Nevada real estate agency gets new leader

Jennifer Robison

Monday, July 8, 2002 | 11 a.m.

The Real Estate Division of the Nevada Department of Business & Industry received a new leader last week.

Gail Anderson, who was previously administrator of Trinity Christian Schools in Las Vegas, took over the division July 1.

"I am very eager to have Gail on board," said Sydney Wickliffe, director of the state's Department of Business & Industry. "She brings a tremendous accumulation of talents that will benefit the division as a whole."

As administrator of the Real Estate Division, Anderson replaces Joan Buchanan, who had held the post for about 10 years.

Wickliffe said Buchanan "worked very hard for a long time," and left the position to reassess her career future.

Anderson was the education and public information officer for the Real Estate Division from 1995 to 1997, prior to joining Trinity. She returns to the division as it prepares to modernize its computer systems and add staff to accommodate the needs of Nevada's growing real estate community.

"The Real Estate Division is an extremely hard-working agency," Wickliffe said. "The roles that the division is responsible for have increased over the last six years, but it has not received an increase in staff or budgeting to cover those new responsibilities.

"The Real Estate Division is one of the most complex within the Department of Business & Industry. It's responsible for more statutes than any of our other agencies. We would really like for it to be in a better position than it has been in the past."

The division's staff roster has been stable since the mid-'90s with about 40 workers. Its $4 million annual budget -- which comes exclusively from the licensing and registration fees its users pay -- has also remained largely unchanged in recent years.

That's despite steady increases since 1997 in the number of licenses the division issues and the programs it oversees.

In the last five years, the number of real estate licensees it monitors has grown from 17,000 to 19,700. The number of appraisers licensed has increased from 1,770 to 2,170, and the number of timeshare representatives licensed has expanded from 2,140 to 5,700.

In addition, the division has added new responsibilities since 1997 that include issuing licenses to property managers, registering homeowners associations and certifying homeowners association managers and building inspectors.

The division's responsibilities already included licensing the state's real estate agents, brokers and appraisers. It also registers developers and subdivisions, registers timeshare projects and licenses timeshare sales agents. And it monitors and approves continuing education programs for the real estate industry.

"When you look at the way the state has grown, and the number of real estate agents and transactions we have, (the division) is carrying a really heavy load," Wickliffe said.

Through its adjunct Real Estate Commission, the commission also disciplines licensees who fail to follow statutory rules and regulations.

The commission consists of five governor-appointed real estate professionals who serve three-year terms. Current commission members include Ron Ruthe, Lee Gurr, Benjamin Green, Joe Mayer and Charles Mack.

Real estate commissioners serve on a part-time basis and hold jobs within the industry they regulate. And real estate commissioners serve strictly in an advisory capacity and deal only with disciplinary actions -- they don't issue licenses to operate in the industry.

Though the commission is composed exclusively of real estate professionals, Anderson said its main purpose is to protect consumers rather than protect members of the real estate community.

"A huge thrust of the commission is consumer protection. That's very much the focus. That's what our agency is about -- protecting the public from fraud and mistreatment. We have an obligation to make sure real estate licensees are doing their job right."

One issue the commission is taking under advisement is whether the state should require commercial sales and leasing agents to hold licenses. The commission is holding public meetings regarding the licensing of commercial agents, and will issue a recommendation in September.

The commission also recently considered whether broker-salesman advertising needed to be more specific as to whether a consumer was calling a broker's cell phone or home number.

"The issue was whether an individual from the public would know who and where they're calling," said Tami DeVries, legal administrative officer for the Real Estate Division.

After a series of public hearings, the commission determined such specificity was unnecessary, because "the public knows who they're calling when they read the sign," DeVries said.

In recent years, the commission was also tasked with adopting regulations governing the practices of homeowners association managers. DeVries said it took nearly a year to create and adopt regulations because of the amount of public input on the issue.

As the number of licensed real estate professionals grows, the Real Estate Division will face an even greater need for funding, staff and technology, Anderson said.

"We have been given programs to administer, and we haven't been allocated the funding for staffing and facilities," Anderson said. "We literally need the office space to run these programs. We're also looking at staffing -- not just whether we have the people, but whether everyone is in the right place."

The division will ask the Legislature next year for money to upgrade the computer system it uses to track licensing. Anderson said the objective is to speed up the licensing renewal process.

Wickliffe was unable to give an exact figure for how much the upgrade might cost, but she said it would require several hundred thousand dollars.

The division will finance the improvements through an assessment licensed real estate professionals will pay.

"One of the challenges in a government job is systems and bureaucracies," Anderson said. "How do you get things done? Sometimes a door closes and you have to try to find another approach."