Read Past Issues

 Change Your Info

 License Renewals and Reinstatements

 Out-of-State Licensees

 Continuing Education

 Certificate of Licensure

At the end of December 2012, DLLR's Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing celebrated the extensive and very memorable career of Harry Loleas, who retired as our Commissioner. For over 24 years, Harry was one of the most respected and competent leaders to enter State service. Plus, he delighted his staff on a daily basis with his funny stories, clever insights, and spot-on impressions. He started gathering material for those stories in 1988, when he began as Executive Director for the Division. Back then, he was in charge of 12 of the boards and commissions in the Division. By 1990 he was promoted to Deputy Commissioner, where he served until June 2012, when he was appointed Commissioner.

Harry is as well-known to the Maryland Legislature as he is to DLLR and to local Baltimore politics----he was a remarkable orator and skilled negotiator in Annapolis for an impressive 38 sessions. He began to hone his political expertise as early as 1973, when he was still a student at Johns Hopkins University. From there, he was Executive Assistant to both the President of the Baltimore City Council and the Mayor of Baltimore. Luckily for us at DLLR, he stayed here for the balance of his career.

There are few leaders these days who can truly be called indispensable, but that's exactly what all 80 of his employees said during his last weeks, as we counted down the days to retirement with him. We hope that you had a chance to meet Harry during his tenure at DLLR, because you undoubtedly would have been as taken with him as we are.

Happy retirement, Harry!

On January 2, 2013, the MREC's continuing education banking system was fully implemented, including a web portal designed to allow licensees the ability to check the status of their continuing education classes. Since that date, over 40,000 education records have been uploaded to the Commission.

The staff at the Commission views the program as a success; however, there are a few minor issues that have arisen. One recurring issue involves the time it takes for record updates to appear on the MREC website. The most frequent complaint education providers have received from students is that their records are blank when they check the portal. There are only two reasons that would cause a student record to be devoid of course information. One reason is that the school has not yet uploaded the course information. The providers have 14 days from the class date to upload the class. The second reason is that once a student renews his or her license, the course completion data is removed from his or her education history. This was done intentionally to prevent confusion on the part of licensees. The Commission wanted to prevent licensees from checking their continuing education balances and seeing old courses that could not be used for the current renewal period.

Another frequent concern is that some students are not receiving the courtesy email from the Commission acknowledging that the provider has uploaded the course completion data. We have found the following reasons for emails not being received by students:

Please note that if your email account is protected by the use of anti-spam verification questions, you won't receive our emails. To prevent missing important communications from the MREC, please add our email addresses to your address book or safe list. The Commission encourages you to update your email address by clicking here. You can also update or verify your email address when you renew your license.

The only significant problem to occur has been operator error by the education providers. We have experienced approximately 15 instances where the providers uploaded incorrect courses. We are working closely with the providers to eliminate this problem. In the event you receive a courtesy email from the Commission, and the course number or date of the class is incorrect, please contact the course provider. The Commission staff cannot make changes to the course numbers or dates of classes. That information must be confirmed and corrected by course providers.

How well can you navigate the legal and ethical ramifications of the following scenarios? Test yourself on the proper handling of commissions and referral fees:

At the January 2013 meeting of the Maryland Real Estate Commission, final action was taken on a new regulation that adds a requirement for applicants to pass both portions of the real estate salesperson's examination within one year of completing the pre-licensing course. The adopted regulation amends Regulation .11 under COMAR 09.11.01 General Regulations to contain the new time provision. If an applicant does not take or pass the exam within one year of completing the course, the applicant will be required to take another pre-licensing course before sitting for the exam.

In order to phase in the requirement, the regulation contains conditional provisions for applicants who have already completed the pre-licensing course. If an applicant completed the course more than one year prior to March 1, 2013, the applicant must pass both portions of the exam no later than August 31, 2013. If an applicant completed the course less than one year prior to March 1, 2013, the applicant must pass both portions within one year of the course completion date. In both cases, if the applicant fails to take or pass the exam by the cut-off date, he or she will have to complete another pre-licensing course in order to take or retake the exam.

Do you know someone who might be a good candidate for serving on the Maryland Real Estate Commission? The MREC is currently looking to fill a vacancy for a Consumer Member. Candidates are appointed by the Governor, and are asked to commit to monthly meetings at the offices of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation in downtown Baltimore. The statutory requirements for serving on the Commission can be found here.

If you would like more information or want to submit the name of a candidate, please email Executive Director Katherine Connelly.

Did you know that the MREC maintains an extensive list of past disciplinary actions? Information on cases the Commission has adjudicated as far back as 1997 are updated regularly on the website. All actions up through the first half of 2013 are currently posted, and cases are searchable by licensee name. Click here to access the site.

To ensure that you continue receiving our emails, please add us to your address book or safe list.