The Alabama Real Estate Commission (AREC) met on August 20 for its monthly meeting. All Commissioners were present, either in person or virtually. The meeting included the Executive Director’s report, Commissioner discussion, and hearings. Commissioners also set the calendar for 2021 hearings. 

Director Vaughn Poe focused much of his report on the upcoming deadline for license renewals. According to Mr. Poe, over 15,000 licenses have been renewed, of which 14,000 or so have been renewed online. This leaves almost 20,000 licenses to be renewed by August 31, 2020. Over 4,200 licensees have completed all continuing education requirements. Licensees who have not yet completed the coursework have until December 31, 2020 to do so.

Commissioners held hearings on several complaints. In one case, the defendant/real estate agent failed to notify his broker of a management agreement and payments were not funneled through the broker. The other complaint dealt with escrow issues, where a licensee paid personal and operating bills out of the rental escrow account rather than transfer them to a personal account or operating account. Commissioners also heard two applications for license renewal after a previous revocation, one hardship application for renewal after a lapsed license, and a hardship application for an extension to pass the sales license exam.

The next AREC meeting is on September 17 at 9 a.m. in Montgomery.