DRE Defense Attorney Frank Buda

WHAT HAPPENS IF A REAL ESTATE BROKER CORP IS NOT IN GOOD STANDING. I have recently found that the Bureau of Real Estate (BRE) is becoming much more aggressive with California real estate broker corporations who have been suspended by the California Secretary of State. If you are a California real estate broker and have a licensed real estate broker corporation, be warned that the BRE is cracking down on and disciplining real estate brokers and designated officers who supe...rvise real estate broker corporations that have had their corporate status suspended by the California Secretary of State. If a real estate broker corporation continues to perform licensed real estate activities while the corporation is not in good standing with the Secretary of State, both the real estate broker corporation and the real estate broker or designated officer licensee supervising the activities of the corporate real estate broker licensee can be subject to discipline by the BRE (see Regulation 2742, subsection (c)). Usually, suspensions by the Secretary of State occur because the corporation has not filed its corporate tax returns, the corporation has failed to pay state taxes, or the corporation has failed to file its yearly Statement of Information, which provides the names of corporate officers and directors. It is therefore wise for a broker to have both a corporate and individual real estate brokers license, so if the corporation is suspended for any reason, the real estate salespersons licensed to the corporation and the licensed real estate activities of the corporation can be transferred to the supervision of the individual real estate broker licensee while the corporation is being reinstated by the Secretary of State. This way everyone keeps working. Normally, the BRE discovers the suspensions when doing an audit or if they have received a complaint from the public. I have seen the BRE bring actions to discipline real estate broker licensees based on this violation, and I have seen the BRE punish real estate broker licenses for this violation. The BRE does not care if by disciplining a licensee for this violation, the BRE halts your real estate broker corporation’s licensed business activities and puts people out of work. The law requires that a real estate broker corporation licensee be in good standing if you are doing licensed real estate activities under that license, even though a licensed real estate broker still overseeing the licensed activities when the corporation’s status is suspended. Please visit my website BRE-Defense.com for other information.

Bureau of Real Estate ("BRE") denies real estate licensee a hearing because she did not timely file a Notice of Defense. An Accusation was filed against a real estate licensee based on a conviction. The Accusation was not received by the real estate licensee at her home address because of poor mail service where she lived. When she found out about the Accusation, she called the BRE attorney on the case. In talking to the BRE attorney she requested the Accusation and Notice of... Defense be mailed to her P.O Box address to respond. The BRE attorney agreed to send the Accusation package to the new address and stated that the real estate licensee should file the Notice of Defense if she wanted a hearing. The BRE attorney never told the real estate licensee that the real estate licensee could just sent the BRE a letter requesting a hearing, nor did she inquire if the real estate licensee wanted a hearing on the Accusation. The real estate licensee did not pick up her mail at the P.O. Box for over a week because she had car trouble and could not afford to fix the car. When she did go to the P.O. Box, she received the BRE documents, but first decided to look for an attorney to represent her. The real estate licensee waited about two weeks, but ultimately mailed in the Notice of Defense to the BRE. The real estate licensee did not hear anything else from the BRE until they sent her a Default Decision revoking her license. The BRE stated it never received the Notice of Defense. The real estate licensee then timely petitioned for reconsideration to allow her to have a hearing, explaining what had happened and stating she needed her license to support her disabled son. When the BRE was the Department of Real Estate, such a petition would be normally granted because of a desire to see that every real estate licensee had their day in court. However, the current BRE administration decided that no longer applied and denied Reconsideration revoking the real estate licensee's license. Lesson that every real estate licensee should learn, always timely file the Notice of Defense, you only have 15 days. You do not have to use the BRE form to request a hearing. Once you mail something to the BRE check to make sure they go it. The BRE is not the old Department of Real Estate.

WHAT HAPPENS IF A REAL ESTATE BROKER CORP IS NOT IN GOOD STANDING. I have recently found that the Bureau of Real Estate (BRE) is becoming much more aggressive with California real estate broker corporations who have been suspended by the California Secretary of State. If you are a California real estate broker and have a licensed real estate broker corporation, be warned that the BRE is cracking down on and disciplining real estate brokers and designated officers who supe...rvise real estate broker corporations that have had their corporate status suspended by the California Secretary of State. If a real estate broker corporation continues to perform licensed real estate activities while the corporation is not in good standing with the Secretary of State, both the real estate broker corporation and the real estate broker or designated officer licensee supervising the activities of the corporate real estate broker licensee can be subject to discipline by the BRE (see Regulation 2742, subsection (c)). Usually, suspensions by the Secretary of State occur because the corporation has not filed its corporate tax returns, the corporation has failed to pay state taxes, or the corporation has failed to file its yearly Statement of Information, which provides the names of corporate officers and directors. It is therefore wise for a broker to have both a corporate and individual real estate brokers license, so if the corporation is suspended for any reason, the real estate salespersons licensed to the corporation and the licensed real estate activities of the corporation can be transferred to the supervision of the individual real estate broker licensee while the corporation is being reinstated by the Secretary of State. This way everyone keeps working. Normally, the BRE discovers the suspensions when doing an audit or if they have received a complaint from the public. I have seen the BRE bring actions to discipline real estate broker licensees based on this violation, and I have seen the BRE punish real estate broker licenses for this violation. The BRE does not care if by disciplining a licensee for this violation, the BRE halts your real estate broker corporation’s licensed business activities and puts people out of work. The law requires that a real estate broker corporation licensee be in good standing if you are doing licensed real estate activities under that license, even though a licensed real estate broker still overseeing the licensed activities when the corporation’s status is suspended. Please visit my website BRE-Defense.com for other information.

Bureau of Real Estate ("BRE") denies real estate licensee a hearing because she did not timely file a Notice of Defense. An Accusation was filed against a real estate licensee based on a conviction. The Accusation was not received by the real estate licensee at her home address because of poor mail service where she lived. When she found out about the Accusation, she called the BRE attorney on the case. In talking to the BRE attorney she requested the Accusation and Notice of... Defense be mailed to her P.O Box address to respond. The BRE attorney agreed to send the Accusation package to the new address and stated that the real estate licensee should file the Notice of Defense if she wanted a hearing. The BRE attorney never told the real estate licensee that the real estate licensee could just sent the BRE a letter requesting a hearing, nor did she inquire if the real estate licensee wanted a hearing on the Accusation. The real estate licensee did not pick up her mail at the P.O. Box for over a week because she had car trouble and could not afford to fix the car. When she did go to the P.O. Box, she received the BRE documents, but first decided to look for an attorney to represent her. The real estate licensee waited about two weeks, but ultimately mailed in the Notice of Defense to the BRE. The real estate licensee did not hear anything else from the BRE until they sent her a Default Decision revoking her license. The BRE stated it never received the Notice of Defense. The real estate licensee then timely petitioned for reconsideration to allow her to have a hearing, explaining what had happened and stating she needed her license to support her disabled son. When the BRE was the Department of Real Estate, such a petition would be normally granted because of a desire to see that every real estate licensee had their day in court. However, the current BRE administration decided that no longer applied and denied Reconsideration revoking the real estate licensee's license. Lesson that every real estate licensee should learn, always timely file the Notice of Defense, you only have 15 days. You do not have to use the BRE form to request a hearing. Once you mail something to the BRE check to make sure they go it. The BRE is not the old Department of Real Estate.

Update - On December 8, 2016, after receiving comments regarding the proposed amendment to Regulations 2911 and 2912, the BRE amended it prior proposal to conform to Section 480 of the B&P Code so expunged convictions cannot be used as a basis to deny a license application, however, they still can be used to revoke a real estate license. Looks like someone who does not have a real estate license has more protection then someone who does have a license. The BRE also removed m...any of the more draconian changes in the last version, including not giving testimony from a respondent much weight. However, the amendment of the Regulations adds additional requirements such as that at least two years have to pass since the conviction (unless you are a license applicant and you have the conviction expunged) and that they can now take in consideration the nature of the crime and whether a licensee has prior convictions to extent the two year time period. For real estate licensees the latter condition in the the proposed Regulation 2912 would violate the statute of limitations contained in section 10101 of the B&P Code. The new proposed Regs are now pending. See more