Current through Reg. 50, No. 187; September 24, 2024
(1)
(a) All persons holding active or inactive
licenses as brokers or sales associates must satisfactorily complete a minimum
of 14 hours of instruction of 50 minutes each as the Commission has prescribed
or approved during each license renewal period excluding the first renewal
period of their current license.
(b) For all courses approved for classroom
delivery, 50 minute hours means fifty minutes of classroom instruction,
exclusive of any breaks, recesses, or other time not spent in instruction.
Classroom hours are the hours delivered live by an instructor in a classroom or
by live streaming or any means of video conferencing technology while students
are in attendance at permitted or approved school locations.
(c) Any school or provider requesting
approval for a live streaming course must submit to the DBPR at the time of
course submission all course materials as well as information on the delivery
method and software platform being used.
(d) Distance learning means the delivery of
education offerings or courses by correspondence or via the internet and/or
other interactive electronic media. Such offerings or courses shall be
interactive, providing for the interchange of information between the student
and instructor, and shall provide for the registration, evaluation, and
monitoring of students.
(e) 50
minute hours for distance learning courses shall be the equivalent of the 50
minute classroom hour in a classroom delivery course.
(f) The Commission shall approve any
specialty course, seminar or conference in the real estate practice area
provided by a public or private school, firm, association, organization,
person, corporation, sponsor or provider. "Specialty" courses on real estate
practices shall be approved for no less than 2 hours and for not more than 8
hours of instruction of 50 minutes each. Courses shall not be approved for
fractional hours. The Commission will approve the course for 24 months.
Approval or denial of a "specialty" course will be based on its compliance with
the criteria established in Section
475.182(1),
F.S.
(g) A school or provider must
submit the course materials and end-of-course examinations to the Commission
for evaluation at least 60 days prior to use and receive approval before it may
offer the course, The school or provider must also submit a copy of the
continuing education course, and access to the course, in the format in which
the course will be offered to the student. Thereafter, it is the responsibility
of the school or provider offering the Commission-approved courses to keep the
course materials current and accurate, as changing times and laws
require.
(h) All Core Law
continuing education courses shall be resubmitted for evaluation prior to every
second renewal. Classroom and distance education courses may be submitted for
renewal no more than 120 days prior to the course expiration date.
(i) If a school or provider develops a new
version of course materials or new end-of-course examinations during the
approval period, the end-of-course examinations and a summary of the changes
must be submitted to the Commission at least 60 days prior to use and receive
approval before it may offer the course.
(2)
(a) The
Commission-prescribed Core Law course totaling 3 hours of instruction of 50
minutes each will review and update licensees on Florida real estate license
law, Commission rules, and agency law, and provide an introduction to other
state laws, federal laws, and taxes affecting real estate. Approval or denial
of the Commission-required Core Law course will be based on the extent to which
the course content covers the above-referenced subject areas. The
Commission-prescribed Business Ethics course totaling 3 hours of instruction of
50 minutes each will cover general business ethics applicable to any business
and/or real estate. Examinations, if required, must test the course material.
If course approval is denied, the institution or school may resubmit the
course, with the mandated changes for re-evaluation.
(b) Licensees must take the 3-hour Core Law
course once during each renewal period. A licensee who takes the 3-hour Core
Law course in each year of the renewal period shall be allowed a total of 3
hours of Core Law education and 3 hours of specialty education toward the 14
hour requirement. Real estate licensees who hold a license that expires on
September 30, 2018, or thereafter, must also take the 3-hour Business Ethics
course once during each licensure renewal period. A licensee who takes the
3-hour Business Ethics course in each year of the renewal period shall be
allowed a total of 3 hours of Business Ethics and 3 hours of specialty
education toward the 14 hour requirement. Licensees who complete the Core Law
course and Business Ethics course will receive 6 hours credit toward the 14
hour requirement. The "specialty" course hours must total at least 8
hours.
(3) Successfully
meeting standards established for each Commission-prescribed course constitutes
satisfactory completion of the Commission-prescribed continuing education
course or courses. A provider shall issue notice of satisfactory classroom
course completion only to a licensee attending a minimum of 90% of each of the
classroom hours of Commission-prescribed course instruction. Notice of course
completion shall be as per Rule
61J2-3.015, F.A.C.
(4)
(a) A
grade of 80% or higher on the Commission-prescribed continuing education course
or courses examination constitutes satisfactory course completion. Students
failing the Commission-prescribed course examination must repeat the course of
study prior to being eligible to retake the course examination, which must be a
different examination from the one the student previously failed. No
examination shall contain more than 20% duplication of questions.
(b) A copy of the distance education course
materials and a copy of each form of the end-of-course examinations that will
be distributed to students shall be submitted to the Commission for evaluation
and approval at least 60 days prior to use. Examinations must test the course
material. The provider must submit the course materials and a minimum of five
end-of-course examinations for each course to the Commission for evaluation and
approval at least 60 days prior to its use. Thereafter, it is the
responsibility of the provider offering the Commission-approved courses to keep
the course material current and accurate. If the Commission does not approve
the course, the provider may resubmit the course, with the mandated changes for
re-evaluation. If a provider develops a new version of course materials or new
end-of-course examinations during the approval period, the end-of-course
examinations and a summary of the changes must be submitted to the Commission
at least 60 days prior to use and receive approval before it may offer the
course.
(c) The objective of the
distance education course of study end-of-course examination is to test fairly
and reliably whether students have learned essential facts and concepts from
the course. The examination shall consist of a minimum of 30 items or, if
delivered in smaller modules, the examination shall consist of a minimum of 10
items for courses of 5 hours or less. For courses greater than 5 hours, but
less than 14 hours, the examination shall consist of a minimum of 2 items per
instruction hour. All questions shall be multiple choice with 4 answer choices
each. The order of the examination questions may not follow the sequence of the
course content. The answer key must be unique for each form of the examination.
The answer key must reference the page number(s) containing the information on
which each question and correct answer is based. At least 70% of the questions
on each form of the test shall be at the application level or higher. No more
than 10% of the questions on each form of the test shall be at the knowledge
level. The answer key must be unique for each form of the examination. Any
school offering the Commission-prescribed continuing education course of study
by distance education must maintain a sufficient bank of questions to assure
examination validity when administering the examination to licensees from a
common source such as a specific business, firm or family.
1. Application level means the ability to use
the learned material in a completely new and concrete situation. It usually
involves the application of rules, policies, methods, computations, laws,
theories, or any other relevant and available information.
2. Knowledge level means recalling specific
facts, patterns, methods, terms, rules, dates, formulas, names, or other
information that must be committed to memory.
(d) In all Commission-approved continuing
education courses by distance education, the real estate school and school
permitholder shall provide to students an address and telephone number of a
permitted instructor registered with such school to answer inquiries. The
school shall post the schedule of the instructor's availability.
(e) A provider may grade an examination
within 15 days after the expiration date of the course, provided it receives
the materials prior to or on date of expiration. Providers shall notify
students of course number and expiration date upon receipt of course
materials.
(5) Accredited
universities, colleges and community colleges in this state, area technical
centers, approved providers or real estate schools registered pursuant to
Section 475.451, F.S., may offer the
Commission-prescribed or approved specialty courses. Accredited universities,
colleges and community colleges in this state, area technical centers or real
estate schools registered pursuant to Section
475.451, F.S., may offer the
Commission-prescribed Core Law course. Satisfactory completion of these courses
will not entitle any person to renew a license as a real estate broker or sales
associate until such person has met all requirements of law.
(6) Any active member in good standing with
The Florida Bar and who is otherwise qualified under the real estate license
law is exempt from the continuing education requirements of this
rule.
(7) An instructor who teaches
a Commission-approved continuing education course may use the course towards
the satisfactory completion of the sales associate or broker continuing
education requirement on a classroom-hour for classroom-hour basis. However, an
instructor may not claim the course more than once in a renewal
cycle.
(8) Current members of the
Florida Real Estate Commission may earn three (3) credit hours toward specialty
education while serving at a Florida Real Estate Commission meeting during the
legal agenda session. This credit may only be earned once during a renewal
cycle.
Rulemaking Authority
455.2123,
475.05 FS. Law Implemented
455.2123,
475.04,
475.17,
475.182,
475.183,
475.451
FS.
New 1-1-80, Amended 8-24-80, 10-19-83, 9-16-84, Formerly
21V-3.09, Amended 10-13-88, 6-17-91, 12-29-91, 12-8-92, 6-28-93, Formerly
21V-3.009, Amended 2-2-94, 11-13-94, 5-13-96, 12-30-97, 10-25-98, 3-7-99,
1-18-00, 9-17-00, 1-12-04, 7-10-06, 11-3-15, 2-2-17, 9-27-17, 12-27-18,
12-22-20.
