CAR - Health Insurance - Open Enrollment - January 2011 - click here
Reports from MAR's representatives to CAR - June 2010
Report
from CAR Director Kay Moore
On June
9th the MAR Directors (and one from Petaluma)
met with Assembly Member Jared Huffman to discuss some issues that concern us. First was
the issue of appraisals. CAR had sponsored two bills to improve the cost
and quality of appraisals – both of which were opposed in the Legislature and
stalled. They have not been persuaded that a problem exists. We spent
some time with Huffman explaining the situation and asking for his support when
the next hearing comes up this fall.
We asked
him to vote “yes” on SB 1178 which is the Anti-Deficiency Protection bill which
extends protection to homeowners who have refinanced “purchase money” loans and
are now facing foreclosure. Most homeowners don’t know that when they
refinanced they lost their legal protections and may now be personally liable
for the difference between the value of the foreclosed property and the amount
owed to the lender.
This bill
does not apply to loans that are not refinancing purchase money mortgages,
“cash-out” refinances or home equity lines of credit. It has passed the
Senate and pending committee assignment in Assembly.
As usual,
Huffman was interested and attentive to our positions. We look forward to
working with him positively throughout his term.
Reports from MAR’s representatives to CAR – February
2010
Kathy Schlegel, 2010
Region 4 Chair
Your CAR Directors are a dedicated group of volunteers who
give their time and expertise to your state association and to our industry. If
you’re not directly involved in your local association, or aren’t yet a
volunteer at the state or national level, I encourage you to do so. It’s an
opportunity to give voice to the issues important to you and your peers, and to
directly impact your livelihood and the future of our industry. My involvement
over the years has enriched both my professional and personal life.
At the most recent CAR
Directors meetings, several new changes have taken place. The most
important change is to the California Residential Purchase Agreement--most
often referred to as the “RPA”. The RPA hasn’t been
significantly modified since 2002, and the changes approved this past week
followed nearly two years of effort by the RPA Study Group and the Standard
Forms Advisory Committee, with over 1,000 comments from members helping inform
the process.
Changes regarding the initial deposit; the notice to
perform; FHA/VA loans; financing; the appraisal contingency; the wood pest
inspection; home warranty coverage; and contingencies and cancellations; among
others, were approved and will be incorporated in the revised form, scheduled
for release April 28. For a complete timeline regarding the RPA release,
visit http://www.car.org/legal/standard-forms/.
Final Drafts will be posted Feb. 22. Classes will be held throughout the state
and begin next month. Please click here for more details about
classes throughout the state, or to sign up for MAR’s April 21st class, please see the CAREER DEVELOPMENT
section of this Monday Memo for a link to the flyer/registration form.
C.A.R.’s popular Strategic Weapons and Tactics (S.W.A.T.)
programs start up again next month. Each program includes a local economic and
market update by one of CAR’s economists; a panel of legal and finance experts
to help you navigate the new laws and close a loan in today’s market; tips on
how to use the Treasury Department’s Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives
(HAFA) program; and a four-hour continuing education (CE) course on the new
RPA. Sessions begin March 4 in the Oxnard area,
and include programs in Los Angeles, the Bay
Area, Sacramento, Orange
County, the Inland Empire, San Diego, and San
Jose, with more to come. If you haven’t taken
advantage of CAR’s S.W.A.T. program in the past, you’ll find that they pack a
lot of relevant information in an accessible and easy-to-understand format. For
more information, or to register, please go to www.realtorswat.com.
The market continues to forge ahead, with home sales
increasing 1.7 percent in December compared with the same period a year ago,
and the median price of an existing home rising 8.4 percent compared with
a year ago, according to CAR’s latest report. December’s activity can be
attributed in part to the extension and expansion of the home buyer tax credit,
as well as near-historic highs in affordability due to current price levels and
low interest rates. CAR’s next sales and price report will be released Feb. 23
– you can view it that morning in the News Release section of car.org.
Today’s market holds tremendous opportunities for first-time
buyers. CAR has just released its 2009 Home Sellers Survey, which will
help you provide your clients with the best service by getting the inside
information on what home sellers are thinking. Best of all, it’s free, and
available in the Market Response Center on car.org at
http://www.car.org/tools/smart/.
calREDD™ also continues to move forward, and on Jan. 25
announced a succession of successful launches at the Chico Association of
REALTORS®, the Oroville Association of REALTORS®, and the Paradise Association
of REALTORS®. calREDD™ has been up and running to users’ acclaim since Jan. 11
at the Lake County Association of REALTORS® and since Aug. 17 at the Madera
Association of REALTORS® and the Merced Association of REALTORS®. You can click here to see what Lake County
members are saying about calREDD™ and here to see what Madera
and Merced
members have to say.
Next are March launches at the Amador Association of
REALTORS® and the Yosemite Gateway Association of REALTORS®, followed by April
launches scheduled for the Mariposa County Board of REALTORS®, the Tehama
County Association of REALTORS®, and the Plumas Association of REALTORS®, with
more to follow.
Have you already upgraded from WINForms® to the free
zipForm® 6 software? The upgrade to zipForm® 6 is mandatory effective
March 31, so please take some time today to upgrade and avoid the rush. That
way, should you have questions or need assistance, you’re more likely to be
able to reach the customer service support desk for help. To download zipForm®
6, click
here. You also can access the ePUBS™ zipForm® 6 library for free
once you’ve upgraded to zipForm® 6. For more information and training, please click here.
* * * *
From CAR Director Kay Moore
– In the two-year session of 2009/2010, 3100 bills were introduced in the
first year and 5500 over the two-year span.
CAR attorneys have to read all of these bills to determine which have an
impact on our business. Of these, there
were 1500 bills CAR followed.
CAR must find a legislator who will sponsor a bill “for” us
– and “with” us in order for it to be heard by the Legislature. Below are a few of the bills that the CAR
directors approved the sponsoring of legislation in 2010:
Requirement that
lenders accept a “portable” appraisal at the request of the borrower. The impact of this is that if an appraisal
has been ordered and prepared for one lender on a particular property, the
second lender would be required to accept that appraisal to support a mortgage
even though the lender had not ordered it.
Two-thirds of the
unit owners in a CID must approve, by written ballot, any amendment of the
governing documents that would prohibit owners from renting or leasing their
unit.
In 2009, CAR
supported SB 237, which was signed into law and subjects Appraisal
Management Companies (AMC) to registration and review by the Office of Real
Estate Appraisers (OREA). In 2010, we
approved sponsoring legislation to clarify and enhance OREA’s oversight of
AMCs.
In 2009 SB 94 was
signed into law to prohibit “cash up front” loan modification contracts. CAR negotiated amendments with the author and
DRE to clarify the definition of an advance fee and to ensure licensees’
ability to engage in a fee for service contract (e.g. a listing agreement)…even
so this statute is confusing, thus CAR has approved sponsoring legislation in
2010 to clarify the current “advance fee” statute in order to make very clear
that fee for service contracts do not trigger advance fee requirements.
These are just a few; additionally there are other bills
which staff is following to determine the need for our intervention. FYI—there are four positions your CAR
Directors can take with regard to a bill:
FOR, AGAINST, NEUTRAL AND NOT REAL ESTATE RELATED. There is often lively discussion on this in
the meetings.
Just a reminder to anyone looking for a credit company: NAR’s Credit Union is up and running and is
available to a family member even if you (REALTOR®) choose not to use it.
* * * *
From CAR Director Levi Swift
-- I am a member of the International Finance Committee and the Housing
Committee; serve as the Region 4 Rep as well as a member of the CAR Board.
There were two Board sessions that I attended as well as several committees.
Items of interest, included an update on calREDD, they have
launched 4 associations in January and have 6 more to go in the next couple of
months.
CAR’s most important impact to our regular members is the
Legislation followed or sponsored. The” State Legislative Issues Report” is
close to 100 pages, covering over 86 bills pending or sponsored in the Assembly
and Senate, that directly affect REALTORS®.
The report can be found on the CAR Web site at
www.car.org.