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PARRIS N. GLENDENING, Governor
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H.B. 52
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Speaker of the House
State House
Annapolis MD 21401
Dear Mr. Speaker:
In accordance with Article II, Section 17 of the Maryland Constitution, I have today
vetoed House Bill 52 - Business Occupations and Professions - Real Estate Licenses
- Requirements for Licensure and Renewal.
House Bill 52 alters several provisions in current law relating to continuing education
requirements for the renewal of licenses for real estate brokers, associate brokers and
salespeople. The bill would require individuals who want to renew a license in and
after the license term that begins in 1996 to complete 15 clock-hours of continuing
education instruction, with certain exceptions. The bill would require individuals
with certain graduate degrees to complete only 7.5 hours of continuing education
instruction. Further, individuals who have been licensed for 10 years or more and
hold a "real estate designation from a nationally recognized real estate trade
association including the National Association of Realtors and the Maryland
Association of Realtors" would also be required to complete only 7.5 hours. The bill
also adds a requirement that 3 clock-hours of the continuing education instruction
must relate to ethics, given recent incidents of "flipping" and other questionable
practices.
The provisions of House Bill 52 that alter the requirements for individuals who have
been licensed for 10 years or more represent a significant departure from the policy
adopted by the General Assembly in 1998. Chapter 360 of the Acts of 1998 reduced the
continuing education requirements for those licensees from 15 clock-hours to 6
clock-hours regarding relevant changes to federal, State or local laws. House Bill 52
would increase this requirement to at least 7.5 hours, and possibly 15 hours, for these
individuals. I find it troubling that a licensee who is currently required to complete 6
hours of continuing education would now, 4 years after the law was changed, again
have to complete 15 hours unless the individual chooses to join a "nationally
recognized real estate trade association." No policy justification has been advanced to
justify this change so soon after the clock hour requirement was reduced.
Since the passage of House Bill 52, I have received over 75 letters from licensees
requesting that I veto the bill. These individuals have been licensed for many years,
but for various reasons have chosen not to join a trade association. Now, they will be
faced with the decision to complete an additional 9 clock-hours of instruction, or pay
dues to an organization they have consciously decided not to join. These Marylanders
have expressed their opinion that they are being forced to take additional courses or
sign-up for a membership drive for no apparent policy reason.
The new requirement regarding an enhanced ethics course is meritorious. That
requirement could have been integrated into the current continuing education
program without imposing additional burdens on licensees. The importance of the
ethics course does not, in my opinion, outweigh the interests of the individuals who
will be affected by the arbitrary reversal of the 1998 decision to reduce the continuing
education requirements for long-term licensees.
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- 4949 -
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