MIchigan Association of REALTORS®

A top industry priority for the Michigan Association of REALTORS® is making headway in the legislature. The Agency Responsibility Act (ARA) legislation passed the House last week, and makes its way over to the Senate committee on Economic Development and Regulatory Reform. The legislation, House Bills 4416 and 4417 , are a product of an MAR Public Policy task force assigned to provide a framework for consumer protection to all individuals entering into an exclusive agency relationship. As a regulated industry, there is an expectation from consumers that laws have been established to protect them from brokers that would take advantage of them. The ARA model, introduced by Representative Tonya Schuitmaker (R-Lawton) and Representative Barb Farrah (D-Southgate), aims to clearly define those basic duties and services owed under an exclusive agency agreement and provide for a uniform state wide disclosure form when the consumer and broker choose to waive any of those services. A committee hearing on the ARA bills is expected in the near future.

The MAR will continue to closely monitor the ARA legislation, along with meeting with legislative leaders to stress the importance of enacting the bills in order to protect both homebuyers and the real estate community.

Over the past few months, the GSEs (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) along with the Private Mortgage Insurance Industry (MIs) have been increasing fees and tightening up underwriting standards. This is a direct result of the mortgage crisis which surfaced last August. NAR is communicating with the GSEs about these changes and raising concerns about their impact on the market and unintended consequences. For example, the declining market policies may be stigmatizing entire markets and unfairly denying homeownership to homebuyers, especially minority and low income homebuyers. Although the recent GSE actions will have a significant impact on the mortgage and housing markets, we recognize they have suffered serious financial losses in recent quarters and their goal, like ours, is to make sure they are strong enough to continue making the secondary market work. Without the GSEs, the current crisis would have been much worse.

•These are essentially private entities that are universally losing billions because the mortgage markets in the last several years failed to apply strong underwriting standards.

• After what has happened in the mortgage market, with hundreds of billions of losses, a period of retrenchment is inevitable. A return to zero down mortgages is unlikely, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

• The FHA mortgage insurance program is a sound alternative for subprime and many Alt-A borrowers. People with weaker credit and a small downpayment should consider using FHA. There is a long history of FHA filling that role, and we expect the pending FHA reform legislation to help revitalize its programs and make them even more accessible.

• If Fannie and Freddie are charging too much and setting their standards unnecessarily high, considering the risk, there will be an opening for others to compete. Unfortunately, considering how cautious banks and other mortgage lenders have become, this could take considerable time.

Attached please find an update from our Real Estate Services program which was drafted by NAR consultants. This update provides up to date information on the current state of the mortgage market.

These are very trying times for our mortgage finance system, our members, and the American homebuying consumer. We at NAR are keeping abreast of up to the minute changes from the mortgage lending industry as well as the GSE's and the financial regulatory agencies. In this regard, we continue to work with the GSEs on their declining markets policy.

The 2008 Land Use Academy is right around the corner! The informative retreat takes place April 28-May 1 at Thunder Bay Resort in beautiful Hillman, Michigan. The Academy provides useful tools and information to REALTORS® involved with development initiatives at the local level on how to address various land use concerns. It also creates an avenue for networking with fellow members from around Michigan to hear what other communities are doing to revitalize and enhance properties in their region. Featured speakers include:

Gil White – Gilbert M. White REALTOR® Inc.
David Pierson – McClelland and Anderson
Mark Wycoff – MSU Planning and Zoning Center
Terry Sanford – Nederveld Associates
Peter Allen – Peter Allen & Associates
Jon Byl – Warner, Norcross & Judd
Rob Campau – Michigan Association of REALTORS®

There has been plenty of positive feedback from members who have attended Land Use Academy in the past, and the MAR expects to draw large crowd again this year. If you are interested in attending, please click the link below for more information and to download a registration form. Hurry, space is limited to the first 50 registrants! The 4-day, all-inclusive Academy is $200. Registration ends on April 2nd .

Any person who has held membership in the National Association as a REALTOR®, REALTOR-ASSOCIATE®, or a combination of both, for a cumulative period of 40 years in one or more Associations of REALTORS® is eligible for REALTOR® Emeritus status.

Upon approval by the Board of Directors of the National Association of REALTORS®, no further payment of dues is necessary to the National Association by the Member Association of which the REALTOR® Emeritus is a member starting in the billing year following their approval. The waiver covers both NAR dues and NAR Public Awareness Campaign assessment. Once approved for REALTOR® Emeritus status by NAR, the Michigan Association of REALTORS will also waive state dues. The REALTOR® Emeritus program is only at the national level and state associations do not have to follow with a waiver of the state dues.

A standard certification form (provided by NAR) is necessary to begin the approval process for a REALTOR® Emeritus candidate, which is to be filled out by the local Association. Any available documentation that would provide reasonable substantiation of 40 years' membership should be attached to the form when it is returned to the National Association.

April 18, 2008 is the deadline for receipt of completed certification forms and supporting documentation for approval by the NAR Board of Directors at the 2008 Midyear Governance Meeting & Expo held in Washington, DC. Please mail or fax ONE completed certification form and supporting documentation to:

NAR Information Central
ATTN: Mary Glick
430 N Michigan Ave.
Chicago IL 60611
Fax to: (312) 329-5960
email: mglick@realtors.org

Once NAR’s Board of Directors approves the Emeritus, we will email the POEs if you have an approved Emeritus for which you have not set the Dues Waived National field in NRDS to Y.

Remind your members that MAR's annual Broker Summit is taking place April 15-16 at the Hyatt Regency in Dearborn, MI, and online registration for the event is open. For only $119, members should take advantage of the MAR Hotel Room Rate, which will end next Thursday, March 20th. Make these reminders part of your membership meetings and newsletters.

Bringing more value to the event, the Summit agenda is packed with nationally renowned speakers including Lawrence Yun, the Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of Research for NAR, and John Tucillo, one of the nations formost real estate economist. Also being featured is an expert legal panel and MAR update. For the complete schedule of events visit the Broker Summit Web site, and Register Now!