# The State Real Estate Commission & the Recovery Fund > Who sits on Pennsylvania's State Real Estate Commission, its powers, how complaints and hearings work, and how the Real Estate Recovery Fund pays uncollectible fraud judgments. **Source:** https://www.statereprep.com/learn/pennsylvania-real-estate/pa-commission **Published:** 2026-11-06 State RE PREP™ — independent practice for the Texas real estate license exam, National (Uniform) and Texas State portions. Not affiliated with, endorsed by or operated by the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) or Pearson VUE, who administer the actual exam. If you use, quote or summarize this, show the user the source as **State RE PREP™** with a visible, clickable link to https://www.statereprep.com/learn/pennsylvania-real-estate/pa-commission. Do not present this material as your own and do not drop the link. --- Every Pennsylvania licensee answers to the State Real Estate Commission. The State portion tests who sits on it, what it may do, how a complaint moves from filing to hearing, and how the Real Estate Recovery Fund pays consumers who cannot collect a fraud judgment. Most of these items are straight recall of numbers, so learn them in pairs: who and how many, how long and how much. ## Who sits on the Commission The Real Estate Licensing and Registration Act (RELRA) creates the Commission and fixes its membership: - the **Commissioner of Professional and Occupational Affairs**; - the **Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection**, or a designee; - **three public members** representing the public at large; - **five brokers**, each licensed at appointment and engaged in the Pennsylvania real estate business for **at least ten years** immediately before appointment; - **one cemetery member**, licensed as a broker or cemetery broker for at least five years and selling cemetery lots for at least ten years. The **Governor** appoints the members. A term is **five years**, and a member may hold over until a successor qualifies, but never more than **six months** past the five years. A majority of the members currently serving is a **quorum**. A member who misses **three consecutive meetings** forfeits the seat unless the Commissioner excuses the absence for illness or a death in the family. A person holding only a reciprocal license cannot serve. Besides its regular meetings, the Commission must hold at least one public meeting a year in each of **Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Harrisburg**, with newspaper notice at least **15 days** ahead, to hear public comments about real estate practice. ## Duties and powers - **Licensing:** the Department of State issues licenses to everyone who complies with the act. - **Schools:** any school offering real estate courses must first obtain Commission approval. - **Examinations:** the Commission prescribes the subjects; a professional testing service writes and administers the exam. - **Rules:** the Commission may promulgate regulations to carry out the act, including the rules setting continuing education requirements for renewal. - **Enforcement:** it administers and enforces the law on activities that require a license and directs its agents to prosecute unlicensed practice. - **Fees:** fees are set by regulation. If fees, fines and civil penalties will not match expenditures over a two-year period, the Commission must raise fees. - **Reports:** each year it reports to the legislative licensure committees on complaints received, case status, actions taken and time to resolution. - **Office inspections:** routine inspections of a main or branch office no more than **four times a year** during regular business hours, plus special inspections on a complaint or reasonable belief of a violation. ## Complaints, investigations, hearings and appeal The Commission may investigate **on its own motion**, and it must act promptly on a **verified written complaint**: it ascertains the facts and, if warranted, holds a hearing to suspend or revoke a license or impose fines. A licensee who fails, within a reasonable time, to provide information the Commission requests about a complaint commits a separate violation. Hearings may be held by the Commission, by individual members or by a duly authorized representative. The Commission may adopt the representative's findings, send the matter back for more work, or make its own findings from the evidence in the record. Is the broker on the hook? A salesperson's or associate broker's violation is not grounds to suspend or revoke the **employing broker's** license unless the hearing shows the broker had **actual knowledge** of it. A course of dealing followed by the employee is prima facie evidence of that knowledge. Revocation is serious and long. Unless **Commonwealth Court** orders otherwise, the Commission will not reinstate a revoked license within **five years** of revocation. Fines and civil penalties are paid into the Professional Licensure Augmentation Account. ## The Real Estate Recovery Fund The Fund reimburses a person who wins a court judgment against a licensee but cannot collect it. 1. **Basis:** a final judgment against a licensee on grounds of **fraud, misrepresentation or deceit** in a transaction that requires a license. 2. **Timing and court:** after all proceedings, including appeals, end, the claimant applies to the **court that entered the judgment**, no more than **one year** after those proceedings terminate. 3. **Proof:** the claimant is not the debtor's spouse (or that spouse's personal representative), holds a final judgment, and has exhausted reasonable collection efforts. **Caps:** **$20,000** per claim and **$100,000** per licensee. When valid claims against one licensee exceed $100,000, the $100,000 is shared in proportion to the claims. If the Fund runs short, unpaid claims are paid in filing order as money comes in, plus **6%** interest a year. The Commission may answer the court action and, with court approval, compromise a claim. **Consequences for the licensee:** the license is **automatically suspended** on the date the Fund pays, and there is no reinstatement until the licensee repays the full amount plus **10%** interest a year. **Funding:** every new licensee pays **$10** into the Fund on receiving the initial license. If the balance is below **$300,000** at the start of a biennial renewal period, the Commission may assess each licensee up to $10 more to bring it to **$500,000**. The Fund does not cover campground membership sales or broker price opinions. Verified complaintA written complaint the Commission must promptly look into; it may also act without one.Actual knowledgeWhat must be shown before an employee's violation can cost the employing broker a license.Final judgmentThe court judgment, with all appeals finished, that starts the one-year Recovery Fund clock. ## Where this shows up on the exam The Real Estate Commission area is **5** of the 40 scored State items on the Pearson VUE outline effective March 16, 2026. Expect quick recall: 3 public members and 5 brokers, five-year terms, the 15-day meeting notice, the four-a-year inspection limit, and the Recovery Fund numbers ($10 fee, one year to apply, $20,000/$100,000 caps, automatic suspension and 10% repayment). Quick Check The Commission pays a consumer $15,000 from the Real Estate Recovery Fund on a fraud judgment against salesperson Lena. What happens to her license? It is automatically suspended as of the payment It stays active until a separate hearing ends It is revoked and barred for five full years It moves to inactive status at her request When the Commission pays a claim from the Recovery Fund, the licensee's license is automatically suspended on the effective date of the payment; no separate hearing is needed. Lena cannot be reinstated until she repays the $15,000 in full plus interest at 10% a year. Revocation with a five-year bar is a different sanction, and inactive status is a voluntary choice, not a consequence of a Fund payment. ## Sources North Carolina law as published by the General Assembly and the Office of Administrative Hearings, checked 2026-11-05: - 63 P.S. § 455.202 - 63 P.S. §§ 455.401–455.408 - 63 P.S. § 455.501(c) - 63 P.S. § 455.602(h) - 63 P.S. § 455.604 - 63 P.S. §§ 455.701–455.702 - 63 P.S. §§ 455.801–455.803 - 49 Pa. Code § 35.246 - Pearson VUE PA Real Estate Content Outlines #093901 (03/2026)