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| Monday, September 22, 2008
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Brought to you by
CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
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 LAWMAKERS
DEBATE MERITS OF TREASURY'S PROPOSED BAILOUT OF AILING
FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
While most agree that quick and decisive action is
needed to stop the hemorrhaging in the nation's
financial markets, support for the proposed $700 billion
bailout plan offered by the U.S. Department of the
Treasury over the weekend is far from unanimous. Many
experts believe the plan -- which would allow the
government to serve as an investment bank and buy debt
from troubled financial institutions -- needs to be
revised to include provisions that protect homeowners
facing foreclosures and protect home property values.
Others point out that the bad debt to be purchased is so
undervalued that it could prove to be a profitable
investment for the government, and taxpayers.
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C.A.R.
TO PROVIDE DAILY UPDATES ON NATIONAL FINANCIAL CRISIS
As events continue to unfold, look to C.A.R. as your
one-stop source for news and information on the critical
issues occurring in the nation's housing and finance
markets. Beginning Monday, you'll receive "Market
Matters Daily Briefing," a daily e-mail that will
aggressively monitor the situation and keep you informed
as events play out. Your regularly scheduled "Market
Matters" e-mail on Thursdays will include tools and
information to help you explain and communicate to your
clients. You also can check www.car.org for recent
headlines and video clips, and Wednesday's "C.A.R.
Newsline" e-mail for additional information pertinent to
the ongoing story. Stay tuned for more.
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REAL
ESTATE RELATED BILLS AWAIT GOVERNOR'S ACTION AS
LEGISLATURE ADJOURNS
The State Legislature took action on a number of bills
concerning housing and real estate before adjourning
earlier this month. C.A.R. was successful in defeating
and/or amending a number of bills it opposed. Two
C.A.R.-sponsored bills are waiting for the Governor's
signature:
AB 2259 (Mullin) Ownership Rights in a Common Interest
Development (CID) - Over the last few years, C.A.R.
members noticed a trend among some homeowner
associations to adopt restrictions that limit the
ability of unit owners to rent their dwellings in CIDs.
The imposition of rental restrictions diminishes an
owner's property rights. C.A.R. argues that property
owners should enjoy the right to rent or lease their
unit as it existed at the time the CID unit was
purchased. C.A.R. sponsored AB 2259 to protect this
right, if it existed at the time the owner purchased the
unit. AB 2259 was passed by the Legislature and is
awaiting the Governor's signature.
SB 1737 (Machado) Mortgage Loan Broker Disclosures -- SB
1737 grants the DRE commissioner the authority to
suspend or revoke a real estate license if the licensee
generates an inaccurate broker price opinion for a short
sale with the intent of manipulating the lienholder into
rejecting the proposed sale so that the licensee may
acquire a business advantage. More importantly, SB 1737
contains C.A.R.-sponsored language that would require a
prominent disclosure to all parties whenever a licensee
represents a buyer and originates a loan in a "1-4"
transaction. SB 1737 was passed by the Legislature and
is awaiting the Governor's signature.
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LACBOR
LEGISLATIVE DAY SEPTEMBER 24 IN DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES
The Los Angeles County Board of Realtors® (LACBOR) bids
farewell to Supervisor Yvonne Burke during the 30th
Annual Legislative Day, scheduled for September 24.
Supervisors Gloria Molina, Zev Yaroslavsky, Don Knabe,
and Mike Antonovich will be among those participating.
LACBOR Legislative Day is held in conjunction with the
Eighth Annual Real Estate Fair. The Fair and Legislative
Day are scheduled from 8:30 am, to 1:30 pm on Wednesday,
September 24. As in the past, the venue is the Open Air
Mall at 500 West Temple Street (between the Hall of
Administration and the Court House in Downtown Los
Angeles).
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INTERBOARD
SOLICITATIONS, 2008
Every election cycle, REALTORS® face onerous local
ballot measure that threaten private property rights,
affordable housing and the real estate industry with
poorly crafted provisions on land use or taxation. When
faced with a costly local election issue, local
Associations of REALTORS® have the option to request
support from other AORs in California, in the form of an
interboard solicitation of local IMPAC funds. The
solicitation allows local AORs to pool local IMPAC
resources to support their efforts when their own local
IMPAC funds may not be sufficient to meet the costs of
the campaign.
Several local AOR have issued an interboard solicitation
of local IMPAC Funds for the Fall 2008 local election
cycle.
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FREMONT
CONSIDERS TEMPORARY BAN ON MONSTER HOMES IN SINGLE-STORY
NEIGHBORHOODS
According to the San Jose Mercury News, a temporary ban
on so-called "monster" homes is up for City Council
approval Tuesday. The monster home debate has been a hot
topic in Fremont's Glenmoor and Mission Ranch
neighborhoods, where several ranch-style homes have been
replaced by much larger structures that neighbors say
deprive them of views and privacy.
During a June 24 public hearing, the council decided to
enact stricter and more precise design guidelines so
two-story homes can better fit in with single-story
neighborhoods. But because new standards would take
years to develop, a council majority backed a temporary
ban.
The proposal before the council on Tuesday would allow
three years for a neighborhood to apply for a ban on
two-story homes and second-story additions. Once
approved by the council, the ban would expire after
seven years, when building guidelines would take effect.
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REALTORS®
FIGHTING WOOD SHAKE ROOF RETROFIT AT POINT OF SALE IN
SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
REALTORS® in the San Bernardino County mountain
communities of Victor Valley/Hesperia, Big Bear Lake,
Lake Arrowhead, Running Springs and Crestline are
fighting County Board of Supervisors proposal to require
retrofit of wood shake roofs at the point-of-sale. They
argue that the proposal would impose an additional cost
on an already distressed housing market without a
noticeable impact on the issue of fire safety. Instead,
they are encouraging the county to pursue a date certain
approach that would require retrofit of wood shake roofs
for all properties by July 1, 2014.
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Virtual Advocate™ is published by the CALIFORNIA
ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, a trade association
representing nearly 200,000 REALTORS® statewide.
Edited by:
Rick Laezman, Editor, (213)
739-8273, richardl@car.org
For more information on
these and other issues, please see the
Legislation section of C.A.R.Online at:
http://www.car.org/governmentalaffairs/
Executive offices:
525 South Virgil Ave., Los Angeles CA 90020
phone (213) 739-8200; fax (213) 480-7724
Legislative offices:
980 Ninth Street #1430, Sacramento CA 95814
phone (916) 492-5200; fax 916-444-2033
To view C.A.R.'s Privacy Policy click
on this link:
http://www.car.org/aboutus/privacypolicy/
If you wish to update the email address to which this
newsletter is sent, please do not reply to this email.
Email address change requests must be
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Lodi Association of REALTORS.
at .
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Copyright © 2008 CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.)
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LAWMAKERS
DEBATE MERITS OF TREASURY'S PROPOSED BAILOUT OF AILING FINANCIAL
INSTITUTIONS