The departmentrsquo;s ldquo;cite and finerdquo; authority is found in California Business and Professions Code sect;10080.9 and Commissionerrsquo;s Regulations 2907.
A 2014 DRE Bulletin explains the workings of ldquo;cite and finerdquo; this way: ldquo;A citation or other formal action will be considered when a violation is found after an investigation, audit, or examination of a licenseersquo;s records by CalBRE [now, DRE] in response to a complaint, through random selection of a licensee for an office visit, or from completion of a routine audit. Depending upon the nature such as the level of seriousness and potential for harm and type of the violation, the appropriate action will be determined.rdquo;
The Department says that ldquo;a citation is likely the appropriate actionrdquo; in cases of ldquo;>
Suppose a citation has been received. ldquo;The citation will identify the violations you committed, provide information on how to pay the fine, describe any corrective action needed if necessary, and explain the process for contesting the citation, if you choose to.rdquo;
Offenders will appreciate the policy that ldquo;information regarding specific citations issued ndash; and any fines paid ndash; will not be posted on the DRE website, nor will such information be attached to onersquo;s individual public licensee website record.rdquo; Still, the information is public and can be obtained through a Public Records Act request.
There is a review process if an accused wants to contest the citation. The first level of review is a Citation Review Conference which is an informal review of the citation conducted by the DRE. If the citation and fines are upheld, the next level would be a formal administrative hearing before an administrative law judge. That can take both time and money. Clearly, it will often seem prudent simply to pay the fine.
Not much has been heard of ldquo;cite and finerdquo; until lately. Ms. Goralik pointed out that in the months from July 2017 until March 2018 most recent figures available, there have been 768 citations issued and 311,550 in fines collected. The money collected, by the way, goes to the Real Estate Recovery Fund ndash; for consumers ndash; not to the Departmentrsquo;s operational budget.
The emphasis of this activity has been on compliance issues with respect to the recently-issued advertising regulations. Real estate ads occur in a perfect venue for the application of ldquo;cite and finerdquo;. A department investigator could stay home in his or her pajamas and compile lists along with evidence of non-compliant ads in the Sunday newspaper. Not to mention all the non-compliant websites and postings of listings.
Some prominent companies and agents have already felt the sting of the increased ldquo;cite and finerdquo; activity. Others can expect to. Itrsquo;s a good time to get compliant.
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