Trust
Updates
Two kinds of change matter here. Changes to California rules and fees, which make previously correct pages wrong, and changes to this site. Both are recorded.
October 11, 2026: website accuracy audit
We checked the public learning library using official sources available through October 10. Corrections cover agency disclosure and confirmation, buyer-agreement timing, trust accounts, disclosure deadlines, ownership, appraisal, financing and military license portability.
We also corrected loan-to-value and capitalization explanations, allowed negative annual factors in the Proposition 13 calculator, distinguished an infeasible debt ratio from a zero housing allowance, and rebuilt affected study PDFs. The latest DRE monthly report verified before the cutoff is August 2026: 2,662 salesperson examinations administered, with a 51% overall pass rate.
The 25- and 50-question public mock options remain. Every content-area guide links to relevant PDFs, math resources and study plans. Read the audit scope and review standards.
October 7, 2026: public learning-path release candidate
Added timed or untimed 25- and 50-question mocks with flags, skips, navigation and fixed-deadline recovery; seven daily review calendars; a practice-evidence coaching check; itemized closing, financing and appraisal calculators; and 17 downloadable PDFs generated from their matching web lessons. Calendar proration handles leap years, and direct area conversion preserves small positive values.
All seven guides and 71 articles received a full teaching-text editorial read, with source groups and final-file hashes recorded. The public question bank remains separate from the mobile and logged-in app releases. Software and editorial checks do not validate a passing forecast.
Rule and fee changes that affect candidates
August 21, 2026
DRE highlighted the full common-interest-development disclosure package
DRE's current guidance tells buyer agents to go beyond forwarding HOA documents. The package includes governing documents, budgets, assessments, unresolved violations, litigation information, rental restrictions, and the latest exterior elevated element inspection report. Agents should explain the practical effect and refer legal or financial questions to the right professional.
August 4, 2026
DRE restated the advance fee agreement rules
Advance fee materials must be submitted to DRE at least ten calendar days before use. A broker collects the money as trust funds, provides verified quarterly accountings, withdraws funds only as section 10146 permits, and may not collect compensation for covered residential one-to-four-unit loan-modification or forbearance services before completing all contracted services.
January 1, 2026
Buyer-broker agreement regulations took effect
A buyer's agent must obtain the agreement as soon as practicable and no later than execution of the buyer's offer. The new regulations create a rebuttable presumption that obtaining it before an in-person or virtual showing is practicable, and clarify that a seller's agent does not become a buyer's agent merely by showing the property.
January 1, 2026
New disclosure and advertising duties became exam-ready law
Single-family sellers gained an electrical-system notice and a duty to disclose known thirdhand tobacco or nicotine smoke history or residue. Licensees using digitally altered listing images must disclose the alteration and provide public access to the original. Common-interest-development sellers must include the latest exterior elevated element inspection report.
January 1, 2026
Consumer Recovery Account suspension rule changed
Payment no longer means automatic suspension in every case. Automatic suspension follows when the judgment or DRE determination rests on clear and convincing evidence of fraud, misrepresentation, deceit, or trust-fund conversion. A qualifying payment under the lower preponderance standard does not by itself trigger automatic suspension.
July 1, 2024
DRE fees increased for the first time since 1997
The examination fee moved to $100 and the license fee to $350, making the combined RE 435 filing $450. Signed into law June 29, 2024. Because the previous figures had stood for twenty-seven years, pre-increase numbers are embedded across the web and in printed material, and budgeting from them understates the cost substantially.
January 1, 2024
Implicit bias and fair housing components required in the Practice course
The Real Estate Practice course must now include implicit bias and fair housing components, and the fair housing component must include interactive participatory role play as both consumer and real estate professional. A course built before this date and not updated does not satisfy the requirement.
July 1, 2024
Residential security deposit cap reduced to one month's rent
The general cap became one month's rent, furnished or unfurnished. A qualifying small landlord may collect up to two months: the landlord must be a natural person, or an LLC whose members are all natural persons, and own no more than two residential rental properties containing no more than four units in total. The exception does not apply to a tenant who is a service member. Existing deposits are subject to the statute's transition rule.
This site
October 6, 2026
Content corrections and connected practice
Corrected legal teaching and calculator edge cases, added option-specific feedback, saved unfinished practice attempts, and introduced a math drill, formula reference and printable study sheets. Blog archives now have crawlable pages. See the correction log for substantive changes. These editorial and technical checks track source accuracy, calculation results and content changes.
September 29, 2026
Web purchases added to the terms, refunds and privacy pages
Premium bought in the browser study app at app.passcaliforniarealestate.com is sold and processed by Paddle, the merchant of record, which also handles refunds for those orders. The terms, refunds page and privacy policy previously described only App Store and Google Play purchases, and now say so. Mobile app purchases are unchanged.
September 18, 2026
Usage analytics added to the website
The site now uses PostHog to count page views and clicks, including store and web app links and whether the five-question sample was started and finished. On this site it never receives answers, scores or study progress, and it does not load at all in a browser that sends Global Privacy Control or Do Not Track. The web app at app.passcaliforniarealestate.com is measured too, including study activity linked to your account ID, with session recording off there as well. The privacy policy sets out exactly what is collected.
August 28, 2026
Resource library launched and expanded
The current library includes 7 content-area guides, 249 practice questions across every area, 38 tools, and 125 glossary terms. Source notes identify the checks recorded for individual claims. DRE monthly overall pass rates and historical first-time cohort statistics describe different populations. Neither predicts an individual candidate's result.
Related
Corrections records errors we have found and fixed, which is a different thing from what has changed. Editorial standards explains the review cadence behind this page.