Jozef Magyar, Esq.
June, 2018
Effective July 1, 2018, the BRE will again become the DRE.
On July 1, 2013, after almost a century as the Department of Real Estate (“DRE”), California’s governmental agency responsible for enforcing the state’s Real Estate Law became the California Bureau of Real Estate (“CalBRE” or “BRE”).
The Bureau then became situated under the Department of Consumer Affairs following the approval of Governor Brown’s Reorganization Plan, which reduced the number of state agencies from 12 to 10 and eliminated or consolidated dozens of departments and entities.
Now with the passage of Senate Bill No. 173, the BRE will be reorganized as the Department of Real Estate, reporting to the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency effective July 1, 2018.
While it is yet to be seen how and to what extent this “restoration” or “re-establishment” may affect licensees and their day-to-day operations, Commissioner Wayne S. Bell has assured his intention for the new Department to “perform more efficient and effective public service which will help us to better carry out our statutory mandates.”
As for the likely immediate concern regarding business cards and marketing materials, Commissioner Bell has confirmed that from the agency’s perspective, use of either DRE, BRE, or CalBRE is fine with them. Just make sure the applicable license number is there.
Additional Resources:
- Commissioner Wayne S. Bell’s message regarding this reorganization can be found in the Bureau’s Winter 2017 Real Estate Bulletin at http://www.dre.ca.gov/files/pdf/reb/rebwinter_17.pdf.
- Text of Senate Bill No. 173:
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB173.
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