Florida Realtors® FAQ Law & Policy
• Partnered with Communications on the Florida Realtors® Legal News, contributed articles, FAQs for Florida Realtor magazine • Participated in dozens of meetings for the revisions to the Supreme Court Approved Residential Leases and also for the FloridaRealtors/FloridaBar Contract and Comprehensive Riders. The 2021 versions were released • Conducted 60 legal updates, leadership training sessions and Professional Standards programs at local boards • Administered the Education Foundation, Disaster Relief Fund, Silent Angels and Homeownership For All charities. Assistance given for medical needs, storm damage; college scholarships to 175 students; and 9 grants awarded to 501(c)(3) charities who provide affordable housing
Florida Realtors® PAC
17 States & 65 Local Associations
In The U.S. & Canada 725,000 MEMBERS OVER 113K CASES IN 2021 COMMERCIAL BROKERS GET PAID Passage of two commercial real estate lien acts ensure brokers don’t have to renegotiate their commissions at closing.
2005
• floridarealtors.org: 4,502,859 annual page views, 1.3 million visitors • Florida Realtors YouTube Channel: 65,897 annual views • Earned second place in NAR’s recent “Legislative Victory” Video Contest • Coming soon: Photify! Members can custom brand our consumer-facing graphics with name and logo • Find rockin’ support materials for our 2022 theme, “Building Up Business” at https://www.floridarealtors.org/buildingupbusiness • “Ragan Communications” National Competition Finalists: 1) inspirational video 2) internal communications video and 3) visual storytelling/print design
Research
• Produced thousands of statistical reports for Florida’s counties, cities, ZIP Codes and legislative districts • Delivered more than 60 presentations to member and stakeholder groups throughout 2021 • Published resource guide for brokers to instruct agents on applying market statistics to their daily business
Over 76,000 members contributed in 2021: • 126 Hall of Fame members, 128 President’s Circle • 1,067 Individual & Corporate Major Investors • Raised over $5.6M to help protect private property rights • All goals exceeded, with Florida Realtors achieving the Triple Crown!
TECH HELPLINE
Marketing & Communications
GRI 3,060 STUDENTS IN 2021 LEGAL HOTLINE OVER 80K CALLS A YEAR
– LEGISLATIVE ISSUES – 2010
MORE MONEY IN YOUR POCKET Repealed local business taxes saving sales associates $3.8 million annually.
HOMETOWN DEMOCRACY DEFEATED Defeated an amendment that would have hurt an already ailing economy and local governments over growth issues.
2012
PROTECTING COMMUNITIES Successfully passed Amendment 2, saving property owners and their communities from a $700 million-plus tax increase.
2017
CAPPED FEES Passed the firstever cap on community association fees for estoppel certificates.
Public Policy
• Established new protections for Realtors® and their businesses from lawsuits resulting from COVID-19 cases • Secured a massive future reduction to Florida’s Business Rent Tax: from 5.5% to 2%, saving $1.2 billion annually for commercial leases • Passed legislation intended to help curb rising property insurance costs statewide • Successfully advocated for $1.84 billion for projects to improve Florida’s water quality and address pressing environmental issues
Professional Development
• 2021 student participation (or registration) in education courses: 34,066 • 2021 total classes presented: 2,750
Thousands of volunteers helped
CLEAN UP FLORIDA WATERS
2018
2019
COMMERCIAL LEASES MADE EASIER Successfully eliminated the outdated Florida law that requires two people to witness the signing of leases longer than a year.
IMPROVING TRANSACTIONS Created new remedies for open/expired permits and enabled the use of online remote notaries.
2020
2021
SHIELDING REALTORS® FROM LAWSUITS Passed a law that protects Realtors® from COVID-19 cases.
Technology
• Trained more than 5,200 members on Form Simplicity, MLSAdvantage, and SunStats at more than 260 training sessions in 2021 • MLSAdvantage was used by more than 60,000 members, logging in more than 900,000 times in 2021
Global
• Building strong global relationships for members is an ongoing priority • Free virtual workshop by renowned author and speaker Terri Morrison • Premiered Florida Diversity lapel pins • Innovative virtual trade mission “What’s Cooking in Canada” included 37 real estate chapter association partners and 3 community partners • Partnered in virtual trade missions with CILA and provided multiple language translations • Earned 2021 NAR Global Platinum Award for the 5th consecutive year
Than 350K Realtors FORM SIMPLICITY More Served Nationwide
ALMOST 2 MILLION TRANSACTIONS IN 2021 Page 30
