December 2025
Real estate teams have existed for decades, but statutes and rules have remained relatively unchanged until now. Following the passage of House Bill 3137, which created new requirements in Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 696, the Agency has established several new business processes to facilitate enforcement and guide future decision-making.
ORS 696 changes resulting from HB 3137, effective January 1, 2026
First, teams are now defined as “a subdivision of a registered business that performs professional real estate activities and is comprised of one or more real estate licensees operating under a name other than the registered business name.”
The managing principal broker has sole discretion to allow or prohibit real estate teams through company policy. Upon approval, licensees associated within the same main office or branch office may form a team.
Before entering into any written representation or listing agreement with a buyer or seller, a team member must provide a newly created Real Estate Team Disclosure. The form is designed to provide consumers helpful information for the real estate transaction, and includes the following:
- The name and role of each member of the real estate team
- Whether individual members of the real estate team are real estate licensees
- The name of any members of the real estate team responsible for supervision and control of some or all members of the real estate team, if any
- The name of the managing principal broker with whom the real estate licensees on the real estate team are associated
- The registered business name of the brokerage
- A statement that the real estate team must have a Disclosed Limited Agency Agreement in place if any members of the team represent different parties in the same transaction
New License Renewal Questions
Our regulatory approach is to be proactive versus reactive whenever possible. In other words, the best consumer protection is achieved through effective prevention and education versus complaints and discipline.
In conversations with stakeholders, we often hear that licensees continue to violate team advertising rules found in OAR 863-015-0125. The Agency is not staffed to actively police websites, print advertising, social media, etc., and we have traditionally relied on a complaint-based system to bring licensees into compliance. We have also heard that licensees are reluctant to file complaints against one another for violations of this nature, and the Agency has been actively considering additional options to better educate licensees on advertising regulations.
Effective November 2025, we have added additional questions during the renewal process to aid with compliance. We expect this will reduce the need for complaint-driven Educational Letters of Advice (ELOA) or subsequent administrative actions for failing to correct advertising after issuance of an ELOA.
This change will also enable the Agency to establish processes whereby we review the responses and educate licensees into compliance.
Licensees will now answer the following questions when renewing their licenses:
- Do you operate within a team or group? (If yes, additional questions follow)
- What is the name of Principal Broker overseeing team or group activity?
- List all websites and/or social media profiles where your team advertises.
- A self-attestation that the registered business name is immediately noticeable in all team advertising, that it does not state or imply it is a separate legal entity from the registered business, and that it identifies which team members are licensed and which are not.
This change will provide the Agency with real data on the number and size of real estate teams, which will inform future enhancements to our online licensing system.