The Realtor Association of Greater Fort Lauderdale The Realtor Association of Greater Fort LauderdalePompano Beach residents will have the opportunity to vote on March 11 for Pompano beach Commissioners in District 1 and 3. RAGFL's Candidate Screening Committee invited each candidate to be interviewed, and our Board of Directors has recommended Barry Dockswell in Ditrict 1 and inbcumbent Rex Hardin in District 3. These two candidates have best addressed the concerns of our industry and will best represent their constituents.
The passage of Amendment 1 on January 29 has resulted in broad changes regarding property tax collections in Florida. Now that Amendment #1 has passed, you may be asking how you or your clients can take advantage of the new tax savings, including “Save Our Homes” tax savings portability.
Click here to visit the Florida Department of Revenue’s web link containing complete and detailed information regarding the implementation procedures for all of the various components of Amendment 1.
You can also visit the Broward County Property Appraiser’s website for further information. By clicking “Property Search” when there, you will be able to determine the difference between your Save our Homes value and the Just Value of your own property.
RAGFL welcomed United States Congressman Ron Klein to RAGFL East on February 19 to discuss our Association's federal priorities. Among the topics discussed were group health insurance for Realtors, national catastrophic insurance, and maintaining the separation of banking and real estate. Although the emphasis will be on these issues, members also raised more generalized issues if importance, such as the federal budget deficit, gasoline prices and other issues.
The U.S. House of Representatives on September 18 overwhelmingly passed H.R. 1852, the “Expanding American Homeownership Act of 2007,” which will revitalize the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), a federally insured loan program that for over 60 years has been a reliable source of affordable fixed rate mortgage loans, especially for first-time homebuyers. The measure, originally introduced by Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, and Barney Frank (D-MA), Chairman of the Financial Services Committee, will enable FHA to serve more subprime borrowers at affordable rates and terms, recapture borrowers that have turned to predatory loans in recent years, and offer refinancing loan opportunities to borrowers struggling to meet their mortgage payments in the midst of the current turbulent mortgage markets.
Specifically, the bill includes the following important provisions:
* Lower Down Payments. Authorizes zero and lower down payment loans for borrowers that can afford mortgage payments, but lack the cash for a required down payment.
* Housing Counseling. Authorizes more than double the current funding level for housing counseling, to help subprime homebuyers and borrowers late on mortgage loan payments.
* Subprime borrowers. Directs FHA to provide mortgage loans to higher risk (but qualified) borrowers, without authorizing unnecessary fee hikes on such borrowers.
* Reverse Mortgages. Enhances the FHA reverse mortgage loan program to help seniors pay for health and other expenses, by removing the loan cap to avoid program shutdowns, raising loan limits, and by reducing the maximum fee lenders can charge for these loans.
* Multifamily Loans. Raises FHA multifamily loan limits, so these loans can fully fund construction costs in high cost areas, and enhances sale of foreclosed FHA rental housing loans to localities, so that affordable housing can be maintained in local communities.
* Affordable Housing Fund. Authorizes up to $300 million a year from the bill’s excess profits for affordable housing, instead of returning such funds to the General Treasury.
* Higher Loan Limits. Adopts the Frank/Miller/Cardoza amendment that would raise FHA single family loan limits, which now bar loans above 95% of the median home price in each local area and shut FHA out of higher cost home markets. The amendment raises the FHA loan limit in each area to the lower of (a) 125% of the local area median home price or (b) 175% of the national GSE conforming loan limit. The amendment also retains the bill’s provision for a nationwide FHA loan floor of 65% of the GSE conforming loan limit, and gives HUD authority to raise these loan limit amounts by up to $100,000 “if market conditions warrant.”
In addition, the House adopted an amendment to the bill to direct FHA to make available refinancing loans to existing qualified homeowners who are in default or at risk of default due to rate resets or mortgage market conditions, and to authorize lower down payments for such purpose. The amendment also includes provisions to address problems arising from inflated appraisals.
The measure must still be considered in the Senate before becoming eligible for the President’s approval.
http://financialservices.house.gov/
As we move closer to the January 29 vote on property tax reform, we must not forget that there are other issues of the utmost importance to our industry. That is why it was such welcome news when the United States House of Representatives recently passed H.R. 1852--a comprehensive FHA reform package. Although 72 members of Congress voted against the proposal, every single member of Broward’s Congressional Delegation voted YES. We thank them for their support of this legislation which greatly helps our industry, in addition to people and families all across this nation. H.R. 1852 is a great example of how the business community and working families can benefit together from important legislation. Hopefully the United States Senate will have acted as well, by the time you read this, to move this legislation forward.
FHA Reform Scorecard
Member of Congress Yes No
Kendrick Meek (D-FL 17) √
Robert Wexler (D-FL 19) √
Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL 20) √
Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL 21) √
Ron Klein (D-FL 22) √
Alcee Hastings (D-FL 23) √
Over the past several months, many of our members have informed us that the City of Fort Lauderdale is actively removing signs advertising Open Houses that are not in compliance with the city's code.
THE CODE: The Fort Lauderdale code states that one temporary real estate sign per street front shall be permitted on a property and shall relate only to the premises on which it is erected. The code INCLUDES the temporary use of an "Open House" sign not to exceed four hundred eighty (480) square inches in area, to be used only when the owner or agent is on the premises. In addition, one off-premise "Open House," self-sustaining directional sign, located on one parcel of property, is permitted between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., provided the sign is located on private property with the written permission of the property owner. Wording of the sign must be limited to the words "Open House" and contain the name of the sign owner or the name of the real estate agency. The sign must not exceed a height of three (3) feet above ground level. In all business areas in the city, temporary real estate signs ("For Sale," "For Rent" or "For Lease") are limited to sixteen (16) square feet in area.
SIGN RETREIVAL: In addition to any penalty for violation of the city code regulating "Open House" signs, there is a five-dollar ($5.00) retrieval fee for each sign. Please call 954-828-5207 to determine if your sign has been collected by the city. If it has been, the sign can be retrieved at the City of Fort Lauderdale’s Building Services Department, Code Enforcement Division, located at 700 NW 19th Avenue.
With unyielding pressure from Florida property owners and REALTOR® groups including RAGFL, Gov. Charlie Crist signed a bill in January that many hope will result in a break for homeowners from increasing property insurance premiums, and promises rate cuts between 10 and 55 percent on their hurricane coverage. South Florida home and condominium owners, who have been paying the highest rates across the state, are expected to see some of the biggest reductions, depending upon where they live and their insurers. Homeowners covered by private insurance, about two out of every three policies in South Florida, could see a wide range of reductions on their hurricane (windstorm) coverage, possibly as high as 55 percent. Within 30 days, Citizens will have to give the Legislature, the Governor and Cabinet a business plan on how it would offer expanded insurance coverage. The swift and overwhelming passage of this bill is, in large part, due to the consistent and steadfast pressure from homeowners and REALTOR® groups across Florida on government officials over the past year. We thank everyone who took the time to contact their local and state government officials. We will continue to monitor the implementation of this new bill to ensure that the desired results materialize. If not, we will continue to press hard for further reform
Bill highlights include:
Read the story at sun-sentinel.com.
Read the complete summary of the bill.
Each year, the State Legislature meets for 60 days beginning in early March. During those 60 days, much happens to change your life and business. During the months prior to March, Legislative Committees meet and begin the process of moving certain bills forward through the process. A Special Session can also be called at any time to deal with a specific issue, as we just witness with regard to property tax reform. Naturally, change made when it comes to new laws can be positive or negative. Sometimes its good when time runs out if negative proposals are on the table, but the end of session can also mean we are delayed for another year on key issues such as tax and insurance reform. It is a huge challenge to beat the clock. To follow all of the daily updates from Tallahassee, please visit the Florida Association of Realtors® Legislative Center at www.floridarealtors.org/LegislativeCenter.
Federal issues are just as important to us. Whether its trying to pass a law enabling national trade associations, such as the National Association of Realtors®, to offer its members national group health insurance, promoting legislation to tackle the issue of national catastrophic insurance, or trying to keep the large banks out of real estate, there is always much work to do. To follow our national efforts in Congress all year long, visit the National Association of Realtors® Action Center at www.naractioncenter.com.
Steven R. Beste of Charles Ruterberg Realty will serve as Chair of the 2008 Government Affairs Committee. This committee keeps abreast of and makes recommendations regarding public policy initiatives such as property tax and insurance reform.
Sharon DelGiorno of Keller Williams Fort Lauderdale has been appointed to Chair the 2008 Candidate Screening Committee. This committee interviews candidates running for public office and makes recommendations to our Board of Directors with regard to which candidates should receive the Realtor® Recommendation, or RPAC funding, in their campaigns for office.
Gail Michaels of Century 21 City Real Estate will Chair the 2008 RPAC Committee. This committee helps to raise voluntary funds from members for the REALTOR® Political Action Committee—RPAC—which protects our interests at all levels of government.
The chairs and members of each of these committees set aside countless hours of their own time to ensure that our membership has a voice in the political process and our concerns are always considered.
Adam I. Sanders is the Association’s full time Director of Government Affairs, and serves as the liasion to each of these committees. If you have any questions or comments about RAGFL’s public policy efforts, he can be emailed at asanders@r-world.com. It is the input of our membership that best guides our public policy efforts.
The lack of affordable housing for our workforce remains a huge obstacle in south Florida. The Broward Housing Partnership was formed to make a serious dent in the issue. The most notable BHP event to date was the Affordable Housing Summit at the Broward Convention Center, which attracted over 500 people from a diverse array of public and private sector organizations. The BHP roster too is made up of dozens of groups with an interest in improving our community. RAGFL's Chief Executive Officer Richard Barkett serves on the Board of Directors. Visit www.browardhousingpartnership.org for further information.
Perhaps less understood by many is the concept of Smart Growth. That is why the Smart Growth Partnership--"A South Florida Initiative" was formed to educate our residents and community leaders about Smart Growth concepts. Growing smart sounds easy, but it is not. We have much work to do in order for our leaders to begin to realize that we cannot just simply grow, or not grow. We have to look at ways to prepare and make the growth positive. Improving our transportation systems, creating healthier communities and walkable and appealing neighborhoods are just a few of the concepts of Smart Growth. SGP too is comprised of dozens of entities, both public and private. Adam Sanders, RAGFL's Director of Government Affairs, currently serves on the Board of Directors of the SGP and was Vice President. Visit www.smartgrowthpartnership.org for further information.
The REALTOR® Association of Greater Fort Lauderdale, in conjunction with the Florida Council on Human Relations, was able to convince the Florida Legislature to create a web site that would allow for 55 and Older Communities to voluntarily register themselves online. The website is www.fchr.state.fl.us. This is only a first step with regard to fixing the problems that face Realtor® professionals with regard to the 55 and Older issue. We will continue to work diligently with regard to trying to resolve these issues, and we will keep you informed regarding the progress we make.
