Jun. 21, 2011
I have come to the realization that everything edible tastes better fried.
I mean, catfish is good, but can it really be compared to fried catfish? Who doesn’t like chicken? Yet, make it fried, and everyone will take a double order.
Walking around the State Fair of Texas, I indulged myself in all kinds of fried delicacies … bananas, Coca-Cola, ice-cream, asparagus, and pretty much everything under the sun.
It amazed me that no matter what the food, frying it took it to another level. Well would you believe me if I told you that the Texas Association of REALTORS® is like the giant deep fryer of real estate issues? Let me explain.
The Texas Legislature values the positive impact of real estate transactions. Most elected officials understand the importance or defending Texans’ private-property rights. They also know it’s essential to protect the public from unscrupulous real estate licensees.
Just like dipping a hot dog in batter and coming up with a food fit for a king (yummmm … corn dogs), the Texas Association of REALTORS® took the initiative on real estate-related legislation to make several good things even better for property owners and consumers.
I wrote a previous article about a recent practice of developers implementing transfer fees on properties. These transfer fees require payment of a percentage of future property sales back to the developer. Some of these payments go on as long as 99 years!
Worse yet, these fees are buried deep in the deed restrictions. Private transfer fees hurt the marketability of properties. They also can create situations that may “cloud” the title to the property, making a real estate transaction more difficult and expensive.
The Texas Association of REALTORS® supported successful legislation prohibiting most future private transfer fees. The legislation also provides clarity and disclosure requirements for property already encumbered with existing fees.
Even before the state’s budget woes, the Texas Real Estate Commission was struggling to fund its efforts to protect consumers. The problem stemmed from the agency having to turn over the licensing fees it collected to the state’s general revenue fund. TREC then had to compete with other state agencies for funding.
With backing from the Texas Association of REALTORS®, TREC is now a self-directed and semi-independent state agency. This means TREC is now exempt from the appropriations process and can keep the fees it receives from licensees. The ability to use the revenue generated from license fees will allow TREC to add staff to better monitor the real estate industry and investigate consumer complaints.
Real estate licensees represent consumers in probably the largest transaction of their lives. Therefore, the Texas Association of REALTORS® always lends its support to reasonable initiatives to improve education standards for applicants and licensees. One of the new measures adopted by the Legislature requires real estate salespeople to be licensed four years, instead of two, before they can obtain a broker’s license.
The law also requires licenses for some real estate-related tasks that had been exempted in the past. Now licenses are required for:
For decades, the Texas Association of REALTORS® has been on the front line of enhancing protection of private-property rights in cases of eminent-domain takings by governmental entities. Legislation passed this session strengthens property owners’ rights in eminent domain takings by limiting the purposes for which a property may be condemned … it must not be to benefit a private party.
The legislation also specifies that taken property must be made available for resale to the original owner … at the price the entity paid for it … if it’s not used for its intended purpose after 10 years.
The association wanted to help preserve homeowners’ rights while ensuring more efficient, more effective HOA management. While the Texas Association of REALTORS® acknowledges the purpose of HOAs, the pendulum had swung too much in their favor. Three bills were signed by the governor to balance the equation. The new guidelines include:
Well there you have it … a basket of goodies that should put a smile on every Texas real property owner and consumer. Didn’t I tell you that Texas Association of REALTORS® could take good things and make them even better? Now where does a guy find fried Oreos around here?
