Now that you have finally become accustomed to referring to the CalBRE, you may find some humor in that effective July 1, 2018, the Bureau of Real Estate (CalBRE) will be returned to its standing as the Department of Real Estate(DRE).
As summarized in C.A.R.’s recent release of 2018 New Laws Affecting REALTORS®:
In 2012, the Brown Administration made changes to the state’s organizational structure to streamline government practices. These changes included moving the Department of Real Estate to function under the Department of Consumer Affairs as a Bureau.
The reorganization plan was intended to save the state money, improve operational efficiencies, and promote consumer protection. Although many elements of the plan have worked as intended, the abolition of the DRE and concurrent establishment of the CalBRE have not. Since the CalBRE was moved under the DCA, the cost to administer the Real Estate and Subdivided Lands Laws has increased by several million dollars annually. The Bureau’s responsiveness to the public and to its licensees has continued but at the cost of greater resource commitments and burdens on staff and administrators. In addition, if pro rata costs continue to increase as they have each year since the DRE became the CalBRE, money to cover these costs will need to be redirected away from licensing, enforcement, and the issuance of public reports; license fees and public reports fees will need to be raised; and/or the fees that the CalBRE charges stakeholders for services other than licensing and public reports will need to increase.
For your current and future marketing pieces, C.A.R. has indicated that where a license number is required, they will not be picky whether advertisements read CalBRE or DRE. In fact, tongue-in-cheek, Gov Hutchinson, general Counsel for C.A.R. suggested that Relators invest in Sharpie markers to make any corrections to their signs and marketing materials. He also warned that Sharpies were not to be used to draw funny-faces or devil’s horns on competitor’s signs.
For more information on these and other State, Federal and Local laws affecting your business, please save the date for SDAR’s annual New Laws Event scheduled for early 2018.