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 Nelson Janes  Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 Board Action
The Board of Directors adopted a political assessment of $49 per Member beginning with the 2011 dues cycle. This assessment is for the California Real Estate Political Action Committee. If the C.A.R. Member chooses, the assessment can go instead to the C.A.R. fund for non-candidate political purposes.
The Board also approved a new structure for the statewide MLS that will merge calREDD® with the Multi-Regional Multiple Listing Service Inc. (MRMLS). After the merger, the state’s system will be called CALMLS. An additional $750,000 was also approved for the CALMLS line of credit.
SAR Successes
- SAR received the award for raising more money for the REALTOR® Action Fund than any other large association in the state – nearly $127,000!
- SAR’s Housing Opportunity Committee also won a $50,000 grant from the C.A.R. Housing Affordability Fund. The Association will more than match that amount to launch a new program that will give grants to homebuyers needing to make energy upgrades. Watch for the announcement of this new program that will help more buyers qualify to improve the energy use and comfort of their home.
- Our newly formed REALTOR® Action Fund (RAF) Committee secured a grant from the NAR to host a fundraising event for RAF, which they did in conjunction with Legislative Day.
Committee Reports
The Legal Action Fund Trustees have reviewed eight cases and requests for funding since their February meeting. The Trustees authorized three amicus briefs.
A landmark decision by the California Supreme Court occurred in the case of Steiner v. Thexton, supported by the Legal Action Fund. C.A.R. was concerned about the impact on the RPA-CA because of the buyer’s ostensible right to cancel a contract due to the failure of a contingency without having to state a reason. The Supreme Court acknowledged C.A.R.’s concerns as expressed in a brief and indicated in a footnote that “bilateral contracts subject to a contingency, which are widely used in real estate transactions, are not affected by our holding.”
Continue reading: C.A.R. Legislative Week Meetings Report
Steve Goddard Tuesday, June 15th, 2010
 Steve Goddard - 2010 C.A.R. President Dear C.A.R. Member,
Big news to report from our board of directors’ meeting in Sacramento: On Saturday, June 12, the C.A.R. board of directors voted to approve a new structure for the statewide MLS that will merge the efforts of calREDD® with the Multi-Regional Multiple Listing Service Inc. (MRMLS).
This joint effort supports and is in line with the principles that have guided our efforts throughout the process of building a statewide MLS. The new structure will create one dynamic MLS provider serving more than 33,000 real estate professionals and 22 REALTOR® associations statewide.
It’s a huge stride forward for our members — combining our respective strengths and resources will significantly accelerate our shared vision and position the new entity to deliver even more expanded and efficient MLS services to you. You’ll have expanded access to MLS information, greater exposure for your listings, and eventually will be able to select either the calREDD® software system or the Tarasoft Matrix platform currently in use by MRMLS. You should expect to see even more choices and increased services over time.
Your Association will remain both a member and a fundamental part of the new entity, and will continue to have the right to approve actions such as merger, dissolution or sale of assets, changes in the purpose of the new entity, and changes in the board composition.
calREDD® and MRMLS will work closely during the transition to the new entity to ensure there are no disruptions in service, the needs of members continue to be met, and associations scheduled to join calREDD® are seamlessly added to the system. The Amador Association of REALTORS® is on schedule for a June 21 launch, followed by the Tehama Association of REALTORS® on June 28.
Continue reading: Your June Message from C.A.R. President Steve Goddard
Steve Goddard Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
Steve Goddard - 2010 C.A.R. President
Dear C.A.R. Member:
The C.A.R. Board of Directors meetings in Indian Wells concluded last weekend, and as always covered a lot of ground in a short period of time. More than 50 committee meetings during the week culminated in the official meetings of the full board on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.
Your board of directors is a dedicated group of volunteers who give their time and expertise to your state association and to our industry. If you’re not directly involved in your local association, or aren’t yet a volunteer at the state or national level, I encourage you to do so. It’s an opportunity to give voice to the issues important to you and your peers, and to directly impact your livelihood and the future of our industry. My involvement over the years has enriched both my professional and personal life.
At the meetings, changes to the California Residential Purchase Agreement and Joint Escrow Instructions–most often referred to as the “RPA”–were approved by the board. The RPA is the standard form, produced by C.A.R., used in nearly every residential real estate transaction in the state. The RPA hasn’t been significantly modified since 2002, and the changes approved this past week followed nearly two years of effort by the RPA Study Group and the Standard Forms Advisory Committee, with over 1,000 comments from members helping inform the process.
Changes regarding the initial deposit; the notice to perform; FHA/VA loans; financing; the appraisal contingency; the wood pest inspection; home warranty coverage; and contingencies and cancellations; among others, were approved and will be incorporated in the revised form, scheduled for release April 28. For a complete timeline regarding the RPA release, visit http://www.car.org/legal/standard-forms/. Final Drafts will be posted Feb. 22. Classes will be held throughout the state and begin next month. Please click here for more details.
Continue reading: Your February Message from C.A.R. President Steve Goddard
Steve Goddard Tuesday, January 12th, 2010
Steve Goddard - 2010 C.A.R. President
Dear C.A.R. Member:
A new year, and with it, new beginnings and new opportunities. Like you, I’m looking forward to meeting the challenges that invariably present themselves as we get underway.
It’s heartening to see encouraging signs in both the general economy and the real estate market in California. As is often the case, California is ahead of the nation in market recovery. The state’s median home price increased year over year in November for the first time since August 2007, sales bottomed out more than two years ago, and the median home price reached its trough in February 2009. Going forward, we expect the statewide median home price to rise 3.3 percent to $280,000 this year, with a slight decrease in sales. While no one has an infallible crystal ball, it looks like the worst is behind us, and we can move forward with confidence that better days are ahead.
There’s exciting news to share on the statewide MLS front: calREDD™ on Monday officially launched at the Lake County Association of REALTORS®. We remain convinced that a true statewide MLS is in your best interests, and we will continue to work to that end. It’s a complicated process, but as calREDD™ Chairman Mike Silvas so succinctly stated, it’s always easy to criticize innovators who are shaking up the status quo. Following Monday’s successful launch in Lake County, calREDD™ now will focus on deployments at the Chico, Oroville, and Paradise associations later this month, with more to follow in March and April.
Continue reading: Your January Message from C.A.R. President Steve Goddard
James Liptak Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009
Dear C.A.R. Member:
As you may know, calREDDTM announced late yesterday that the Fresno Association of REALTORS® is putting its participation in the statewide Multiple Listing Service (MLS) on hold for now. Discussions with Fresno are ongoing, and our mutual goal is that disruptions to our members’ businesses are minimized. I wanted to take this opportunity to share some additional information and bring you up to date as we move forward.
calREDDTM launched Aug. 17 in Fresno, Madera, and Merced. As with most conversions of this scale, it was a bumpy launch. It created additional challenges for members who had to simultaneously learn the new system while running their day-to-day businesses. Constructive member feedback was critical during this process, and helped guide our efforts to quickly iron out issues as they occurred. We were hearing more and more from members how they valued the enhancements and features of the calREDDTM software. We also heard from members who were less than satisfied. We responded in all instances as quickly as possible. By yesterday — more than two weeks into the launch — most of the significant issues were resolved and calls to the calREDDTM customer support center were on the wane.
Continue reading: calREDD Update
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