Requirements for Further Education for Real Estate Brokers

FINANS TILSYNET Postboks 1187 Sentrum 0107 Oslo Circular Requirements for further education for real estate brokers CIRCULAR: 7/2019 DATE: 27.05.2019 THE CIRCULAR APPLIES TO: Real estate brokerage firms Lawyers with the right to conduct real estate brokerage Persons who have permission to conduct real estate brokerage

Requirements for further education for real estate brokers 2 | Finanstilsynet 1 Introduction The rules on mandatory further education for persons engaged in real estate brokerage activities entered into force on 1 January 2011. The requirement for mandatory further education follows from the Act of 29 June 2007 No. 73 (the Real Estate Brokerage Act) Section 4-6. More detailed rules on further education and requirements for documentation thereof are set out in the Regulation of 23 November 2007 No. 1318 (the Real Estate Brokerage Regulation) Sections 4-10 and 4-11. The purpose of this circular is to elaborate on the content of the requirement for mandatory further education. The circular replaces Circular 6/2012. The content is essentially the same, but the prerequisites for so-called "resetting" of the further education requirement have been clarified. 2 General The further education requirement applies to persons who are engaged in real estate brokerage and who hold a real estate broker certificate, permission as a broker under transitional rules, or permission as a lawyer. In addition, it applies to lawyers and legal assistants who conduct real estate brokerage. There is no requirement for mandatory further education for assistants and assistant real estate brokers. The requirement applies not only to persons who perform brokerage assignments. Responsible managers, quality managers, and others who have control functions and/or conduct training for employees who practice real estate brokerage must also fulfill the further education requirement. The rationale behind the requirement for further education is that real estate brokers must be sufficiently up-to-date professionally to conduct brokerage in accordance with current legislation.1 For an individual real estate broker to have participation in a course approved, it is a prerequisite that the course has provided the participant with updated professional knowledge or introduction to new areas relevant to the practice of the profession. If one participates multiple times in courses with the same content within the same two-year further education period, this will not fulfill the further education requirement. 3 What the requirement for further education covers Persons who conduct real estate brokerage must be able to document a minimum of 15 hours of further education over the previous two calendar years within the subjects set out in the study plan for the real estate broker examination: • Legislation affecting the real estate brokerage profession • Real estate brokerage in practice, including document handling • Accounting, finance, settlement, and handling of client funds 1 Cf. NOU 2006: 1 Real Estate Brokerage, page 82

Requirements for further education for real estate brokers Finanstilsynet | 3 Approved educational institutions, as well as organizations representing real estate brokerage firms, real estate brokers, lawyers and/or lawyers, may arrange further education. Currently, this applies to the Norwegian Real Estate Broker Association, Eiendom Norge, the Norwegian Bar Association, the Norwegian Jurists' Association, the Jurists' Education Centre, the Real Estate Lawyers' Service Office, and the Legal Assistants Association. Other organizers may apply to Finanstilsynet for approval of individual courses within the same subjects mentioned above. The individual course participant should not themselves submit course certificates to Finanstilsynet for approval. In an application for approval of a course from an organizer, the following must be attached: • Information about the organizer • Name of the speaker(s) and description of their competence • Documentation of the course content (agenda, presentation, etc.) • Estimated duration of the course lectures • Time of implementation of the course Finanstilsynet may approve the course (lecture) for a specific date, or for a longer defined period if the same course is to be held multiple times. Approval for a longer period presupposes that the content or speaker does not change or is replaced. If such significant changes occur during the approved period, the organizers must apply to Finanstilsynet specifically for approval of the changes. 4 Scope and documentation of the further education The individual may complete the further education by either a) participating in an approved further education course, cf. point 3, or b) passing examinations on subjects within the real estate broker study. One credit point corresponds to four hours of further education. The same applies if the real estate broker can document having attended at least 75 percent of the teaching program for such an examination. Lectures at courses as mentioned under point 3 count as relevant further education on par with participation. Persons who start in the industry must be able to document the further education from and including the third year-end after the person's engagement in real estate brokerage activities began, or from the time the person received their personal broker approval that triggers the further education requirement. Example 1: If person A was engaged as a broker on 6 April 2017, she must be able to document 15 hours of further education from and including the year-end at the third year after she started the job

Requirements for further education for real estate brokers 4 | Finanstilsynet – that is, from and including 1 January 2020. The further education must have been completed in the period 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2019. The next documentation deadline will be 1 January 2021, and she must then have completed the further education in the period 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2020. The requirement for further education applies during continuous engagement in real estate brokerage activities for two years. In the case of longer periods of absence, for example in connection with parental leave, a new two-year period will start again when the person resumes work as a broker. Example 2: Person A goes on parental leave on 10 April 2018 and returns to work on 10 January 2019. According to the main rule, A would have to complete 15 hours of further education during 2018 and 2019, which must be documented from and including 1 January 2020. Due to the absence from the industry, the further education requirement is "reset" by considering A to have resumed engagement in real estate brokerage activities on 10 January 2019. A will therefore have to complete 15 hours of further education in the period 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2021. This must be documented from and including 1 January 2022. Finanstilsynet assumes that "resetting" presupposes that the absence must last for at least six consecutive months. The obligation to complete further education applies until the absence has actually extended over a period of at least six months. For shorter breaks, for example in connection with sick leave, shorter leaves, or job changes, the further education requirement and documentation deadline will apply as normal (see Example 1). The individual broker must be able to document that the further education requirement is fulfilled at all times. A copy of the course certificate or equivalent documentation must be given to the responsible manager in the firm. It is emphasized that brokers should not send course documentation to Finanstilsynet unless this is explicitly requested. Failure to fulfill the further education requirement may lead to the revocation of the personal permission. The firm – through the board and responsible manager – has an independent responsibility to ensure that the further education requirement is followed by employees in the firm. The responsible manager must continuously monitor that employees' further education at all times meets the minimum requirements in the Real Estate Brokerage Regulation Section 4-10. The responsible manager must ensure that documentation for the further education is kept. Any failure to fulfill the requirement must be reported to the firm's board. The documentation must contain the name of the course organizer, the subject area, the participant's name, the time and place of the course implementation, and the number of approved further education hours. 5 Special provisions regarding the further education requirement for lawyers Mandatory further education also applies to lawyers who conduct real estate brokerage under the Real Estate Brokerage Act Section 2-1 first paragraph no. 2. Finanstilsynet generally assumes that lawyers who have provided security under the Real Estate Brokerage Act Section 2-7 conduct real estate brokerage as part of their legal practice.

Requirements for further education for real estate brokers Finanstilsynet | 5 For lawyers who are otherwise engaged in real estate brokerage activities, cf. point 2, it must be assessed specifically whether the affiliation triggers the further education requirement. For lawyers who do not conduct real estate brokerage during certain periods, the exception regarding interruption of at least six months applies correspondingly, cf. point 4. What is decisive for the requirement for further education is the frequency of real estate brokerage assignments, not the volume or average number of assignments in a period. The obligation to complete further education applies until the break has actually extended over a period of at least six months. Example 3: The lawyer concludes a real estate brokerage assignment on 1 September 2018 and does not take on any real estate brokerage assignments again until 1 May 2019. The lawyer must normally complete 15 hours of further education during 2017 and 2018, which must be documented from and including 1 January 2019. The requirement for further education is "reset" on 1 March 2019, as the break has extended over a period of six months. The lawyer resumes engagement in real estate brokerage activities upon entering into the assignment on 1 May 2019. The lawyer will therefore have to complete 15 hours of further education during 2020 and 2021, which must be documented from and including 1 January 2022.

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