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MAR Advocacy Provides Some Relief This Tax Season
February 18, 2022
As we enter tax season this year, many Realtors® will hopefully get at least a small reprieve thanks to MAR’s advocacy. In 2017, the Federal government instituted a new cap of $10,000 on state and local tax (SALT) deductions. Since then, many states have been seeking a means of restoring… -
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Advocacy Update – Will the Price be Going Up?
February 9, 2022
Once again, some advocates in Massachusetts are pushing proposals to increase the cost of housing. On the one hand, the state has made tremendous advances in both policy (Housing Choice and MBTA Communities) and funding ($620 million from ARPA, doubling the Low Income Housing Tax Credit) in recent months. However,… -
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Agency Disclosure Form Now Available in 8 Languages
February 2, 2022
The Board of Registration of Real Estate Brokers and Salespersons recently released the Mandatory Licensee-Consumer Relationship Disclosure form (Agency Disclosure) in seven additional languages. The form is now available in Haitian Creole, Spanish, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Vietnamese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and English. These new versions are in the process… -
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MAR Advocates to Protect Homebuyers from Discrimination
February 1, 2022
MAR has spent much of the last year fighting to remove remnants of historic real estate discrimination. As a recent WBUR story explains, we are unfortunately still dealing with this issue in the form of so-called restrictive covenants. A restrictive covenant is a provision in a real estate conveyance that… -
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Notes From the Legal Hotline: February 2022
February 1, 2022
Q: A salesperson in my office has set up an LLC; can I pay their commission to the LLC? A: No. A broker may only pay fees and commissions from real estate transactions to an affiliated salesperson, broker, or a business entity with a corporate broker license. Commissions may not… -
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Pro-Housing Budget Proposal and Pandemic Policy Extensions
January 28, 2022
Its been an eventful week for MAR’s advocacy priorities, from extending key pandemic policies to the first steps in the FY2023 budget. Going Remote. One week after the House passed its version of the latest pandemic... -
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MAR CEO Theresa Hatton and NEAR President-Elect Neily Soto Testified Against Rent Control Bills
January 13, 2022
On Tuesday, January 11, CEO Theresa Hatton and NEAR President-Elect Neily Soto testified against rent control bills before the Joint Committee on Housing. Hatton explained the challenges facing the state – a severe lack of housing production and wages that have not kept up with the costs of basic consumer… -
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Notes From the Legal Hotline: January 2022
January 3, 2022
Q: I just found out my buyer client bought a house with another agent. What options do I have? A: What recourse is available in these situations depends on the type of relationship between the agent and the buyer. If the buyer and agent entered into an exclusive representation agreement,… -
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State Announces Rental Assistance Changes
December 21, 2021
The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) announced some impending policy changes for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) and the Residential Assistance for Families... -
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A Big Step for Multifamily Housing Production
December 17, 2021
MBTA Community Draft Zoning Guidance Released Massachusetts REALTORS® have long championed the call to allow for more production of much-needed multifamily housing. With draft state guidance now available to cities and towns, it will soon be easier to build multifamily housing in many cities and towns in eastern Massachusetts. …
