Special Topics
Area VI is six scored items drawn from outside TRELA altogether — community property, homestead, the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, wills and estates, landlord-tenant, foreclosure, recording, mechanic's liens, the Veterans Land Board, homeowners associations and equitable interests.
Community property and homestead
Family Code § 3.002 makes community property everything other than separate property acquired by either spouse during marriage, and § 3.001 defines separate property as what was owned before marriage, what came by gift, devise or descent, and personal-injury recoveries. Section 3.003 presumes property possessed during marriage to be community, rebuttable by clear and convincing evidence. Homestead is two different statutes and the distinction is examinable: Property Code § 41.001 exempts the homestead from seizure for creditors' claims and § 41.002 sets the acreage — 10 acres urban, 200 rural for a family, 100 rural for a single adult — while Tax Code § 11.13 grants the residence homestead exemption from property tax, which is a different protection answering a different question.
The DTPA and the broker exemption
The Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act sits at Business and Commerce Code chapter 17, subchapter E. Section 17.505(a) requires a consumer to give 60 days' written notice before filing suit, and § 17.565 sets a two-year limitations period. Section 17.50(b)(1) allows economic damages and up to three times that amount where the conduct was committed knowingly. But § 17.49(i) exempts a claim against a licensed broker or salesperson arising from an act or omission while acting as such, except for an express misrepresentation of material fact that cannot be characterized as advice, judgment or opinion, a failure to disclose in violation of § 17.46(b)(24), or an unconscionable action.
Liens, associations and equitable interests
To fix a mechanic's lien on a homestead, Property Code § 53.254 requires a written contract executed before the material is furnished or the labor is performed, signed by both spouses if the owner is married, and filed with the county clerk. A property owners' association may not foreclose its assessment lien where the debt consists solely of fines and the attorney's fees associated with them (§ 209.009), and must give a subordinate deed-of-trust lienholder notice and 60 days to cure before seeking foreclosure (§ 209.0091). And under 22 TAC § 535.6 a person may sell an option or assign a contract to purchase without a license only if they do not use it to engage in brokerage and disclose in writing the nature of the equitable interest.
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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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