Administrative Rules Update: June 2025

Real estate in Iowa and nationwide has seen an evolution in recent years, leading to passage of new laws and policies to address the changing real estate landscape. This has also necessitated updates to  Iowa administrative rules (193E) to ensure they are in compliance with enacted legislation. Below is a summary of the latest Iowa Real Estate Commission rule changes, effective in June 2025:

193E Chapter 3:

Following the passage of legislation allowing for the carry over of continuing education earned in excess in the previous renewal period, the IREC has adopted the following policy for broker license renewal:

Broker licensees will be able to carry over a maximum of 18 hours of continuing education from the previous renewal period earned in excess except for the mandatory eight hours of Law Update and four hours of Ethics. 

Example: A broker licensee renewed their broker license on December 31, 2024, completing 43 hours of continuing education during their renewal period. That broker licensee would be able to carry over the excess seven hours to the next renewal cycle and would only need to complete 17 hours of electives and the mandatory eight hours of Law Update and four hours of Ethics to renew by December 31, 2027.

193E Chapter 4:

Following the passage of legislation allowing for the carry over of continuing education earned in excess in the previous renewal period the IREC has adopted the following policy for salesperson licensee renewal:

Licensees will be able to carry over a maximum of 18 hours of continuing education from the previous renewal period earned in excess except for the mandatory eight hours of Law Update and four hours of Ethics. 

Example: A licensee renewed their salesperson license on December 31, 2024, completing 51 hours of continuing education during their renewal period. That salesperson licensee would be able to carry over the excess 15 hours to the next renewal cycle and would only need to complete nine hours of electives and the mandatory eight hours of Law Update and four hours of Ethics to renew by December 31, 2027.
 

193E Chapter 7:

Many of the updates and changes to Chapter 7 are simply to cleanup language such as changing "commission" to "compensation" and the use of “brokerage agreements” as the overarching terminology for both listing and buyer agreements. 

The substantive changes to Chapter 7 addresses the impact of HF2326, the property management update legislation from 2024 that allows a person who is a non-licensed employee of a real estate broker to engage in the following: 

• advertising
• showing
• listing
• collection of rents and deposits
• procuring of prospects
• completing form agreements
• executing form agreements as it relates to the rental of real estate.

Chapter 7 of 193E has been updated to reflect these changes as to what a non-licensed employee can and cannot do.

193E Chapter 8:

The updates to Chapter 8 contain cleanup language and changes to implement the use of “brokerage agreements” as the overarching terminology for both listing and buyer agreements. 

193E Chapter 10:

Chapter 10 contains several updates to advertising rules and provides additional clarity following the passage of real estate teams advertising legislation.

Under the new rule changes an individual licensee or real estate team that is not a principal broker or firm is not required to register a trade name. However, an individual licensee or real estate team shall conspicuously display the name of the brokerage immediately preceding or immediately following the individual licensee’s name or real estate team name in any advertising or information made available to the public. In this case, “conspicuously display” means advertisement that, when presented, a reasonable person would be able to identify or observe.

193E Chapter 18:

The rules update to Chapter 18 allows for civil penalties of up to $2,500 to be imposed against licensees who do not comply with Iowa law regarding the signing of brokerage agreements.

For example, should a real estate licensee fail to have a buyer agreement signed prior to showing a property to a buyer, they could be at risk for the assessment of a civil penalty following an IREC investigation.

193E Chapter 21:

To provide clarity under the new brokerage agreement law, Chapter 21 has been updated to include brokerage agreements as an action that when done by an unlicensed individual is considered the unauthorized practice of real estate and is a punishable offense subject to civil penalties.

193E Chapter 22:

Chapter 22 is a brand new chapter in 193E added to implement rules surrounding the passage of HF2394, The Real Estate Wholesaling Consumer Protection Act, which requires a real estate licensee’s involvement in the transaction ensuring professionalism: the wholesaler themselves must be a real estate licensee or they must be represented by a real estate licensee, enacts requirements for wholesalers to provide mandatory comprehensive and transparent disclosures to both sellers and buyers involved in a transaction, and creates penalties for individuals or entities engaging in fraudulent wholesaling activities.

The new rules in Chapter 22 state: A real estate wholesaler shall provide disclosure to all parties to the residential real estate wholesaling transaction prior to executing a contract to purchase or conveying an equitable interest to another party, including but not limited to the following:

The legal identities of all parties to the transaction, including the current titleholder for the residential property, the wholesaler, the purchaser of the equitable interest, and any real estate licensee who represents a party in the transaction and an explanation of the wholesaling process, including but not limited to the following:

1. A wholesaler holds an equitable interest in the property, not legal title.
2. A wholesaler is selling its equitable interest in the property to another party.
3. A wholesaler may earn a profit from the sale of its equitable interest in the property.
4. Wholesaling disclosure: “This transaction constitutes real estate wholesaling, meaning the wholesaler holds only an equitable interest in the property and may not be able to convey title.”

If you have any questions on the new rule changes and updates to 193E, please reach out to Director of Government Affairs Greta Haas.