Current through Rules and Regulations filed through March 20, 2024
(1)
Developing and Offering
Courses.
(a) Purpose. The Commission
intends that all courses offered by its approved schools to meet the
requirements of this Chapter shall be educational in nature. Schools should not
specifically orient courses to the passing of state licensing examinations or
other examinations. The courses should introduce students to the language of
the profession and basic theory underlying the duties and responsibilities of
real estate licensees. They should also seek to improve licensee's skills in
handling the normal business activities of a licensee. Courses must require
practice in the skills being taught and provide a significant number of
exercises for practice of those skills. All courses should make students aware
of the need for further study and the perfection of practical skills.
(b) Course Code. An approved
school may not hold out a course as meeting the requirements of this Chapter
until the course is posted on the Commission's electronic record of the
school's courses or the school receives other written authorization from the
Commission.
(2)
Instructors. Only instructors approved by the Commission under the
standards of this Chapter may instruct Salespersons Prelicense, Brokers
Prelicense, or Community Association Managers Prelicense courses. Only
instructors with appropriate experience and knowledge of the content areas of
Salespersons Postlicense or continuing education courses may teach these
courses.
(3)
Hours of
Instruction. For all courses under the requirements of this chapter, an
"instructional hour" means a period of time of at least fifty minutes of
instruction or other learning activity. In-class instruction and testing in any
course shall not exceed seven and one-half hours per day. The school shall hold
all in-class instruction between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. with
breaks totaling at least fifteen minutes every two hours. The schedule must
allow reasonable time for preparation for each classroom session. All in-class
instruction for Brokers Prelicense course students shall be separate from all
in-class instruction for Salespersons Prelicense course students. Instructors
shall utilize no more than thirty minutes of audio or video material toward
meeting any required in-class (or makeup) hours of instruction unless the
Commission grants written authorization for such material prior to its
use.
(4)
Prelicense
Courses.
(a) Documentation Required
for Offered Courses. For each prelicense course, the approved school must
maintain and make readily available to an authorized representative of the
Commission the following documentation:
(1)
Course Outline. A detailed course outline that identifies the hours to be spent
on each subject area to be covered in the course and all planned exercises that
students are required to complete.
(2) Learning Objectives. A detailed list of
learning objectives for each instructional hour of the course. A learning
objective is part of the overall goal of the course. An objective states, in
terms that are measurable, what the student should be able to do, explain, or
demonstrate upon mastery of the content of each hour of instruction.
(3) Texts. A list of text materials utilized
in the course;
(4) Evaluation
Materials. Copies of daily tests, final examinations, or other materials used
to evaluate student performance;
(5) Student Records. - Records that identify
each student and the student's attendance record and final grade for any
course; and
(6) Course Evaluations.
Written summaries of student evaluations of the courses.
(7) Ethics. Every course offered by an
approved school for prelicense credit must include acknowledgment and coverage
of the ethical implications of the subject matter of the course.
(8) Additional Subjects. Schools may offer
units of instruction on subjects other than those required for courses cited in
this Rule only with prior written authorization from the Commission.
(9) Reading Assignments and Exercises. For
all prelicense courses cited in this Rule, schools must include with each
instructional unit appropriate reading assignments for completion out of class.
The school shall also require that students complete out of class extensive
written exercises that the school grades.
(10) Student Certifications. Each out of
class written assignment a student submits for grading must include the
following:
I certify that I have personally completed this
assignment.
__________ ___________________________
Date Student's Signature
The school shall refuse to grade any out of class written
assignment on which the student does not sign this statement.
(11) An approved instructor and/or the school
coordinator/director must grade the written course work required of
students.
(b) Community
Association Managers Prelicense Course. A Community Association Managers
Prelicense Course must provide for a minimum of twenty-five instructional
hours. Schools may not count time students spend on breaks as part of in-class
instruction time. Time students spend in taking graded exercises and tests or
final examinations may not constitute more than ten percent of in-class
instruction time. The course must cover fundamentals in the following areas:
1. property law including Georgia laws on
common interest ownership, public rights and limitations, and fair housing
laws;
2. forms of ownership
including planned unit development (PUD), homeowner's associations,
condominiums, cooperatives, timeshares, townhouses, and master association
relationships and how to interpret community association governing
documents;
3. contracts and
transaction documents including the content and negotiation of management
agreements, the nature and content of insurance documents, and resale
certificates;
4. real estate
instruments and conveyances including notices, proxies, and liens and
amendments to documents and the requirements for reinstatement;
5. law of agency including identifying and
understanding agency relationships and duties between community association
managers and association boards, members, and tenants of members; single and
dual agency; and agency disclosure;
6. financing instruments and basic accounting
practices including principles of accounting for trust accounts, for common
interest associations, and for lender requirements for
recertification;
7. Georgia real
estate license law;
8. ethics in
community association management;
9. environmental laws;
10. safety precautions; and/or
11. such other areas as the Commission may
from time to time require or authorize.
(c) Salespersons Prelicense Course. A
Salespersons Prelicense Course must provide for a minimum of seventy-five
instructional hours. Schools may not count time students spend on breaks as
part of the required instruction time. Time students spend in taking graded
exercises and tests or final examinations may not constitute more than ten
percent of the required instruction time. The course must cover fundamentals in
the following areas:
1. real estate contracts
including completing and presenting form real estate sales contracts with
extensive practice with problems involving new FHA, VA, and conventional loans;
loan assumptions; brokerage engagements; and leases (students must demonstrate
proficiency in completing such form contracts by passing a school developed and
administered test or by satisfying such other assessment measurements
established by the school as the Commission may authorize);
2. real estate instruments and
conveyances;
3. closing procedures
(RESPA) including a salesperson's responsibilities at a loan closing conducted
by someone else and an explanation of standard closing procedures and documents
used in the salesperson's services area;
4. law of agency including agency
disclosure;
5. pricing real
property (students must demonstrate proficiency in preparing forms which
document such pricing by passing a school developed and administered test or by
satisfying such other assessment measurements established by the school as the
Commission may authorize);
6. real
estate financing including extensive practice in estimating costs of selling
and purchasing property and estimating monthly payments (students must
demonstrate proficiency in completing forms which document such estimates by
passing a school developed and administered test or by satisfying such other
assessment measurements established by the school as the Commission may
authorize);
7. Georgia's
Residential Mortgage Fraud law and methods for identifying possible fraud in
transactions and properly reporting alleged fraud;
8. community association management
activities and property management activities;
9. environmental laws;
10. taxation;
11. city and urban development;
12. fair housing;
13. anti-trust laws;
14. safety precautions;
15. Georgia's real estate license law;
and/or
16. such other areas as the
Commission may from time to time require or authorize.
(d) Brokers Prelicense Course. A Brokers
Prelicense Course must provide for a minimum of sixty instructional hours.
Schools may not count time students spend on breaks as part of the required
instruction time. Time students spend in taking graded exercises and tests or
the final examination may not constitute more than ten percent of the required
instruction time. The Brokers Prelicense Course must review all subject areas
covered in the Salespersons Prelicense Course so that students may learn
advanced concepts in those areas. In addition, the course must include
significant components covering conducting loan closings, real estate office
management, personnel policies, trust account record keeping, discharging a
broker's responsibility for associate licensees, and/or such other areas as the
Commission may from time to time require or authorize.
(5)
Sales Postlicense Course.
(a) Documentation Required for Offered
Courses. For each postlicense course, the school must maintain and make readily
available to an authorized representative of the Commission the following
documentation:
(1) Course Outline. A detailed
course outline that identifies the hours to be spent on each subject area to be
covered in the course and all planned exercises that students are required to
complete;
(2) Learning Objectives.
A detailed list of learning objectives for each instructional hour of the
course. A learning objective is part of the overall goal of the course. An
objective states, in terms that are measurable, what the student should be able
to do, explain, or demonstrate upon mastery of the content of each hour of
instruction;
(3) Texts. A list of
text materials utilized in the course;
(4) Evaluation Materials. Copies of daily
tests, final examinations, or other materials used to evaluate student
performance;
(5) Student Records.
Records that identify each student and the student's attendance record;
and
(6) Course Evaluations. Written
summaries of student evaluations of the courses.
(7) Ethics. Every course offered by an
approved school for postlicense credit must include acknowledgment and coverage
of the ethical implications of the subject matter of the course.
(b) A Sales Postlicense Course
must provide for a minimum of twenty-five instructional hours. Schools may not
count time students spend on breaks as part of the required instruction time.
Time students spend in taking graded exercises and tests or final examinations
may not constitute more than ten percent of the required instruction time. The
curriculum of the course must focus on legal fundamentals and/or basic
practices in sales or management of residential, agricultural, commercial, or
industrial properties. If the subject matter of the course addresses
residential sales, then the course must include a component on Georgia's
Residential Mortgage Fraud law and methods for identifying possible fraud in
transactions and properly reporting alleged fraud.
(6)
Continuing Education
Courses. Every approved school must offer every calendar year a course
designed to help licensees meet the continuing education requirements of
O.C.G.A. §
43-40-8(e). This
course or courses shall be in addition to the Community Association Managers
Prelicense, Salespersons Prelicense, Sales Postlicense, or Brokers Prelicense
Course.
(a) Documentation Required for
Offered Courses. For each continuing education, course, the approved school
must maintain and make readily available to an authorized representative of the
Commission the following documentation:
(1)
Course Outline. A detailed course outline that identifies the hours to be spent
on each subject area to be covered in the course and all planned exercises that
students are required to complete
(2) Learning Objectives. A detailed list of
learning objectives for each instructional hour of the course. A learning
objective is part of the overall goal of the course. An objective states, in
terms that are measurable, what the student should be able to do, explain, or
demonstrate upon mastery of the content of each hour of instruction.
(3) Texts. A list of text materials utilized
in the course;
(4) Student Records.
Records that identify each student and the student's attendance record;
and
(5) Course Evaluations. Written
summaries of student evaluations of the courses.
(b) Duration of Classes. No school may offer
a continuing education course of fewer than three credit hours. A credit hour
is defined as an "instructional hour" means a period of time of at least fifty
minutes of instruction or other learning activity. In-class instruction and
testing in any course must not exceed seven and one-half clock hours per
day.
(c) Subject Areas. In order to
provide reasonable guidelines for approved schools but without defining every
area or topic of continuing education, the Commission has identified the
following areas or topics of continuing education that are considered
appropriate for continuing education in addition to the areas or topics found
in paragraph (4) of this Rule. These areas or topics of continuing education
are:
1. all forms of real estate including
agricultural, commercial, and industrial;
2. real estate development and
construction
3. real estate legal
descriptions, plats, and surveys;
4. land use and zoning;
5. property management, landlord/tenant
issues;
6. real estate ad valorem
taxes;
7. real estate title
issues;
8. water rights;
9. real estate income tax issues;
10. real estate inspections;
11. business brokerage;
12. real estate auctions;
13. ethics; and
14. such other subjects as the Commission may
deem appropriate.
The Commission has identified the following areas or topics
that may not be considered appropriate areas or topics of continuing education
unless the area or topic has the prior written authorization of the Commission.
Courses designed for the personal growth, business development, or to
specifically benefit the real estate licensee are discouraged. The areas or
topics of continuing education that may not be considered appropriate for
continuing education include, but are not limited to:
1. the psychology of selling;
2. personality assessments;
3. business development;
4. personal real estate investing;
5. retirement planning;
6. personal or business branding such as
dress and presentation techniques;
7. motivational classes or
seminars;
8. time management
classes;
9. sales and marketing
techniques unrelated to real estate;
10. instruction in the use of technology,
computers, or other devices; and
11. training in social media;
Courses that have already been issued a course approval code
may continue until such time as further approval may be required.
(d) Courses Exceeding
Twenty-Four Hours. The Commission will accept any course for continuing
education credit that exceeds twenty-four classroom hours in length only if
such course also meets all requirements for approval as a Sales Postlicense
course.
(e) Repeating Courses. A
licensee who has successfully completed a course to meet any part of such
licensee's continuing education credit may not repeat that course unless at
least one full year has passed since the completion of that course.
(f) Effective July 1, 2020, any course
developed to qualify as a continuing education course on the topic of license
law under Rule
520-1-.05(1)(e) shall
have a minimum of three credit hours and shall contain a review of material
limited to the following areas of license law:
(1) The effects on license status by a
licensee of prohibited conduct found in O.C.G.A. §
43-40-15(c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), (i), (j),
(k), and (m);
(2) Requirements of a qualifying broker and
an affiliated licensee upon transfer of a license from one firm to another
under O.C.G.A.
43-40-19 and Rule
520-1-.07(5);
(3) Requirements of a qualifying broker and
affiliate licensee concerning trust or escrow accounts under O.C.G.A. §
43-40-20 and under Rule
520-1-.08;
(4) Unfair trade practices prohibited by
O.C.G.A. §
43-40-25(b);
(5) Brokerage relationships under Rule
520-1-.06;
(6) Management responsibilities of real
estate firms under Rule
520-1-.07(4), (5) and
6;
(7) Advertising under O.C.G.A.
§
43-40-25(b)(1), (2), (11), (12) and
(21) and Rule
520-1-.09;
(8) Handling real estate transactions under
Rule 520-1-.10;
and
(9) Licensees acting as
principals under Rule
520-1-.11.
(7)
Teaching Methods.
While instructors may use such teaching methods as lecture, discussion,
questions and answers, etc. in in-class sessions, instruction should also
include role play, simulations, or other similar instructional techniques
designed to assist students in mastering such skills as writing offers,
presenting offers, calculating costs, pricing property, and complying with fair
housing laws.
(8)
Interactive
Instruction Required. Schools must present courses to students through
interactive instructional techniques. Examples of interactive instruction
include such teaching techniques as providing a student (1) the opportunity for
immediate exchange with an instructor in a classroom setting and (2) immediate
assessment and remediation through computer assisted or other audio or
audiovisual interactive instruction. Schools shall not attempt to provide
instruction primarily by having students (a) read text material, (b) listen to
audio tapes, (c) watch video tapes or films, or (d) study questions similar to
those on the state licensing examinations or by combining elements of (a)
through (d) above.
(9)
Distance Education Courses. Distance education is comprised of
courses in which instruction does not take place in a traditional classroom
setting but rather through other media in which distance and time separate
teacher and student. Schools generally deliver distance education courses
through such media as telecommunications or by computer. The Commission
approves distance education courses:
(a) that
meet all of the requirements of this chapter, or
(b) for which the applicant provides
satisfactory documentation that the Association of Real Estate License Law
Officials (ARELLO) has certified the course as meeting its distance education
standards. Any Commission approval based on such an ARELLO certification will
cease immediately upon notice from ARELLO that ARELLO has discontinued such
certification of the course for any reason. Synchronous Internet Courses or
"Webinar" Courses require ARELLO certification. In distance education courses,
a credit hour is defined as sixty minutes of instruction.
(10)
Computer-Based Courses. The
Commission approves the offering of computer-based courses that meet the
specific standards of this Rule and all other applicable requirements of this
Chapter.
(a) Teach to Mastery. Every course
offered under this Rule must teach to mastery. Teaching to mastery means that
the course must, at a minimum:
1. divide the
material into major units as approved by the Commission;
2. divide each of the major units of content
into modules of instruction for delivery on a computer;
3. specify the learning objectives for each
module of instruction. The learning objectives must be comprehensive enough to
insure that if all the objectives are met, the student will master the entire
content of the course;
4. specify
an objective, quantitative criterion for mastery used for each learning
objective;
5. implement a
structured learning method by which each student is able to attain each
learning objective;
6. provide
means of diagnostic assessment of each student's performance on an ongoing
basis during each module of instruction. This assessment process must measure
what each student has learned and not learned at regular intervals throughout
each module of instruction, and the diagnostic assessment must specifically
assess the mastery of each concept covered in the content material.
7. provide a means of tailoring the
instruction to the needs of each student as identified in (10) (a) 5. above.
The process of tailoring the instruction must insure that each student receives
adequate remediation for specific deficiencies identified by the diagnostic
assessment;
8. continue the
appropriate remediation on an individualized basis until the student
demonstrates achievement of each mastery criterion;
9. require that the student demonstrate
mastery of all material covered by the learning objectives for the module
before the student completes the module; and
10. consist of interactive computer-based
instructional material which will reasonably require a student completing the
course to expend the number of hours for which the school offers the
course.
(b)
Documentation of Methodology. Prior to the development of specific
computer-based courses to be offered to meet prelicense, postlicense, and
continuing education requirements, a school must submit to the Commission for
its approval satisfactory documentation of the method by which the course will
accomplish each element of mastery in paragraph (a) of this Rule. If the
Commission authorizes that method, the school may utilize that method in
developing any courses it may offer to meet licensees' education requirements
under this chapter. The school must base the rationale for the educational
processes implemented with computer-based study on sound instructional
strategies systematically designed and proven effective through educational
research and development. The school must specify the basis and rationale for
any proposed instructional approach in any request for approval.
(c) Required Testing and Evaluation of
Courses. Courses offered under this Rule must also meet the criteria outlined
in this Rule except those covering in-class instruction. Except where the
Commission has granted permission in writing to do otherwise, persons
developing computer-based courses must:
1.
when developing prelicense courses for salespersons and community association
managers, utilize at least nine persons in testing programs in order to
evaluate for the developer the quality of content and the user friendliness of
software and hardware. Of those nine persons, at least three must be
unlicensed, at least three must be licensed salespersons or community
association managers, and at least six must be non-educators. Persons
developing any other courses for education credit for licensees must utilize at
least six persons in testing programs in order to evaluate for the developer
the quality of the content and the user friendliness of software and hardware.
Of those six persons at least four must be non-educators and no more than two
may be brokers, unless the course will only be offered to brokers. Persons
developing such courses must document that those testing the programs have
varying skill and knowledge levels of computers and real estate; and
2. make reasonably available to an authorized
representative of the Commission documentation on the development and testing
processes utilized in its computer-based courses.
(d) The Commission has determined that the
following types of programs do not meet the requirements of this Rule:
1. those programs that consist primarily of
text material presented on a computer or other audio or audiovisual programs
rather than in printed material;
2.
those programs that consist primarily of questions similar to those on the
state licensing examination;
3.
Those programs that consist primarily of combinations of the elements in 1. and
2. above.
(e) An
approved instructor and/or the school coordinator/director must supervise the
grading of the written course work required of students in computer-based
courses.
(f) Every computer-based
course for the Community Association Managers Prelicense Course must consist of
interactive computer-based programs that will reasonably require the student to
expend at least twenty-five hours in completing the content areas identified in
paragraph (4) of this Rule. Every computer-based course for the Salespersons
Prelicense course must consist of interactive computer-based programs that will
reasonably require the student to expend seventy-five hours in completing the
content areas identified in paragraph (4) of this Rule. Every computer-based
course for the Sales Postlicense Course must consist of interactive
computer-based programs that will reasonably require the student to expend
twenty-five hours in completing the content areas identified in paragraph (4)
of this Rule. Every computer-based course for the Brokers Prelicense course
must consist of interactive computer-based programs that will reasonably
require the student to expend sixty hours in completing the content areas
identified in paragraph (4) of this Rule. Every computer-based course for
continuing education must consist of interactive computer-based instructional
material that will reasonably require the student completing the course to
expend the number of hours for which the school offers the course.
(g) Every school offering a computer-based
course under the requirements of this Chapter must offer those courses under an
instructor. For the Community Association Managers, Salespersons Prelicense,
and Brokers Prelicense courses, the school must offer those courses under an
approved instructor. Every instructor in a computer-based course must:
1. be available to answer students' questions
or provide them assistance as necessary;
2. provide reasonable oversight of students'
work in order to insure that the student who completes the work is the student
who is enrolled in the course;
3.
certify students as successfully completing a computer-based course only if the
student:
(i) has completed all instructional
modules required to demonstrate mastery of the material,
(ii) has attended any hours of live
instruction and/or testing required for a given course, and
(iii) has passed the final examination for
the Community Association Managers, Salespersons Prelicense, Sales Postlicense,
Brokers Prelicense or any test required by a continuing education course.
4. obtain from each
student the following certification statement:
I certify that I have personally completed each assigned module
of instruction. I understand that if any other person has completed any module
of instruction or any part of this course required for completion of the
course, the school may not award credit for the course or may withdraw credit
already awarded for the course.
_________________ _____________________
Date Student's Signature
A school or instructor may permit a student to complete this
statement in an electronic or internet format in any computer-based or distance
learning course. A school must provide prior documentation or demonstration to
the Commission of the method by which the school will acquire this statement.
The Commission must authorize the method of requiring this
certification.
(h) Schools may provide homework exercises,
contract forms, or other assessment exercises required in courses in a
computer-based or internet delivery format. A school must provide prior
documentation or demonstration to the Commission of the delivery methods prior
to offering such exercises or assessments. The Commission must authorize the
delivery method offered by the school.
(i) Schools may permit students in
computer-based or distance-learning courses to complete written homework
exercises, standard forms, or other assessment exercises. Each written
assignment a student submits for completion of a computer-based or distance
learning course must include the following:
"I certify that I have personally completed this assignment. I
understand that if any other person has completed any assignment, contract
form, or other written assessment required for completion of the course, the
school may not award credit for the course or may withdraw credit already
awarded for the course."
_________________ _____________________
Date Student's Signature
(11)
Course Examinations. Every
Community Association Managers Prelicense, Salespersons Prelicense, Sales
Postlicense, and Brokers Prelicense Courses must conclude with an examination
administered by the approved school.
(a)
Scheduling. Schools shall administer final examinations for every Salesperson
Prelicense and Brokers Prelicense Courses on a day when the course holds no
in-class instruction. Schools may administer final examinations for every
Community Association Managers Prelicense Course and Salespersons Postlicense
Course on the last day of in-class instruction.
(b) Passing Score. On final examinations
administered for Community Association Managers Prelicense, Salespersons
Prelicense, Sales Postlicense, and Brokers Prelicense Courses, schools must
require that students achieve a passing score on the final examination that is
consistent with the passing score required on state qualifying examinations for
these licenses unless a school has first obtained the written permission of the
Commission to require a different passing score.
(c) Retaking a Course Examination. Schools
may elect to allow any student who fails to achieve a passing score to take
another examination on another day without repeating instruction. If a student
fails to achieve a passing score on a second final examination, the student
must repeat all instruction of that course before taking another
examination.
(d) Security. Schools
must maintain at least two forms of a final examination for each course and
must provide the Commission, upon its request, with reasonable assurances that
examinations are secure from distribution to students except upon
administration of an examination. These final examinations are evaluation
tools, not teaching tools. While schools may supply students with information
regarding their individual proficiency in areas of the examination, they must
not review specific questions from these examinations with students. The
Commission may impose any sanction permitted by law on the approval of any
school and/or instructor that fails to provide proper security for
examinations.
(e) Content Areas for
Salespersons Prelicense Examination. The final examination for the Salespersons
Prelicense Course must include at least five questions each on (a) brokerage
engagements, (b) legal descriptions and legal aspects of contracts, (c) methods
of payment and earnest money, (d) special stipulations and writing sales
contracts, (e) leases and fair housing, (f) licensees acting as principals, (g)
anti-trust laws, (h) basic finance, (i) loan types, (j) pricing property, (k)
seller's costs, (l) qualifying purchasers and purchaser's costs, (m) contract
closing, and (n) such other matters as the Commission may from time to time
require or authorize.
(f)
Examination Formats. Final Examinations for prelicense and postlicense courses
should attempt to measure the student's competence in the knowledge or skills
taught in the course. A school need not submit a course final examination to
the Commission if: (1) the examination consists of multiple choice questions
with a minimum of four choices of answers for each question; (2) the final
examination for the Salespersons Prelicense Course and the Brokers Prelicense
Course consists of no fewer than one hundred questions; and (3) the final
examination for the Community Association Managers Prelicense Course and the
Sales Postlicense Course consists of no fewer than fifty questions. A school
must submit to the Commission for approval any course final examination that
does not meet the above criteria prior to the examination's being administered
for the course.
(g) Proctoring.
Schools must provide proctors for all final examinations for prelicense and
postlicense courses and for any continuing education courses that require the
passing of a final examination in order to receive credit for the course. The
school director, coordinator, approved instructor, or other person designated
by the school director or coordinator may administer or proctor final
examinations in courses. The school director or coordinator must insure that
examinations are conducted according to the requirements of this
chapter.
(12)
Alternatives for Meeting Prelicense Course Requirements.
(a) College Courses. Applicants for
examination may qualify to sit for examination by presenting college
transcripts that show courses in real estate subjects of at least ten quarter
hours or six semester hours if the application is for the salesperson's
examination or fifteen quarter hours or nine semester hours if the application
is for the broker's examination. Applicants for the community association
manager's examination may qualify to sit for the examination by presenting
college transcripts that show real estate courses of at least four quarter
hours or two semester hours with a concentration in community associations and
community association management.
1.
Applicants must submit an official transcript at the time of making application
for examination; and the applicant may be required to provide a description of
the course or courses from the school's catalogue or bulletin.
2. Only courses which count towards the
student's obtaining a major in the field of real estate or courses dealing with
principles, fundamentals, or essentials of real estate and only courses in
agency, real property law, and contract law at a school of law will satisfy
this requirement. College correspondence courses and courses that qualify for
continuing education units do not satisfy the requirements of this
Rule.
(b) Credits for
Instructors. The Commission shall approve as meeting the education requirements
for examination any instructor who submits satisfactory proof that he or she
has taught a course or courses named in this Rule within two years prior to
making application to sit for an examination.
(c) Sales I, Sales II, and Sales III.
Applicants who successfully completed all three of the Sales I, Sales II, and
Sales III courses prior to January 1, 1993, may present certificates of
completion of those courses from approved schools in order to sit for the
qualifying examination for a salesperson's license.
(d) Courses Approved by Other Jurisdictions.
Prelicense education courses for community association managers, salespersons,
and brokers authorized by the regulatory body that regulates real estate
licensees in any state, district, territory, possession, or province of the
United States or Canada are approved as meeting the corresponding prelicense
education requirements in Georgia provided that such courses are similar in
credit hours earned to Commission required prelicense courses and are offered
through classroom instruction or through computer-based instruction that is
consistent with the standards of these regulations.
(13)
Alternatives for Meeting
Continuing Education Requirements.
The Commission shall deem a licensee to have met the continuing
education requirement of O.C.G.A. §
43-40-8(e)for a
renewal period if the licensee successfully completes in a renewal period any
of the following courses that have at least the total number hours of
instruction the law requires the licensee to complete:
(a) Prelicense and Post-license Courses.
Licensees may obtain continuing education credits by successfully completing
during a renewal period a Community Association Managers Prelicense,
Salespersons Prelicense, Sales Post-license, or Brokers Prelicense course.
Salespersons who complete the twenty-five hour Sales Post-license course in
their first year of licensure may count that course as meeting nine (9) hours
of the continuing education requirement for the first renewal period.
(b) College Courses. A licensee may obtain
continuing education credit for a renewal period by completing at an accredited
college or university any course of four quarter hours or two semester hours
1. which counts toward obtaining a major in
the field of real estate or courses dealing with principles, fundamentals, or
essentials of real estate;
2. which
counts toward obtaining a major in business administration, accounting,
finance, or marketing offered by a college or university accredited by one the
regional accrediting associations recognized by the United States Department of
Education; and
3. in courses in
agency, real property law, and contract law at an accredited school of law.
Licensees may not use college correspondence courses or college continuing
education courses to qualify under this Rule.
(c) Credits for Instructors. The Commission
shall deem the continuing education requirement for a real estate renewal
period as met by any instructor who submits satisfactory written proof that he
or she has taught any of the courses offered under the requirements of this
Chapter for a total of the hours required under Rule
520-1-.05(1) (d)
during the renewal period in which the instructor is applying for a renewal of
a real estate license.
(d)
Non-resident Licensees. The Commission shall deem the continuing education
requirement as met by any nonresident licensee who submits satisfactory written
proof that he or she has met the continuing education requirement of his or her
state of residence during the renewal period in which the licensee is applying
for a renewal of a real estate license. If the state of residence of a
nonresident licensee does not require continuing education, then such
nonresident licensee must meet the continuing education requirements of a
resident licensee.
(e) Courses
Approved by Other Jurisdictions. Licensees may use continuing education courses
authorized by the regulatory body that regulates real estate licensees in any
state, district, territory, possession, or province of the United States or
Canada to count toward meeting the continuing education requirement for real
estate licensees in Georgia. The Commission deems such courses as meeting
continuing education requirements only if a school offers the courses through
classroom instruction or through computer based instruction that is consistent
with the standards for computer based courses or distance education described
in this Rule and only if the course is for three or more credit
hours.
(14)
Verification of Course Completion.
The Commission may require licensees completing courses under
this Rule to submit transcripts or other verification of completion that the
Commission deems necessary and adequate.
O.C.G.A.
§§
43-40-2,
43-40-8,
43-40-25.