Realtors Take Top Real Estate Issues to Capitol Hill.

Business Editors/Real Estate Writers

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 12, 2004

Thousands of Realtors(R) are heading to Capitol Hill today to take their concerns about federal preemption of state powers, banks in real estate, affordable housing, and small business health insurance plans to their members of Congress.

One of the top priorities of the National Association of Realtors(R) is to urge Congress to become more active and diligent in using oversight powers to bridle excessive, overly zealous federal regulators. In February, a small Treasury Department agency, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, ruled that federal regulations preempted state banking laws, among them consumer protection laws against predatory lending.

In a political issues briefing before the Capitol Hill visits, Jerry Giovaniello, NAR senior vice president of Government Affairs, told Realtors(R) that Congress needs to limit activist regulators who are helping banks achieve through regulation what they can't get in legislation. "We are not challenging preemption. But these kinds of decisions that overturn the way we've been doing business for 200 years should be decided by Congress, not by regulators," Giovaniello said.

In addition, NAR supports keeping housing affordable. There is a significant shortage of affordable housing for lower-income individuals and first-time homebuyers. Prospective homebuyers cannot find well-located or suitable homes in their price range. NAR supports a proposed homeownership tax credit, proposed by President Bush and supported by rival presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) that targets lower-income urban centers, rural communities and Indian reservations. The credit would apply to developers and investors who construct or rehabilitate housing that would be available for purchase by families who earn less than the median area income. The credit would create 50,000 new units of housing each year and about 122,000 new jobs annually.

There is a substantial bipartisan majority in the House and significant sponsorship in the Senate for this tax incentive legislation (H.R. 839 and S.875/S.198). Significantly, NAR's 2004 Housing Pulse Survey to be released soon shows that the voting public believes that affordable housing is a top voting issue this year.

The Small Business Health Fairness Act, H.R. 4281, would allow small businesses and trade associations to offer uniform national health insurance plans, as large firms and trade unions do. The act would lower administrative costs for health participants, grant the ability to spread claims risk, and reduce a regulatory burden. The bill is scheduled for a vote in the House this week.

In further explaining the OCC preemption rule, Giovaniello said the rule is another way that large banks seek to take over the real estate brokerage and property management business and to highjack the real estate transaction process. The rule creates a tremendous competitive advantage for federally chartered banks over financial and non-financial competitors, and increases the value of a federal charter over state licensing, marketplace competition and consumer protection measures.

Governors and attorneys general of all 50 states, state banking supervisors and state legislatures oppose the OCC preemption rule. Consumer groups like ARRP and the Consumer Federation of American also oppose the rule. Only the OCC and the megabanks it oversees support the rule.

NAR supports legislation that would prohibit large banks from entering real estate brokerage and property management. A majority of representatives-251-are cosponsors of the Community Choice in Real Estate Act (H.R. 111). Its companion bill in the Senate (S.98) is cosponsored by 25 Senators. In the past two years, NAR has backed language enacted in appropriations bills that denied money to the Treasury Department to implement its rule to allow large banks into real estate.

Giovaniello said Realtors(R) should remind lawmakers that NAR represents 1 million Realtors(R) and is the largest trade association in America. "And we vote," he said. He also pointed out that NAR's new building is located three blocks from the U.S. Capitol. "That's a strong statement about our involvement in public policy. We're in their community," he said.

About 7,500 Realtors(R) are here to attend the NAR's 2004 Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo, May 10-15.

The National Association of Realtors(R), "The Voice for Real Estate," is America's largest trade association, representing 1 million Realtors(R) involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

Information about NAR is available at http://realtor.org. This and other news releases are posted in the Web site's "News Media" section.

REALTOR(R) is a registered collective membership mark which may be used only by real estate professionals who are members of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS and subscribe to its strict Code of Ethics.