California presently has 1 licensed real estate agent for every 52 residents. Many of these are so poorly equipt to provide adequate service for their customers that problems in real estate transactions have increased dramatically.

To counter this, Governor Arnold Achwarzenegger has signed a new law requiring agents to recieve all of the required training before the license is issued.

The governor signed AB 2429, which requires prospective agents to complete all three Department of Real Estate-mandated courses before they can take the license examination. The measure, which is supported by the real estate industry, takes effect October 2007.

Under the old rules, a real estate agent had to complete a Real Estate Principles class at a community college or career college and then pass the state’s real estate exam, a process that can take as little as a few months. The agent then would receive a conditional license and was required to take two additional classes within 18 months to retain it.

“There has been quite an influx of new agents into the marketplace over the past several years which has eroded the quality of service, the level of services and the professionalism in the industry,” said Alex Creel, chief lobbyist for California Association of Realtors, which sponsored the legislation.  via The East Bay Business Times

While I am not a big fan of government intervention, this makes sense. If you are going to have a license for a profession, lets make sure they have a level of knowledge to justify that license.

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