Evening star., 1947-01-03
Realtors Study
D. {. Draft for
Tightening Law

Commission Proposes
6 Amendments, Asks
Prosecution of Hough
In the wake of the George H. Will
liams bankruptcy over failure to
complete veterans housing, the Dis
;rict Real Estate Commission today
Is moving on two fronts to protect
District property buyers and tenants.
The commission, on the one hand.
sent six proposed amendments to
The District Real Estate License Act
Of 1887 to the Washington Real
Estate Board for study.
At the same time, it asked Cor
poration Counsel Vernon West to
begin prosecution of Stanley P.
Hough on charges of operating in
the District without license.
Hough was arrested on COM
plants of three veterans charging
him with obtaining money under
false pretenses. The arrest came
Monday when he was addressing q
veterans meeting.
Chairman Edward A. Dent of the
commission said Hough did not
have license to do real estate BUSH
ness here and never had applied for
one. He added, however, that the
commission felt it had enough evi-
dence to support charges that Hough
had done business here without q
license.
Sets Experience Standards.
The proposed amendments to put
teeth into the real estate act are:
/. Requiring that a salesman have
at least two years experience before
becoming a broker There is now
no experience qualification demand-
ed for brokers.
2. Requiring that a salesman pass
a competency examination before
doing any business. He now can
be licensed without having to take
an examination for six months. Mr..
Dent said the idea behind the pres
ent provision is probably to give q
salesman some practical experience
before requiring him to prove
competency. s
8. Changing the present language
to permit tougher examinations to
be given. Present law requires only
that salesman have a general and
fair" knowledge of the relationship
between agent and client. The
broker is required only to have an
elementary" knowledge of real
estate practices. Mr.. Dent said the
law does not now provide for exam
nations as such but requires deter
mination of competency which the
commission does by examination.
4. Requiring bigger bond Of both
statesmen and brokers. Currently
the bond for salesmen is 1000 and
that for brokers $2,500.
5. Requiring maximum bond Of
the salesman or broker at all times.
Fat present II q claim is made against
an operator for less than the amount
of his bond and the surety company
pays of, the operator Is only covered
by the difference between the paid
claim and the full amount of the
bond.
6. Requiring that all money re-
ceived by broker belonging to an
other person be placed in a sep
arate account and earmarked as q
trust fund to be used solely for the
purpose for which it was given and
solely in the interest of the donor.
This, Mr.. Dent explained, is de-
signed to protect a client making
deposit against the use of the money
by the broker personally or for some
other project than that of the client.
There is now nothing in the real
estate act protecting depositors, al
though criminal action is possible
against misuse in some cases, it was
explained.
Realty Boards to Report.
Mr.. Dent conferred with a COM
mittee of the Washington Real Es-
tate Board most of yesterday after
noon on the suggested amendments.
He said the committee, headed by
William King, will report back to-
the board for possible action.
Even without the proposed amend
ments, Mr.. Dent told reporters, the
District now has a stronger real
estate licensing law than many
States. He praised the integrity Of
the profession here, pointing out
that of 1000 licenses issued since
the act went into effect in 1887, only
20 claims have been made against
bonds.
While the commission chairman
said many of the amendments were
discussed last spring, he conceded
the Williams and Hough cases gave
impetus to consideration of the
proposed changes. Williams was
declared a bankrupt after being un-
able to deliver houses to veterans
whose deposits he had accepted and
failed to return. Hough also was
charged with failure to deliver
homes to veterans from whom he
had taken deposits which he alleged
ly had not returned.
In the meantime, Mr.. Dent said
he has invited Ernest Henry, di-
rector of the Home Builders Asso-
ciation, to meet with him at 1:30
pm. Thursday on the proposed
amendments to the license law.
The District Real Estate Commits
sion Is the city government agency
for enforcing the license act. The
Washington Real Estate Board is
composed of members In the real
estate business.
Kemp Sees Sufficient Funds
Far County Teacher Raisa