NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY
1979 SESSION
CHAPTER 616
SENATE BILL 509
AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 93A OF THE GENERAL STATUTES RELATING TO REAL ESTATE BROKERS AND SALESMEN.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1. Subsection (a) of G.S. 93A-3 is hereby rewritten as follows:
"(a) There is hereby created the North Carolina Real Estate Licensing Board for issuing licenses to real estate brokers and real estate salesmen, hereinafter called the Board. The Board shall consist of seven members to be appointed by the Governor; provided, that at least two members of the Board shall be licensed real estate brokers, real estate salesmen, or otherwise directly engaged in the real estate business; and at least two members of the Board must be persons who are not involved directly or indirectly in the real estate business. Members of the Board shall serve three-year terms, so staggered that the terms of two members expire in one year, the terms of two members expire in the next year, and the terms of three members expire in the third year of each three-year period. The members of the Board shall elect one of their members to serve as Chairman of the Board for a term of one year. The Governor may remove any member of the Board for misconduct, incompetency, or willful neglect of duty. The Governor shall have the power to fill all vacancies occurring on the Board."
Sec. 2. Subsection (c) of G.S. 93A-3 is hereby rewritten as follows:
"(c) The Board shall have power to make such reasonable bylaws, rules and regulations that are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Chapter and the General Statutes of North Carolina, and such rules and regulations may relate to the activity of licensees with regard to supervision of salesmen by brokers, advertising, delivery of instruments, handling and accounting of funds in real estate transactions, records relative to real estate transactions and their retention, and inactive licensee status; provided, however, the Board shall not make rules or regulations regulating commissions, salaries, or fees to be charged by licensees under this Chapter. The Board shall adopt a seal for its use, which shall bear thereon the words 'North Carolina Real Estate Licensing Board'. Copies of all records and papers in the office of the Board duly certified and authenticated by the seal of the Board shall be received in evidence in all courts and with like effect as the originals."
Sec. 3. Subsection (a) of G.S. 93A-4 is amended by deleting at the end of the subsection the sentences: "Each application for a license as real estate broker shall be accompanied by twenty-five dollars ($25.00). Each application for license as a real estate salesman shall be accompanied by fifteen dollars ($15.00), and shall state the name and address of the real estate broker with whom the applicant is to be associated.", and by inserting in lieu thereof the following:
"Each application for license as a real estate broker shall be accompanied by a fee, fixed by the Board but not to exceed thirty dollars ($30.00). Each application for license as a real estate salesman shall be accompanied by a fee, fixed by the Board but not to exceed twenty dollars ($20.00), and shall state the name and address of the real estate broker with whom the applicant is to be associated."
Sec. 4. Subsection (b) of G.S. 93A-4 is hereby rewritten as follows:
"(b) Any person who files such application to the Board in proper manner for a license as real estate broker or a license as real estate salesman shall be required to take an oral or written examination to determine his qualifications with due regard to the paramount interests of the public as to the honesty, truthfulness, integrity and competency of the applicant.
The Board may make such investigation as it deems necessary into the ethical background of the applicant. If the results of the examination and investigation shall be satisfactory to the Board, then the Board shall issue to such a person a license, authorizing such person to act as a real estate broker or real estate salesman in the State of North Carolina, upon the payment of privilege taxes now required by law or that may hereafter be required by law. Anyone failing to pass an examination may be re-examined without payment of additional fee, under such rules as the Board may adopt in such cases.
Provided, however, that any person who, at the time of the passage or at the effective date of this Chapter, has a license to engage in, and is engaged in business as a real estate broker or real estate salesman and who shall file a sworn application with the Board setting forth his qualifications, including a statement that such applicant has not within five years preceding the filing of the application been convicted of any felony or any misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, shall not be required to take or pass such examination, but all such persons shall be entitled to receive such license from the Board under the provisions of this Chapter on proper application therefor and payment of a fee of ten dollars ($10.00)."
Sec. 5. Subsection (c) of G.S. 93A-4 is amended by deleting from lines 6 and 9 the phrase "of ten dollars ($10.00)" and inserting in lieu thereof in each line the phrase "fixed by the Board but not to exceed fifteen dollars ($15.00)".
Sec. 6. G.S. 93A-6 is hereby amended by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as subsection (d) and (e) respectively, and by inserting two new subsections as follows:
"(b) Anything in this Chapter to the contrary notwithstanding, the Board shall have the power to suspend or revoke the license of a real estate broker or real estate salesman:
(1) who violates any of the provisions of G.S. 93A-6(a) when selling or leasing his own property; or
(2) who is convicted or who enters a plea of no contest upon which a finding of guilty and final judgment is entered by a court of competent jurisdiction, or an offense involving moral turpitude which is outside the scope of the real estate business, but would reasonably affect the licensee's performance in such business.
"(c) The Board may appear in its own name in the superior courts in actions for injunctive relief to prevent violation by any person of the provisions of this Chapter or regulations promulgated hereunder, and the superior courts shall have power to grant such injunctions regardless of whether criminal prosecution has been or may be instituted as a result of such violations, or regardless of whether the person is a licensee of the Board."
Sec. 7. Subsection (d) of G.S. 93A-6 is renumbered pursuant to Section 6 of this act is rewritten as follows:
"(d) Each broker shall maintain complete records showing the deposit, maintenance, and withdrawal of money or other property owned by his principals or held in escrow or trust for his principals. The Board may inspect these records of each broker periodically without prior notice and may also inspect the records whenever the Board determines that the records are pertinent to the conduct of the investigation of any specific complaint against a licensee."
Sec. 8. Members of the North Carolina Real Estate Licensing Board who are serving in that capacity on the effective date of this act shall continue to serve until their terms expire. The two additional members authorized by this act shall be appointed for initial terms expiring on July 31, 1982; thereafter all appointments shall be for terms of three years.
Sec. 9. Chapter 712 of the Session Laws of 1977 is amended by deleting from Section 2 the following:
"G.S. 93A, entitled 'Real Estate Brokers and Salesmen'."
Sec. 10. This act is effective upon ratification.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 21st day of May, 1979.