Strong Voice and Clear Message

NCAR MEMBERS dESCENdEd upON RALEigh wiTh A STRONg vOiCE ANd CLEAR MESSAgE – dO NO hARM TO hOuSiNg duRiNg ThE TAx REfORM diSCuSSiONS wiTh A LARgER TuRN OuT ThiS yEAR ThAN iN ThE pAST, OuR MEMBERS TACkLEd ThE TOugh iSSuES wiTh LEgiSLATORS ANd ENjOyEd A LiTTLE fuN, TOO

We had many local boards take advantage of the van and bus travel reimbursement from NCAR, some for the first time. We were thrilled to see one of our smaller boards, Roanoke Valley Lake Gaston, bring a group of members this year. We also had buses from High Point, Brunswick County, Fayetteville, the Outer Banks, Charlotte and Durham who brought their largest crowd ever!

Senate President Pro Temp Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) spoke to members at our Legislative Forum on Tuesday and then many senators and representatives, including House Speaker Thom Tillis (R-Mecklenburg), spoke to our members Wednesday morning before venturing out to talk to members of their own district. NAR President Gary Thomas also joined us to share some statistics about various housing and the real estate economy, including the mortgage interest deduction.

The legislative talking points focused on various issues of importance for our members and their clients this year. REALTORS® shared their concerns about local government control issues that overstep their statutory authority and shared support for House Bill 150 reiterating that local governments cannot control aesthetic elements of development and zoning and for House Bill 773 which restricts local governments from enacting rental registration and inspection programs except for areas which are truly blighted. REALTORS® also expressed their continued support of the Housing Trust Fund and asked for a general fund appropriation this year in the amount of $10 million.

First and foremost, the members advocated on behalf of the real estate industry and consumers with regard to tax reform. The NC REALTORS® message continues to be the same: North Carolina needs to approach tax reform in a way that does not harm our overall economy or hurt our housing’s fragile recovery. “We need to continue to send our message that the goal of tax reform is a good one, but paying for it by increasing the tax burden on homeowners and the housing industry is counterproductive to North Carolina’s economic revitalization,” stated 2013 NCAR Legislative Chair Mark Zimmerman.

Stay informed about the tax reform discussion on the NCAR advocacy website, www.TaxReformFacts.org. It is important to understand how tax reform proposals will impact our economy and property owners throughout the state. The site is part of a strategic campaign, which includes targeted online ads in key parts of the state, to engage the public in our conversation. Our Facebook page has received a lot of notice and we encourage you to stop by daily to see the discussion.

Thank you to all that were able to join us in Raleigh this year and we hope to see even more REALTORS® walking the halls of the North Carolina General Assembly in 2014! v

Roanoke Valley Lake Gaston Board of REALTORS® which has about 150 members and is one of our smaller boards, took advantage of the travel reimbursement to attend the Legislative Day in Raleigh for the first time and had a great turn out!

We Want Your Input

Your RCA Forms Committee has been hard at work making substantive and technical updates to the Commercial Series of Forms (500 series), so be on the lookout for changes to several of the forms when the revised forms are published July 1, 2013. The next topic for the RCA Forms Committee will be to focus on improved functionality of the forms in their electronic environment. For example, we have already received comments regarding certain fields that do not auto populate from the master input to their appropriate place in the forms, we have had suggestions to expand certain blanks/fields to allow more input, and the suggestion that the form only show/print the signature lines actually used and to permit more than 2 signature lines.

We want your input to make this process as responsive to member needs as possible. While there may be some programming limitations on what can be affected, we want to make sure that we receive and attempt to address as many suggestions or issues as possible. If you have had functionality issues working with the forms or if you have suggestions for how they can mechanically work better (like the examples above), please submit your input. Please be as specific as you can so that we can clearly identify what needs to be addressed. You can make submittals by e-mail to Kay Bailey at NCAR (kbailey@ncrealtors.org) by May 15, 2013.

By wILL MARTIN GENERAL COuNSEL