Administrative Rules Update: September 2025

The Iowa Real Estate Commission (IREC) has adopted several important rule changes that impact how real estate professionals conduct business across the state. 

These updates are designed to provide clarity, improve consistency, and align rules with recent legislation such as the Real Estate Transparency Act. From refining definitions and strengthening requirements for brokerage agreements to updating agency rules and continuing education, these changes aim to create a clear framework for both licensees and consumers.

Chapter 2

Recent rules updates in Chapter 2 clarify definitions to ensure consistency for real estate professionals in their business interactions.

A customer is now defined as: “a consumer who is not being represented by a licensee under a brokerage agreement but for whom the licensee may perform ministerial acts.” This update makes it clear that while a customer does not have a formal representation agreement with a licensee, the licensee may still engage in limited services or assistance.

The definition of ministerial acts has also been revised for clarity. Ministerial acts are described as: “those acts that a licensee may perform for a consumer that are informative in nature and do not rise to the level of specific assistance on behalf of a consumer.” These acts are intended to provide general information without creating an agency relationship or crossing into the level of client-specific advice. Examples of ministerial acts include, but are not limited to:

• Providing responses to general consumer inquiries, whether by phone, in-person, or digitally about the availability and pricing of brokerage services, as well as the price, location, condition, and distinguishing features of specific properties.
• Attending an open house and answering general questions from consumers about the property’s facts and features.
• Setting an appointment for a consumer to view a property.
• Accompanying an appraiser, inspector, contractor, or similar third-party during a property visit.
• Referring a person to another broker or service provider.
• A listing broker showing a property to a customer when the listing broker already has a brokerage agreement with the seller of that property.

*Please note that the ability to fill out an offer for an unrepresented consumer is removed as a ministerial act under these new rules, given the passage of the Real Estate Transparency Act and the requirement that a brokerage agreement must be signed prior to showing or prior to making an offer if no showing occurs.

Chapter 2 also includes the rescission of the term subagent and includes the following new definitions to provide guidance on the implementation of the Real Estate Transparency Act and other recent law changes:

• “Agency disclosure means the same as defined in Iowa Code section 543B.5(2).” ie: a written disclosure between a broker and a client which identifies the party the broker represents in a transaction.
• “Commercial means property that is used exclusively for business purposes or to generate income and not intended for human inhabitants or property of more than four dwelling units.”
• “Compensation means payment to a broker or licensee for real estate services performed.”
• “Real estate team means two or more licensees assigned to the same broker, working together to provide real estate brokerage services and representing themselves to the public as a team.”
• “Representative means a person or entity representing the interests of the client, on the client’s behalf, but that is not the agent or broker of the client.”
• “Residential means properties that are used primarily for living purposes rather than for business or industrial use.”
• “Showing means the act of a licensee providing a client physical or virtual access to a property that is being sold by a seller.”

Chapter 11

Chapter 11 contains several cleanup items such as updating sections to utilize the term “brokerage agreements” to cover both listing and buyer agreements and changing the terms “commission” to “compensation” and “share” to “split” in several sections. The rules changes also outline the new requirements for brokerage agreements to align with 543B. Under these rules brokerage agreements:

• Must be in writing.
• Must include the amount of compensation to be paid with disclosure that compensation is negotiable and not set by law.
• Must not exceed one calendar year in length for residential properties.
• Must indicate if it is an exclusive brokerage agreement or exclusive right to sell.
• Must have a copy delivered to the client as soon as the signature of the client is obtained.

This chapter also covers updates to specific requirements for listing and buyer agreements:

Listing agreements must:

• Properly identify the property 
• Contain all terms and conditions under which the property is to be sold including but not limited to:
• list price 
• any compensation to be earned from the sale of the property

Buyer agreements must:

• Be used for all residential properties
• Exemptions exist for open houses, auctions, and commercial properties

Other updates to Chapter 11 explicitly protect both buyers and sellers agents by preventing interference with ongoing exclusive brokerage agreements. This ensures that parties under contract cannot have their agreements disrupted or improperly solicited by another licensee or brokerage. Additionally brokerage agreements cannot be assigned, sold, or transferred to another broker without the written consent of all parties involved and when a broker associate or salesperson leaves a brokerage, they cannot take, solicit, or use any written brokerage agreements obtained during their tenure at that brokerage. Brokerage agreements remain the property of the principal broker and can only be canceled by the broker and the client.

Rules in Chapter 11 have been changed to allow protective clauses in brokerage agreements to be enforced through multiple methods:

• Personal or electronic service prior to the expiration of the brokerage agreement with written acknowledgment of receipt.
• Regular mail or certified mail postmarked prior to the expiration of the brokerage agreement, with return receipt requested.

These provisions ensure that protective clauses remain enforceable while accommodating modern communication methods.

Chapter 12

Chapter 12 contains cleanup language on agency requirements to align rules with 543B and removes references to subagency/subagents. The most substantive changes were made to reflect the passage of the Real Estate Transparency Act by removing rules that allowed listing agents to prepare offers for an unrepresented buyer and buyer agents to prepare offers for an unrepresented seller as these go beyond ministerial acts and would create the need for an agency/brokerage relationship. Additional clarification surrounding appointed agents and working with buyers is included in the updates of this chapter to mirror the guidelines for working with sellers in an appointed agency setting.

Chapter 16

Following the passage of legislation allowing for the carry over of continuing education earned in excess in the previous renewal period, IREC has adopted rules stating 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.

A change to rules in Chapter 16 also requires that licensees now retain education records for a period of six years after the effective date of their license renewal. 

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