CEO 88-48 -- July 28, 1988

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL REGULATION, DIVISION OF

REAL ESTATE, EMPLOYEE ALSO EMPLOYED BY

REAL ESTATE BROKER

To: (Name withheld at the person's request.)

SUMMARY:

A prohibited conflict of interest would be created were a clerk typist specialist or a senior clerk with the Division of Real Estate of the Department of Professional Regulation to be employed by a real estate broker. Section 112.313(7), Florida Statutes, prohibits a public employee from being employed by a business entity which is subject to the regulation of his agency.

QUESTION:

Would a prohibited conflict of interest be created were a clerk typist specialist or a senior clerk with the Division of Real Estate of the Department of Professional Regulation to be employed by a real estate broker?

Your question is answered in the affirmative.

In your letter of inquiry and in a telephone conversation with our staff, you have advised that .... serves as a Clerk Typist Specialist (Receptionist) and that .... serves as a Senior Clerk (Data Entry Operator) in the records section of the Division of Real Estate, Department of Professional Regulation. You question whether they may be employed by a real estate broker.

The Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees provides in relevant part:

CONFLICTING EMPLOYMENT OR CONTRACTUAL RELATIONSHIP. -- No public officer or employee of an agency shall have or hold any employment or contractual relationship with any business entity or any agency which is subject to the regulation of, or is doing business with, an agency of which he is an officer or employee . . . ; nor shall an officer or employee of an agency have or hold any employment or contractual relationship that will create a continuing or frequently recurring conflict between his private interests and the performance of his public duties or that would impede the full and faithful discharge of his public duties. [Section 112.313(7)(a), Florida Statutes (1987).]

This provision prohibits a public employee from being employed by a business entity which is subject to the regulation of his agency.

You have advised that under Chapter 475, Florida Statutes, the Florida Real Estate Commission is responsible for approving and denying applicants for licensure and for taking disciplinary actions against licensees, among other matters. You also advise that as Director of the Division of Real Estate you serve as the Executive Director of the Commission. The Division handles the investigation and prosecution of complaints, renews licenses, examines applicants, carries out the Commission's orders, and handles administrative matters for the Commission, you advise. Given these regulatory responsibilities on the part of the Division, we conclude that a real estate broker is subject to the regulation of the Division of Real Estate. Therefore, an employee of the Division may not be employed by a real estate broker. Similarly, in previous opinion CEO 76-207 we concluded that a staff attorney for the Real Estate Commission should not act as a real estate salesman or broker.

Accordingly, we find that a prohibited conflict of interest would be created were a Clerk Typist Specialist or a Senior Clerk with the Division of Real Estate of the Department of Professional Regulation to be employed by a real estate broker.