Members of the Alabama Real Estate Commission (AREC) met in Montgomery last week for their monthly meeting. With Commissioners Susan Smith and Jim Dye out, the remaining commissioners conducted business as usual, receiving updates from staff and holding hearings. Continue reading for highlights from the meeting. 

An interesting number to track every month is how many new licensees are added. While the number includes redundant numbers like temporary licenses and regular licenses, the data provides a picture of the real estate industry, specifically how many folks think the real estate profession pays enough to justify the time and expense to obtain a license. This past month saw an uptick in numbers, with 606 new licenses issued in January, or about 10.7 licenses per day. AREC reported at the meeting that over 41,000 total licenses exist (12,336 inactive), representing over 33,000 unique individuals. 

A task force looking at restructuring the qualifications and purposes of real estate brokers completed its work in January, according to the commission. The verbal report did not provide any specifics on recommendations but indicated that the commissioners should receive it soon. 

Another eight complaints on bad checks, e-checks or rejected payments came before the commission. Several cases were not bad checks per se or even entering in the wrong routing or banking number but licensees who did not recognize the charge from the “State of Alabama” on their statement and put a stop payment on the charge. So, if you see a charge from the “State of Alabama”, consider carefully whether you paid an AREC bill before stopping payment. Those at fault paid not only a $30 fee but were guilty of violating license law and fined another $100. 

In addition, commissioners heard five applications for a determination of licensing eligibility, one application for a salesperson’s temporary license and one request for an extension to the deadline to apply for a salesperson’s temporary license.

The next meetings of the Commission will occur on March 23 in Montgomery, followed by a change in location to Huntsville for a meeting on April 20.