each applicant for a license as a real estate broker shall, within five years preceding the date the application is made, either have been actively engaged on a full-time basis as a licensed real estate salesman for at least two years, or have satisfactorily completed, at a school approved by the Commission, advanced courses in Real Estate Law, Real Estate Finance, and Real Estate Brokerage Operations, each consisting of at least 30 hours of classroom instruction, these courses to be in addition to those required for a real estate salesman license, or possess real estate education or experience in real estate transactions which the Commission shall find equivalent to the above requirements. Each application for license as a real estate broker shall be accompanied by a fee, fixed by the Commission but not to exceed thirty dollars ($30.00). Each application for license as a real estate salesman shall be accompanied by a fee, fixed by the Commission but not to exceed thirty dollars ($30.00).
(b) Any person who files such application to the Commission in proper manner for a license as real estate broker or a license as real estate salesman shall be required to take an oral or written examination to determine his qualifications with due regard to the paramount interests of the public as to the honesty, truthfulness, integrity and competency of the applicant.
The Commission may make such investigation as it deems
necessary into the ethical background of the applicant. If the results of
the examination and investigation shall be satisfactory to the Commission, then
the Commission shall issue to such a person a license, authorizing such person
to act as a real estate broker or real estate salesman in the State of
North Carolina, upon the payment of privilege taxes now required by law or that
may hereafter be required by law. Anyone failing to pass an
examination may be reexamined without payment of additional fee, under such
rules as the Commission may adopt in such cases.
Provided, however, that any person who, at the time of the passage or at the effective date of this Chapter, has a license to engage in, and is engaged in business as a real estate broker or real estate salesman and who shall file a sworn application with the Commission setting forth his qualifications, including a statement that such applicant has not within five years preceding the filing of the application been convicted of any felony or any misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, shall not be required to take or pass such examination, but all such persons shall be entitled to receive such license from the Commission under the provisions of this Chapter on proper application therefor and payment of a fee of ten dollars ($10.00).
(c) All licenses issued
by the Commission under the provisions of this Chapter shall expire on the 30th
day of June following issuance or on any other date that the Commission may
determine and shall become invalid after that date unless reinstated. A
license may be renewed 45 days prior to the expiration date by filing an
application with and paying to the Executive Director of the Commission the fee
required by the Commission, which may not exceed twenty-five dollars ($25.00). license
renewal fee. The license renewal fee is thirty dollars ($30.00) unless
the Commission sets the fee at a higher amount. The Commission may set
the license renewal fee at an amount that does not exceed fifty dollars
($50.00). The license renewal fee may not increase by more than five
dollars ($5.00) during a 12-month period. The Commission may adopt
rules establishing a system of license renewal in which the licenses expire
annually with varying expiration dates. These rules shall provide for
prorating the annual fee to cover the initial renewal period so that no
licensee shall be charged an amount greater than the annual fee for any
12-month period. All licenses reinstated after the expiration date
thereof shall be subject to a late filing fee of five dollars ($5.00) in
addition to the required renewal fee. In the event a licensee fails to
obtain a reinstatement of such license within 12 months after the expiration
date thereof, the Commission may, in its discretion, consider such person as
not having been previously licensed, and thereby subject to the provisions of
this Chapter relating to the issuance of an original license, including the
examination requirements set forth herein. Duplicate licenses may be
issued by the Commission upon payment of a fee of five dollars ($5.00) by the
licensee. Commission certification of a licensee's license history shall
be made only after the payment of a fee of ten dollars ($10.00).
(d) The Commission is expressly vested with the power and authority to make and enforce any and all such reasonable rules and regulations connected with the application for any license as shall be deemed necessary to administer and enforce the provisions of this Chapter. The Commission is further authorized to adopt rules and regulations necessary for the approval of real estate schools and such rules and regulations may, in accordance with G.S. 93A-4(a), prescribe specific requirements pertaining to the teaching of mechanics and law governing real estate transactions at such schools.
(e) Nothing contained in this Chapter shall be construed as giving any authority to the Commission nor any licensee of the Commission as authorizing any licensee whether by examination or under the grandfather clause or by comity to engage in the practice of law or to render any legal service as specifically set out in G.S. 84-2.1 or any other legal service not specifically referred to in said section."
Sec. 2. This act is effective upon ratification and applies to applications for a license or for renewal of a license filed on or after that date.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 4th day of April, 1995.
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Dennis A. Wicker
President of the Senate
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Harold J. Brubaker
Speaker of the House of Representatives