The Board met on August 14th for its regular quarterly meeting. Because of the number of bills that passed during the 2017 legislative session affecting the agency’s license holders and the agency’s operations, a large number of draft rules were proposed. Several Agreed Orders, a modification and a Proposal for Decision (PFD) arising out of a case heard at the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH), extended the agenda. We heard quarterly reports from our Commissioner, directors, and major committees. And because of the fiscal year-end, the agency also had budgetary and internal audit issues to consider; a very full plate. We approved the agency’s FY 2018 operating budget.

We were pleased to appoint a 5-member Curriculum Working Group to write a 2-hour Texas Appraiser Continuing Education (ACE) course for the Board’s consideration, and appoint two Board members to the agency’s Long-Term Facilities Master Plan committee. We also celebrated a special Communications Award from ARELLO given to recognize the agency’s newly redesigned, upgraded and highly interactive website, first proto-typed for the Board. We continue to be proud of our agency’s many achievements.

We heard updates from our General Counsel Kristen Worman on federal rules and policies. We had an extended discussion on the potential for expanding the number of trainees a supervisory appraiser could sponsor. We also delegated to the Executive Committee the final approval of the agency’s Self-Evaluation Report due to the Sunset Advisory Commission on September 1, 2017. This is the first step in the agency’s Sunset Review process that happens every 12 years; more to follow. We encourage all of our license holders to read this special report which we will post on our website.

We proposed several rules that implement changes in laws that passed in the 2017 legislative session, including regarding changes to the disciplinary process and also AMC related rules that we worked collaboratively with stakeholders to revise, including the professional associations of our license holders. TREC’s Broker-Lawyer Committee also recommended a new form that deals with options available when a property fails to appraise for the contract price. Now we rely on you to give us feedback to improve the proposed versions before adoption. Please read carefully and send any comments to general.counsel@talcb.texas.gov as this is a key step to ensure the Board adopts good public policy positions. Thank you.