GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 1999
SESSION LAW 1999-200
AN ACT AMENDING CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS FOR LICENSURE OF REAL ESTATE BROKERS AND SALESMEN.
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 corporation, limited
liability company, association, or other business entity 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 in the form and manner 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 three 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 67 hours of classroom instruction in subjects
determined by the Commission, or shall 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 three 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 an education program consisting of at least 30 60
hours of classroom instruction, these courses to instruction in
subjects determined by the Commission, which shall be in addition to those
the course required for a real estate salesman license, or shall possess
real estate education or experience in real estate transactions which the
Commission shall find equivalent to the above requirements. education
program. Each application applicant for a license as a
real estate broker or real estate salesman shall be accompanied by required
to pay 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 Except
as otherwise provided in this Chapter, any person who files such submits
an 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 examination. The Commission may
allow an applicant to elect to take the examination by computer as an
alternative to the written or oral examination and may require the applicant to
pay the Commission or a provider contracted by the Commission the actual cost
of administering the computerized examination. The cost of the
computerized examination shall be in addition to any other fees the applicant
is required to pay under subsection (a) of this section. The examination shall determine
his the applicant's qualifications with due regard to the
paramount interests of the public as to the honesty, truthfulness, integrity
and competency of the applicant. applicant's competency. A person
holding a real estate salesman license in this State and applying for a real
estate broker license shall not be required to take an additional examination
under this subsection.
The Commission may make such investigation as it deems
necessary into the ethical background of the applicant. An applicant for
licensure under this Chapter shall satisfy the Commission that he or she
possesses the competency, honesty, truthfulness, integrity, and general moral
character necessary to protect the public interest and promote public
confidence in the real estate brokerage business. If the results of the any
required competency examination and investigation of the applicant's
moral character shall be satisfactory to the Commission, then the
Commission shall issue to such a person the applicant a license,
authorizing such person the applicant 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.
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 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 license application, examination, renewal, and reinstatement as
shall be deemed necessary to administer and enforce the provisions of this
Chapter. The Commission is further authorized to adopt reasonable 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), schools,
instructors, and textbooks and rules that prescribe specific requirements
pertaining to the teaching of mechanics and law governing real estate transactions
at such schools. instruction, administration, and content of required
education courses and programs.
(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."
Section 2. This act becomes effective October 1, 2000.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 10th day of June, 1999.
s/ Dennis A. Wicker
President of the Senate
s/ James B. Black
Speaker of the House of Representatives
s/ James B. Hunt, Jr.
Governor
Approved 1:16 p.m. this 21st day of June, 1999