The REALTOR® Advocate: July/August

October 8, 2019

- By The MAR Legal Team

Welcome to the first edition of The REALTOR® Advocate!  We’re excited to provide you with this new monthly resource containing updates on MAR advocacy. Before reading further, we hope you’ll check out our First and Second Quarter Updates for a primer on our 2019 advocacy efforts thus far. Now that you’re up to speed, here are some highlights from July:

July 8

Greg Vasil, GBREB CEO, and Jonathan Schreiber testified on the GreenWorks bill before the House Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures, and State Assets. Click here to read our full talking points on the bill.  This was the second time Vasil and Schreiber testified on this bill (see their quote in the State House News Service). The House unanimously passed GreenWorks on July 24 and it is now under consideration by the Senate.

July 18

The MAR Government Affairs Committee voted to oppose H.342, An Act to promote equity among lessors. The bill would require REALTOR® fees to be paid only by landlords. The Committee was concerned this would disrupt typical negotiations, increase the cost of rental housing, and limit REALTORS’® ability to advocate for their clients.

July 23

Amy Wallick, MAR Government Affairs Chairperson, testified with Jonathan Schreiber in support of H.2456/S.1628, before the Joint Committee on Revenue. These bills will help potential home buyers facing historic highs in home prices and student loan debt save for their first homes. Click here to read written testimony. We also submitted written testimony in support of mortgage debt relief (H.2550S.1639S.1719).

July 31

The Governor signed H.3904 into law. MAR has long supported this bill and successfully worked on its amendment to include an explicit exemption for real estate licensees when they are providing broker price opinions. Our most recent coalition letter supporting the bill is available here.

A Look Ahead: August

Despite a potentially slow legislative month, we’ve still got plenty going on. On August 6 we testified on proposed short-term rental regulations to the Department of Revenue. Click here to read more and see our comments.

The Legislature will be at recess for much of August. This means your legislator may attend local events or hold a forum. We hope you’ll consider attending!