The Department of Real Estate (DRE) has issued a Real Estate Advisory, approving Regulation 2915 effective March 7, 2019. This regulation establishes the process and standards for a petition by a current real estate licensee for the removal of license discipline information from the department’s website. The DRE is now accepting petitions.
In order to qualify for this petition process:
- You must be a current real estate licensee
- At least 10 years from the effective date of the discipline to be removed must have passed
- A set of classifiable fingerprints must be submitted (using a Live Scan Service Request RE 237 completed no earlier than 30 days before the date of mailing or delivering the application to the DRE)
- Payment of the $1275 petition fee must be submitted by check, money order, cashier’s check, or credit card
It is important for petitioners to understand that the DRE still has discretion to deny the petition based upon its assessment of whether the licensee poses a “credible risk to the public.” In this regard, it is worth noting that Regulation 2915(f)(4) lists as a criterion of credible risk “any professional license discipline on petitioner’s Department record that is based on an offense that resulted in harm to a client or other consumer in a real estate transaction.”
To assist licensees who are interested in petitioning to have their discipline history removed, the department has developed a new form, Form RE 506R, which includes a checklist and submission instructions. A single petition may be used to request the removal of multiple instances of discipline, as long as each one is eligible for removal. The following actions listed on the DRE’s public license lookup are considered discipline and may be eligible for removal: Revoked, Restricted, Surrendered, Suspended (if done so by a Disciplinary Order, Decision, or Stipulation and Agreement), Public Reproval, as well as Desist and Refrain and BAR Orders.
Individuals who would like to petition for removal of discipline information but are not current licensees must first regain their licensed status. If a license has been expired for more than two years, a prospective petitioner must first successfully re-apply for their real estate license following standard application guidelines. If a license has been revoked or surrendered, a prospective petitioner must submit a petition for license reinstatement (RE 506). This petition for reinstatement may be submitted concurrently with a 506R Petition for Removal of Discipline Information, in which case a petitioner would only be required to pay a single $1275 petition processing fee. In this circumstance, discipline information will only be eligible for removal from the public website if both petitions are granted and the petitioner successfully completes all steps necessary to regain their license.
Petitioners may mail their petition along with acceptable payment and supporting documents to: Department of Real Estate, Attn: Petition Intake Unit, P.O. Box 137012, Sacramento, CA 95813-7012.
For a complete description of the review criteria and processing requirements refer to Regulation 2915 and B&P §10083.2, along with the relevant rehabilitation criteria described in Regulations 2911 and 2912.