AMERICA’S REAL ESTATE ACADEMY, INC. SCHOOL POLICIES
Important Notice to Students: This document contains essential information about procedures for completing your course(s). Please read carefully to avoid any delay in obtaining your credit or license. By enrolling in your course you are agreeing to be bound by these school policies.
America’s Real Estate Academy, Inc. (AREA) is approved by the Georgia Real Estate Appraiser’s Board (GREAB), School Code #2787, renewal 12/31 annually, and the Georgia Real Estate Commission (GREC), School Code #2786, renewal 12/31/2025 for the purpose of offering real estate appraisal and sales related courses. Courses, including electronic offerings and in-class schedules, offered by AREA and approved by the state can be obtained from AREA’s website, www.education-area-ga.com, or by contacting a school administrator at education@area-ga.com. The following policies are designed to comply with state and regulatory agencies which govern real estate education and assist AREA in providing appropriate course and licensure credit. Students who enroll in a course agree to adhere to and be bound by AREA school policies. Facility is ADA compliant. By attendance students recognize they will be exposed to other classmates and accept any inherent risks. These policies may be updated periodically by AREA as deemed appropriate and necessary.
MISSION
AREA is determined to consistently offer quality real estate education and affordable access to the professional tools needed for individuals to succeed in their real estate career. AREA curriculum focuses on the skills necessary to compete in today's real estate sales, appraisal, and home inspection markets. In addition to the educational opportunities and license and certification exam prep courses, AREA provides an extensive array of continuing education courses that are meaningful and geared to allow you to excel beyond your competitors.
INSTRUCTORS
Dick Viti, AREA Curriculum Director is approved by the GREC and GREAB to teach all of the approved courses offered at AREA. Mr. Viti is a real estate broker, appraiser, and home inspector and has a broad background in all real estate fieldspertaining to the courses offered. Mr. Viti supervises all AREA instructors. Information about individual instructors and their qualifications can be viewed by visiting AREA’s website www.education-area-ga.com or by contacting the office at education@area-ga.com or 770-591-5552.
ENTRANCE QUALIFICATIONS
Admission for all courses requiring state licensure is limited to students who are:
1. at least eighteen (18) years old; and
2. high school graduates (or holder of a general educational developmental equivalency diploma).
3. students taking Pre-License courses must submit a Georgia criminal background report in order to obtain licensure. For persons with criminal convictions a preliminary background application may be completed. [520-1-.04 (11)].
NOTE: State agencies may revise rules and regulations. Contact the school administrative office and/or individual state agency directly to verify license law information.
ATTENDANCE
Requirements - Each course is organized and designed to present the theory, application, and complexities of real estate subjects in an orderly and understandable sequence. Each course session builds upon and adds to the previous session’s materials. This process helps promote maximum understanding of the required topics and encourages mastery of complex real estate and appraisal subjects. In addition, the GREC and/or the GREAB require a certain minimum number of hours of attendance before the school can issue credit for the course hours. It is therefore important that all class sessions be attended in their entirety. In order to comply with the license law and out of respect for your fellow classmates, students are expected to be in their seats at the start of each session. Late arrivals and early departures are disruptive and distracting to the class and to the instructor. Students will be required to make up missed time and pay additional fees for time missed in each session.
Attendance will be taken by sign-in, electronically, or roll call at the beginning of each session, or whenever the instructor needs to ascertain the correct record of attendance. It is the responsibility of the student to make sure that the attendance record accurately reflects their presence at each session. Do not expect the instructor to remember that you attended class.
In addition to the educational benefit, attendance at all class sessions will insure that the student has met the minimum number of hours required by the GREC and/or GREAB. Certification of attendance for the required number of hours is mandatory before taking the course final examination, before receiving course credit, or before obtaining any completion notice.
If, however, missing a morning, afternoon, or evening session (or any part thereof) becomes unavoidable, make-up sessions for fulfillment of required attendance will be individually arranged. Students are strongly urged to attend all of the originally scheduled sessions for the courses registered. There is no assurance that make-up classes would be any more convenient or that space will be available for make-up attendance in subsequent classes.
Perfect attendance of the originally scheduled class sessions will permit a student who fails a course final examination to re-take the examination one additional time without incurring any additional cost. Failure to attain perfect attendance will require a fee to re-take any failed exams.
Make-Up Sessions - Any student that needs to make-up a missed session must:
1. make arrangements in writing, email is sufficient to education@area-ga.com, with the school administration (not the course instructor) to attend a make-up session for the curriculum missed; and
2. pay, at the time of arranging the make-up session, a fee of $30.00 per session or purchase any approved substitute curriculum. Failure to attend scheduled make-up session(s) may result in additional fees. Alternative arrangements may be available on case-by-case basis.
All make-up sessions must be scheduled and attended within 90 days of the original missed session. After 90 days, makeup sessions will not be available. Students will be subject to new enrollment policies. A student who has excessive absences may be removed from class and required to re-enroll in the particular course in question to ensure the integrity of the learning process and environment for all students, and pay any applicable fees. The office has the authority and may use their judgment on a case-by-case basis to handle special situations.
VIRTUAL CLASSES
Exigent circumstances such as the recent response to Covid-19 or weather related issues may require that scheduled classes be taught virtually rather than in the classroom. The decision to switch to virtual classes at anytime is at the full discretion of the school and the instructor or government agency. Virtual classes will be instructor lead and to best of our ability provide a similar experience to the classroom experience allowing the students to interact during the presentation. In the event that it becomes necessary to switch any course or class to virtual learning it is incumbent on the student to have available, and ready for use. a computer (not a phone) with both video and audio capability. In addition, the student must be able to install and use the technology which allows virtual participation. Currently the school uses ZOOM for virtual learning and reserves the right to use other tools should superior products become available.
PARTICIPATION/DECORUM
Students are expected and encouraged to participate in the organized classroom activities. Participation will enhance the learning experience and assist in providing direction to the instructor with regard to the class understanding of the subject matter. Students will also be expected to refrain from conversations with other students as such behavior can be distracting to the instructor and other students. Each student is making a financial sacrifice as well as a personal investment of their time to attend these classes. The instructors will be intolerant of behavior that will be disruptive of the learning experience and diminish the value of the instruction. Instructors and are authorized to remove classroom distractions. Students removed from the class will not be permitted to continue and will not receive any refund.
CELL PHONES/MOBILE DEVICES
Unless you are on the organ transplant list, electronic devices should be turned off. Students have ample opportunity during course breaks to engage in personal/business communications. Notify course instructor if any emergency requires monitoring.
COURSE COMPLETION REQUIREMENTS
To successfully complete state credited classification courses or continuing education courses, students must:
1. attend class the minimum number of hours required for the course (which is always equal to or greater than the hours required by the GREC/GREAB);
2. be alert and participate in class activities;
3. satisfactorily complete scheduled homework and in-class assignments in courses where applicable;
4. complete student affidavit as required; and
5. obtain the minimum passing grade or better on tested course work and final exams for classification courses.
Homework, quizzes, and/or other classroom activities will be assigned in classification courses and some continuing education courses. All such assignments must be completed in a satisfactory manner to obtain credit for the course, or to take any final examination that may be associated with that course. Homework must be completed and submitted at the designated time to attest to the fact that the student has mastered the subject matter. Students will be required to provide written certification that they personally completed all homework assignments. Notwithstanding the requirement to complete homework, quizzes, and other classroom activities, students must obtain the minimum passing grade or better on classification course final exams to receive course credit.
MULTIPLE LICENSE CREDIT
Certain AREA courses offer multiple types and levels of licensing credit. Students attending these classes should alert administration upon course enrollment of the type credit desired. For any course which requires an exam to advance license status, students must schedule exam with the Administrative office prior to the last day of class. If an exam is not scheduled, students shall receive continuing education (CE) credit at the conclusion of the class. Final exams cannot be scheduled once the CE credit has been reported to the State. Students may be required to repeat course if alternative credit is requested.
FINAL EXAMS
If a final examination is required, you must obtain the course minimum passing grade. If you fail to attain the minimum score, you may retake the exam one additional time. (Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice course permits three attempts.) To retake an exam, you will need to contact the school administration by email to education@area-ga.com to schedule an exam appointment. There is no charge for the retake of the exam if you have perfect attendance and submitted required work during the regularly scheduled class. If, however, you must retake a final exam and you have less than perfect attendance, there will be an administrative charge for the make-up examination. All make-up exams must be completed within 90 days of original course scheduled completion date. Failure to attend scheduled examinations may result in additional fees.
COMPLETION CERTIFICATION - CERTIFICATES
Upon completion of a course and/or required exam, certification is submitted electronically to the appropriate state agency. An electronic completion notice shall be sent to you from the school detailing your course credit for your own personal records and should not be sent to the state for any type of renewal or for the purpose of scheduling any exams. Students may not receive credit for the same course taken within the previous calendar year. If a student needs a paper certificate for any reason they should notify the AREA administrative office in writing within two (2) weeks of course completion, education@area-ga.com. After this time, any requests for electronic or paper certification of completion, and/or transcripts will be subject to an administrative fee. Contact the office in writing and you will be advised of the fee and procedures for satisfying your request.
REFUNDS
AREA recognizes that unforeseen circumstances may require the withdrawal of a student from classroom enrollment and therefore has established the following Refund Policies.
Student cancellation notices must be in writing by email to education@area-ga.com and will be effective when the written notice is received by AREA. Student will be responsible for the retail price of all books and materials received ($50 to $75 dependent upon program). E-books are not returnable. All sales are final. ALL student withdrawals/transfers will be assessed a $75 administrative fee.
Cancellation timeframe:
- More than ten business days before the start of class - Full refund subject to administrative fee referenced above.
- Less than ten business days up to and including two business days before the start of class - School credit, valid for a one year period, in the amount of the tuition paid minus the administrative fee referenced above. School credit, shall be applied to the cost of a similar in-class program once the transfer fee is paid.
- NO refund/credit will be issued if cancellation notice is not received by AREA at least two business days prior to the class start date (e.g. course starts on a Tuesday, notice must be provided by close of business the prior Thursday); or if a student withdraws during the program.
Upon rescheduling/reenrollment, students shall be responsible for any course price increase. If your course has fully expired, you may repurchase the course at 50% off of the current retail price one (1) time. This option is only available for 30 days after the full expiration date of the course. If your course expires a second time, you will have to repurchase the course at full price. Refunds shall take 4-6 weeks.
AREA reserves the right to cancel a class if minimum enrollment is not achieved. Full refunds would be issued in this case.
RETURNED CHECKS
A $30.00 charge will be assessed to any applicant who has a check returned due to insufficient funds or a closed account.
STUDENT QUESTIONS
All questions pertaining to course registration: i.e. registration, discounts, school policies, exam appointments, certification, etc. should be addressed to the administration at AREA by email to education@area-ga.com. Questions regarding course content would be best directed to your course instructor. AREA will be glad to assist any student. It is recommended that students email any questions, education@area-ga.com, as this is monitored during and after regular office hours.
NON-DISCRIMINATION
AREA does not discriminate in fees, enrollment, or completion policies on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, familial status, or disability.
AMERICA’S REAL ESTATE ACADEMY, INC. ~ EDUCATION-AREA-GA.COM
9425 HIGHWAY 92, STE 148, WOODSTOCK, GA 30188 ~ 770-591-5552