| Senate Passes FHA Modernization Bill |
| 7/16/2008 |
| Senate voted 63 to 5 to approve FHA Modernization legislation which creates affordable housing opportunities by setting loan limits up to $625,500 for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA. |
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| Mandatory Energy Inspection Struck From Green Bill |
| 7/9/2008 |
| Massachusetts REALTORS® experienced a victory when two weeks ago legislators struck language seeking mandatory energy audits prior to home sales from the Senate version of the Comprehensive Energy legislation, S.2468. |
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| Legal Realtor®: A Sand Trap For The Unwary |
| 6/24/2008 |
| If an errant golf ball flies off course and causes an injury, will a homeowner have a remedy against the golf course? Should real estate agents warn prospective buyers about the possibility that a golf ball may veer off course and land in their yard, hit their cars or strike a member of their family? Find out in Robert Kutner's latest article. |
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| Senate Banking Committee Approves Plan to Provide Relief without Burdening Taxpayers |
| 5/28/2008 |
| On Tuesday, May 20, 2008, the Senate Banking Committee approved the Federal Housing Finance Regulatory Reform Act of 2008, a bill that would authorize the Federal Housing Administration to offer federally-insured fixed-rate loans to borrowers wishing to refinance troublesome home loans. Aimed at rescuing potentially hundreds of thousands of homeowners at risk of foreclosure, the bill was approved by a vote of 19 to 2, and is expected to go before the Senate for approval in the coming weeks. Moving legislation through Congress is a challenging task, and members should watch for a call to action from NAR in support of this bill. |
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| NAR & DOJ Reach Settlement on VOWs |
| 5/28/2008 |
| The National Association of Realtors® and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) have reached a beneficial agreement regarding NAR’s multiple listing policy and how it pertains to the display of listings from the MLS on brokers’ virtual office websites, or VOWs. NAR has prevailed in protecting the rights of broker’s to list and sell property on the internet.
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| New Changes to the Federal “Do Not Call” Registry |
| 5/6/2008 |
| New regulations on the Do Not Call Improvement Act of 2007 went into effect in mid-May that includes changes to acts related to the removal of numbers and registry fees. Formerly, registered numbers automatically were removed from the registry five years following the registration date. The Do-Not-Call Improvement Act now only allows for the removal of numbers from the Do Not Call Registry operated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) upon request of the individual to whom the telephone number is assigned or if the number is invalid, has been disconnected, or reassigned.
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| New State Law May Provide Distressed Homeowners Some Relief |
| 5/5/2008 |
| On May 1, a key provision of the new Mass. state law passed back in November 2007, that is designed to provide financially distressed homeowners with foreclosure relief, will go into effect. Under the new law, Massachusetts homeowners facing foreclosure will now be entitled to a 90 day “right to cure” period. |
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