Dear Legislative Liaison,
Welcome to another edition
of C.A.R.’s Networker.
Please feel free to share
its contents with your
colleagues.
Federal Housing Bill Passes
the House of Representatives
H.R. 3221, the “Housing and
Economic Recovery Act of
2008,” passed the House on
July 23rd with a
vote of 272-152. The U.S.
Senate is expected to
approve the bill on Friday,
July 25th or Saturday, July
26th. The President has
indicated that he will sign
the bill. The House version
of the bill includes
permanent conforming and FHA
loan limits of up to
$625,500. C.A.R. and NAR
have been working hard the
last few months on this
important legislation.
Thanks to all of you who
have contacted your Member
of Congress is support of
this bill and to urge
permanent increases in the
FHA and GSE
loan limits. We’re almost
there! For more details on
the contents of this
legislation, please see
NAR’s web site:
http://www.realtor.org/gapublic.nsf/pages/hr_3221_key_provisions?OpenDocument
Housing Bill and Down
Payment Assistance Programs
One provision in the
“Housing and Economic
Recovery Act of 2008” will
eliminate most programs that
offer seller-funded down
payment assistance to
homebuyers when using FHA
loans. However other
programs that allow for
third-party down payment
assistance will still be
available. C.A.R. and NAR
continue to strongly support
down payment assistance
programs. For details on how
the Housing bill will affect
these programs please see
this from NAR:
http://www.realtor.org/GAPublic.nsf/pages/dowpayment_assist_prog?OpenDocument
C.A.R. Opposes Bill to Add
Excessive Costs
to Transactions
C.A.R. OPPOSES AB 2204 (De
La Torre), which would
require county lawyers to
review every deed and other
related documents, including
CC&Rs, and remove obsolete,
illegal and unenforceable
restrictions from historic
title record in connection
with a transfer of property.
County recorders would
undoubtedly charge a huge
fee for the review and
editing of these documents.
C.A.R. opposes this
ill-advised measure because
AB 2204 would add $500 -
$1000 in costs to
transactions without
actually protecting anyone
from discrimination.
Existing law already
invalidates any provision in
a deed of real property that
restricts the right of a
person to sell, lease, rent,
use, or occupy the property
based on race, color,
religion, sex, marital
status, national origin,
ancestry, familial status,
disability, source of
income, or sexual
orientation.
AB 2204 has been approved by
the Assembly and is
currently making its way
through the Senate. C.A.R.
expects a vote by the entire
Senate as soon as next
month. Please stay tuned for
a Red Alert.
New Field Representative
Joins C.A.R.
C.A.R. has expanded its
government affairs field
program and, as such, has
hired a new field
representative for the
Central Valley
region – Rian Barrett. We
are so fortunate to have
Rian. She comes to C.A.R.
with wonderful political and
non-profit experience. I
know she will be a real
asset to our team and a
valuable resource to all of
you.
Rian joins our team of
grassroots field
representatives who travel
the state speaking at local
association events and real
estate office meetings to
provide the most recent
legislative updates and
information about how to get
involved in C.A.R.'s
legislative and political
programs. Our field
representatives can also
provide training for local
associations in the areas of
REALTOR(r) Action Fund
fundraising, grass roots
programs and Get out the
Vote, among various topics.
If you are interested in
having Rian come speak to an
event in your area please
contact her at
rianb@car.org
or by phone at
(916)248-0981.
Rian’s new territory covers
the following associations:
Amador, Bakersfield,
Barstow, Calaveras County,
Central Valley, Chico,
Delta, El Dorado, Fresno,
Hetch-Hetchy, Kern
River-Lake Isabella, Kings
County, Lassen, Lodi,
Madera, Mammoth Lakes,
Mariposa, Merced, Nevada
County, Northern Solano,
Orange Belt, Oroville,
Paradise, Placer County,
Plumas, Sacramento, Shasta,
Siskiyou, South Tahoe,
Southeast Kern, Sutter-Yuba,
Tahoe-Sierra, Tehachapi
Area, Tehama, Trinity
County, Tulare, Tuolumne,
Yolo and Yosemite Gateway.
