Sacramento Association of REALTORS® Web Log

Steve Goddard - 2010 C.A.R. President

Dear C.A.R. Member,

Good news bears repeating.

President Obama recently signed a bill extending the closing deadline for the federal
home buyer tax credit to Sept. 30, 2010. The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® estimates that as many as 17,700 home buyers in California would not have received the tax credit without the extension. Perhaps you know someone who now will benefit from this legislation.

The president also signed HR 5569, the National Flood Insurance Program Extension Act of 2010, funding the program through Sept. 30, 2010—good news for homeowners in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley and other 100-year floodplains. As you know, flood insurance is required for mortgages on properties in a 100-year floodplain. Congress has allowed the program to lapse three times this year, forcing many real estate transactions to be put on hold and, in some instances, cancelled. What happens in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., really does matter to your business.

The passage of these two pieces of legislation—which C.A.R. and NAR advocated for—demonstrates the importance of REALTOR® involvement in government. Legislative wins such as these require a focused and relentless presence at the state and national levels.

C.A.R.’s advocacy in the political arena this year also helped preserve property profiles after title companies stopped providing them in reaction to a letter issued by the Department of Insurance; thrice defeated a 3-percent independent contractor withholding proposal that would have accelerated income tax payments for our members; and defeated point-of-sale retrofits proposed through several pieces of legislation that could have added as much as $20,000 per home prior to closing escrow.

Continue reading: Your July Message from C.A.R. President Steve Goddard