Sec. 09.11.06.03. Course Providers

A. In order to qualify as an educational institution under Business Occupations and Professions Article, §17-315(c)(1), Annotated Code of Maryland, the institution shall provide the Commission with evidence of its approval by the Maryland Higher Education Commission as a career school eligible to provide the Real Estate Principles and Practices course at the currently mandated hours for prelicensing education.

B. A completed application for approval as a course provider shall be submitted to the Commission at least 30 days prior to the first course offering date.

C. Course providers shall have the following responsibilities:

(1) To provide instructors qualified to teach the subjects offered;

(2) To train all instructors and course monitors in course protocol, including classroom conduct and record keeping;

(3) To oversee all aspects of course provision and the format and content of all advertising of course offerings;

(4) To maintain all required records; and

(5) To respond to all inquiries from the Commission within 10 days.

D. A course provider who has not offered at least one Commission-approved course in a 12-month period shall requalify as a course provider.

E. All payments for courses shall be made directly to the approved course provider or to the course provider’s third party payment processor.

F. The course provider shall set and administer course cancellation and fee refund policies in a nondiscriminatory manner.

G. The course provider shall maintain records of course attendees including sign-in sheets, detailed course outlines, instructor information including resumes and other background information, and, if required, final grades for at least 5 years after the expiration date of each course offering.

H. The course provider shall give Commission representatives access to course records on request.

I. The following situations could form the basis on which course provider approval is denied, suspended, or withdrawn:

(1) Submission of false information in an application for provider or course approval;

(2) Failure of the course provider to maintain its status as a professional association or educational institution under the laws of Maryland;

(3) Discipline by the Commission of a course provider who holds a real estate license in a matter relating to the licensee’s provision of real estate brokerage services;

(4) Repeated cancellation of scheduled courses by the course provider;

(5) Failure of the course provider to reimburse prepaid fees to licensees after scheduled courses have been cancelled;

(6) Issuance of blank certificates of course completion;

(7) Repeated issuance of inaccurate certificates of course completion with regard to topic, course number, and course title;

(8) Submission of inaccurate course completion information to the Commission;

(9) Repeated issuance of certificates of course completion to licensees who were not entitled to them;

(10) Submission of course completion information to the Commission for licensees who were not entitled to obtain credits;

(11) Failure to maintain the records required by the Commission, including rosters of attendees and sign-in sheets;

(12) Failure to timely respond to inquiries and requests for records from the Commission; and

(13) Failure of the course provider or any representative of the course provider, including instructors and monitors, to comply with regulations governing continuing education.