The Department of Business and Professional Regulation and the Division of Real Estate

Florida's regulatory organization

The Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) is the broad state agency. Its Division of Real Estate (DRE) contains the Florida Real Estate Commission (FREC), established under Chapter 475, Part I, and the Florida Real Estate Appraisal Board, established under Part II. The division's offices are in Orlando.

Who appoints whom?

The Governor appoints the DBPR secretary, subject to Senate confirmation. The secretary serves at the Governor's pleasure. The secretary appoints the DRE director, subject to approval by a majority of FREC. The director administers the division and is responsible to the secretary. Commission approval does not make the division independent of DBPR.

Administrative work and its limits

DBPR's duties include license-renewal procedures, annual budgeting, training new board members, and procedures for obtaining boards' technical advice on investigations, inspections, and application evaluation. Examination services involve the department, appropriate divisions, and board; a testing vendor does not become the regulator by providing examination services.

DBPR may establish uniform application forms and licensure certificates, but that power does not authorize changes to substantive statutory licensing requirements. A redesigned form cannot waive a legal qualification.

Regulatory funds

Fees, fines, and court-awarded costs collected by DBPR go into the Professional Regulation Trust Fund. Each profession has a separate account. One profession's account cannot pay another profession's expenses. Shared expenses are proportionately allocated.

These roles operate within the governing statutes and procedures for particular licensing or disciplinary decisions. On an exam, distinguish the department, its division, and the professional regulatory bodies rather than treating their names as interchangeable.