The California Real Estate Commissioner is appointed by the Governor, and serves as the chief executive of the Department of Real Estate.

The Commissioner has been given both the power and the means to issue regulations. The regulations serve as a means by which the Commissioner can more easily administer and enforce the Real Estate Law and the Subdivided Lands Law. The Regulations of the Real Estate Commissioner have the force and effect of law and, once issued, become a part of the California Administrative Code.

The Commissioner's responsibility is to enforce these laws in a manner in which maximum protection for real estate consumers is achieved. In administering the laws and regulations, the Commissioner exercises judgment impartially, with fairness to both the consumer AND the industry.

The Commissioner's mission, then, is to enforce the Real Estate Law and the Subdivided Lands Law in a manner that offers the maximum protection for persons dealing with real estate licensees and for purchasers of subdivided real property. The mission and the responsibility, as you can see, work toward the same end: protecting the consumers.

The Commissioner's general responsibilities and mission give him a wide range of specific duties by which the aforementioned objectives are achieved. We will discuss these on the following screen.