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Real estate news

May 2022

Update – New mandatory education on Fair Housing requirements

What’s happening?

We’re implementing Substitute Senate Bill 5378. The bill requires education on Fair Housing for new licensees and renewals. It applies to real estate brokers and managing brokers and goes into effect on June 1, 2022.

What’s next for schools and instructors?

You’ll need to submit applications for the new Fair Housing curriculum course starting on May 23, 2022. Sign into your SAW account and fill out the application. The new Fair Housing curriculum course is officially titled “Washington Real Estate Fair Housing (6hr).” Existing licensees will receive credit on their account after completing the course.

Schools offering pre-licensing courses

We’re updating the Real Estate Fundamentals and Real Estate Law course to include Fair Housing.

What’s next for licensees?

We’ll allow licensees until June 1, 2023, to take the Fair Housing 6-hour course. This provides a full year to sign up and complete the Washington Real Estate Fair Housing (6hr) course.

On June 1, 2022, you may sign into your account or search for the new course to find an accredited school. This is the only course that we’ve approved for you to receive credit.

Questions? Need help?

April 2022

Update - New mandatory education on Fair Housing requirements

What's happening?

We started the process for implementing Substitute Senate Bill 5378. The bill requires education on Fair Housing for brokers and managing brokers. It applies to new licensees and renewals. The new law goes into effect on June 1, 2022.

New curriculum for schools and instructors

We plan to have this curriculum available before June 1, 2022. Schools will need to submit applications for a new course approval. Instructors will also need to submit an application for the new curriculum.

Renewing Brokers and Managing Brokers

You'll need to sign up for the 6-hour Fair Housing course once it is available. If you are renewing your license in 2022, you must take the 6-hour Fair Housing course by June 1, 2023. If you completed your education before June 1, 2022, you'll have to take the new 6-hr course before you renew. This also applies if you got your first license before June 1, 2022. Only 1 course meets the continued education requirements. It's titled “Washington Real Estate Fair Housing (6-hr) (3-hr)”.

What we're working on

  • Conducting listening sessions for feedback from our stakeholders, schools, instructors, and the public.
  • Developing and approving the new course curriculum.
  • Updating the online licensing system to include the new education course.
  • Continuing to work on proposed rulemaking with stakeholder feedback.

Questions? Need help?

January 2022

New Fair Housing requirements go into effect June 1, 2022

We’ve started implementing Substitute Senate Bill 5378. We’re working with industry representatives for a curriculum to be available to real estate schools. The goal is to allow schools and instructors to develop a Fair Housing course before June 1, 2022. We are also giving licensees extra time to take the required course.

Active Brokers and Managing Brokers

Active and managing brokers must take the Fair Housing education course. This is part of the required 30-hour instruction. The first active renewal after June 1, 2022 must include a 6-hour course on Fair Housing. With every renewal afterward, you must complete a 3-hour course.

New Brokers

New brokers will receive a 3-hour Fair Housing course as part of the normal 90-hour pre-licensing curriculum. On your first license renewal, you’ll also get an extra 3 hours as part of the normal 90-hour curriculum.

What we’re working on

  • Onboarding an instructional designer to create the course curriculum.
  • Reaching out to the industry for feedback on curriculum and requirements in late January.
  • Updating the online licensing system to include the new education.
  • Proposed rulemaking for stakeholder feedback is scheduled for April.

Questions? Need help?

October 2021

New mandatory education – fair housing requirements

What’s happening?

We've begun the process for implementing Substitute Senate Bill 5378. This bill requires education on fair housing for:

  • New broker licensees.
  • Managing broker licensees.
  • Renewals.

The new law goes into effect on June 1, 2022.

Active brokers and managing brokers

You must take a fair housing education course as part of the required 30-hour instruction. The first active renewal after June 1, 2022 must include a 6-hour course on fair housing. You must complete a 3-hour course every time you renew afterwards.

New brokers

You will receive a 3-hour fair housing instruction as part of the normal 90-hour pre-licensing curriculum. You'll also get an extra 3-hours as part of the 90-hour curriculum with your first license renewal.

Our next steps

  • Hire an institutional designer to create the course curriculum.
  • Identify stakeholders and reach out for industry input.
  • Update our online licensing system.
  • Propose rulemaking to include stakeholder feedback.

Questions? Need help?

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