Contracts and Promulgated Forms
Area V is eight scored items on the promulgated contracts, forms and addenda, the statute of frauds, and the seller's disclosure requirements.
Mandatory use, and its four exceptions
22 TAC § 537.11(a) requires a license holder negotiating a contract binding the sale, exchange, option or lease of an interest in real property to use only the forms approved for mandatory use, with four exceptions: the license holder is acting solely as a principal; a United States government agency requires a different form; the form was prepared by the property owner, or prepared by an attorney and required by the property owner; or no form has been approved for that transaction. Occupations Code § 1101.155(b) says the same. The forms themselves are adopted by reference at §§ 537.20-537.69 — among them TREC No. 20-19, the One to Four Family Residential Contract (Resale).
Statute of frauds
Business and Commerce Code § 26.01 makes a listed promise unenforceable unless it, or a memorandum of it, is in writing and signed by the person to be charged. The list at § 26.01(b) includes a contract for the sale of real estate and a lease of real estate for a term longer than one year. It does not include an ordinary real-estate commission agreement: Texas puts that writing requirement in TRELA § 1101.806(c) instead, and § 26.01(b)(7) reaches commissions only for oil and gas leases, royalties, minerals and mineral interests.
Seller disclosure
Property Code § 5.008(a) requires a seller of residential real property comprising not more than one dwelling unit to give the purchaser the written Seller's Disclosure Notice, delivered on or before the effective date of the contract. Subsection (e) exempts eleven kinds of transfer, including a foreclosure sale, a sale by a mortgagee that acquired the property under a power of sale, a sale by a fiduciary administering an estate, and a new residence never previously occupied. If the contract is entered without the notice, § 5.008(f) lets the purchaser terminate for any reason within seven days after receiving it — and paragraph 7B(2) of TREC No. 20-19 adds that if it never arrives the buyer may terminate at any time before closing, with the earnest money refunded.
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State-specific details
State exam facts
- State regulator
- Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC)
- Exam vendor
- Pearson VUE
- Prelicensing education
- 900 classroom hours (270 qualifying + 630 related)
- Time limit
- 240 minutes
Who regulates real estate brokers in Texas?
The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) licenses brokers and sales agents under the Texas Real Estate License Act (Occupations Code Chapter 1101) and the TREC rules at 22 Texas Administrative Code Part 23. TREC contracts with Pearson VUE to schedule and deliver the licensing exams at test centers across Texas.
What experience do I need before the Texas broker exam?
Broker applicants must have four years of active experience as a license holder during the 60 months preceding the application (Occupations Code § 1101.356(a)(1)) and must document not less than 720 qualifying experience points on TREC's Qualifying Experience Report (22 TAC § 535.56(b)(2)) — the points floor rose from 360, so older study material understates it. The education requirement is 270 hours of qualifying real estate courses plus 630 classroom hours of related education, and the six-hour Broker Responsibility Course is now required of every broker applicant.
How is the Texas broker exam structured?
Pearson VUE delivers a national portion of 80 scored questions and a Texas state portion of 50 scored questions in a single 4-hour session. Content outline #094401 splits the 50 state items into seven areas: TREC's duties and powers (3), licensing (4), standards of conduct (9), agency and brokerage (10), contracts (8), special topics (6) and case studies (10). Each portion is scored separately and you must pass both; confirm the current scored-question counts in TREC's Candidate Handbook.
What are the Texas case-study questions?
A fifth of the Texas state portion is case studies. Pearson VUE's outline says these "include both narrative cases and contract cases. Narrative cases require candidates to read a case study and respond to multiple associated items. Contract cases require candidates to respond to items based on use of TREC-promulgated contracts" — so expect fact patterns worked on forms such as TREC No. 20-19, the One to Four Family Residential Contract (Resale).
Sources: https://www.pearsonvue.com/content/dam/VUE/vue/en/documents/publications/094401.pdf, https://www.trec.texas.gov/agency-information/rules-and-laws/trec-rules, https://www.trec.texas.gov/exam-topic-reports, https://www.pearsonvue.com/us/en/tx/realestate.html
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