Dept of Licensing Update from Natalie

February 2023

The Real Estate Commission met for the quarterly meeting online. About 35 people signed into the meeting to listen to staff and commissioners. I have attended about 95% of the DOL meetings for the past 30 years… more than anyone else!
Important… These are Natalie’s personal notes and comments about the meeting. You can listen in a few months to the audio or see a transcript.

 

Update on the SAW Website

The commissioners brought up several issues where the SAW is still not working including for real estate firms and brokers trying to renew. If a commissioner notes a problem, the staff replies that they will get on it. There was no discussion about customer service for licensees and firms dealing with SAW problems. Now there is a “bug” in the SAW account for the clockhour instructors to renew or apply and no projected fix date. The SAW does not let me update my school information and all my classes are listed incorrectly!
Managing Broker’s Exam problems
The staff brought up complaints about registering for the Managing Brokers Exam including trying to schedule. The DOL is meeting with the testing company PSI monthly. These were the topics last month:
  • The wait time to register for the exam is slow
  • Testing sites have been closed when the candidate (broker) shows up.
  • Some candidates couldn’t schedule a retake in the 6 months required.
  • Candidates register and pay but their registration is missing. It was assumed they didn’t press “send.”
  • Overall customer service concerns. Topic will be discussed at next meeting including post exam feedback.
What was NOT discussed is the low pass rate. About 70% of the brokers taking the MB exam fail.. and often try multiple times. The pass rate used to be 85%. When two testing (PSI/AMP) companies merged about 5 years ago, the pass rate dropped.
A staff person at DOL suggested that maybe the pass/fail rates could be compared with other states and DOL pay the research center to do that work. That has been requested from PSI in the past and it was not disclosed.
Natalie did get an email from DOL asking for a list of the problems that I brought up at the public comment time at the end of the meeting. I mentioned WA brokers getting the Vermont test, brokers now trying to schedule a test, and that the sample test online is a pre-license test not a managing broker sample. If you want to contribute your comment, email me.
Fair Housing Class Required
Every real estate licensee in the state is required by law to take the 6 hour WA Fair Housing class prior to the first renewal after June 2022.
If you were unable to complete this requirement, you have a grace period until June 2023 to take the 6 hour fair housing class. This is because there were only a few schools offering the class last year.
In subsequent renewals, every licensee will be required to take the 3 hour WA Fair Housing Class. The DOL sent out a revised (poorly worded) Fair Housing information sheet… Contact Natalie if you have questions.
Natalie, of course, offers the course on Zoom, online, and sometimes Live.
Commissioner Appointments
There are now the full 6 commissioners. The include Sabrina Jones-Schroeder, Shelly Schmitz, Casey Brazil, Ruth Macias, Chang, and Shari Song.
There are two sub-committees that the commissioners had the choice to serve on this coming year. Education will focus on Managing Broker issues and curriculum updates. Teams will examine the role and responsibilities of teams. This might include the use of assumed names.
Budget
Again, the real estate commission meeting did not disclose the budget or the income.
Contacting the DOL
What is frustrating is that there is no way to contact the DOL with issues or problems. RBSAdminSupport@dol.wa.gov was on the agenda for written comments prior to a meeting. They said if you have an issue contact RealEstate@dol.wa.gov.
2023 Meetings on Teams
The quarterly meetings will occur at 10am on May 18, Aug 17, and Nov 16. They are open to the public. Attendees must not have video or audio and there is no “chat.” There is public comment at the end for 3 min each. The transcripts are posted on the

 

There you go,

Natalie Danielson