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Earlier in my career while serving clients in the Carolinas, I was also actively involved in Realtor® advocacy efforts supporting policies that protected homeowners, property rights, and responsible housing development. These efforts included supporting legislation that benefited buyers, sellers, and property owners across the region.NC REALTORS® PAC is effective because we work across party lines to enact legislation that protects the real estate, homeowners, the economy, and property rights. 

Thanks to investors, NC REALTORS® has had numerous successful advocacy years on essential topics that impact buyers and sellers, business, and  industry. Check out just some of our wins over the past 10+ years!

2007

• Transfer Taxes: Prevented county governments from enacting transfer taxes unilaterally on real estate. Defeated 24 transfer tax referenda.

2009

• Private Transfer Fees: Prevented allowance of fees upon transfer due to investors, previous developers or owners which were not the current seller, other than fees to homeowners’ associations.

2010

• Inspections: Streamlined home inspections summary documents to only material facts and issues of safety.

2011

• Transfer Taxes: Repealed legislation authorizing referenda on transfer taxes.
• Commercial Broker Lien Law: Passed a bill allowing commercial brokers to file liens on properties to ensure their commission is paid.

2012

• Broker Price Opinion (BPO): Convinced legislators that BPOs aid the consumer.
• Copper Theft: Increased the penalties for criminals who steal copper.

2013

• Mortgage Interest Deduction: Protected the mortgage interest and property tax deductions from elimination. Legislation allows filers to take the standard deduction or itemize their deductions with a cap at a maximum of $20,000. These remained as two of three deductions allowed.
• Tax on Services: Prevented 8.05% tax on real estate services and commissions.
• Transfer Tax: Prevented 1% state transfer tax.
• Business License Tax: Prevented 1.05% tax on all business entity assets regardless of profitability.

2014

• Patent Abuse Legislation: Protected brokers, firms and MLS services through legislation preventing frivolous litigation filings.

2015

• Tax Credits and Grants: Restored state historic preservation tax credit program for income-producing properties and increased funding for film grant program.
• Housing Affordability: Protected tax deductions and improved funding for the Workforce Housing Loan Program and Housing Trust Fund.
• Aesthetic Design: Ended municipal overreach on residential construction and design standards.

2016

• Vacation Rental Act: Improved the state’s act to allow for improved owner/broker responsibility.
• Affordable Housing: Protected tax deductions and improved funding for affordable housing programs in 2016 budget.
• Map Act Changes: Prevented NCDOT from perpetually holding property without just payment to landowners and adjusted fair market payments to property owners in new corridors.

2017

• Various Changes to Revenue Laws: Updated the tax structure for RMI services and linen rentals under residential property rental agreements in response to concerns from the REALTOR® community.
• Appropriations Act of 2017: Required the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the Environmental Management Commission (EMC) to complete rules regarding clean-up and remediation for underground storage tank removal.
• Repeal Orange County Impact Fees: Repealed impact fees placed on developments in Orange County for use in school construction.

2018

• Recoverable Summary Ejectment Fees: Passed legislation to prevent class action lawsuits preventing the reimbursement of fees when evicting a tenant. Landlords and property managers may now explicitly collect: filing, service, and lawyers’ fees.
• Blight: Passed legislation allowing receivership of vacant properties to clean up blight and put back into the housing and commercial supply.

2019

• Led the coalition to pass Association Healthcare Plans legislation, giving independent contractors an additional option for health insurance.
• Passed legislation to require NC DOT to compile a searchable database of state-maintained roads to provide needed information to consumers.
• Extended the Historic Preservation Tax Credits for an additional four years.
• Repealed the Map Act to compensate property owners for future DOT use.
• Protected property management contracts from taxes on typical services offered by property managers.

2020

• Successfully advocated for continued funding of the Housing Trust Fund and Housing Finance Agency.
• Enacted liability protections for employers and offices to protect them from claims arising from contraction of COVID19.
• Secured a permanent change to the definition of the year-round school calendar to prevent schools from skirting the school calendar law enacted in 2004.
• Passed legislation to allow real estate transactions to continue during the pandemic:
  • Legalized remote, video conference notarizations.
  • Allowed disbursement of funds prior to deed recording if the Register of Deeds was closed.

2021

• Successfully passed legislation to ensure roads intended for the Department of Transportation (DOT) adoption do not end up abandoned, leaving homeowners’ safety and financial security in jeopardy.
• No new taxes on RE or RE services.
• Helped secure $180 million for Workforce Housing Loan Program through the Housing Finance Agency.
• Ended NC Eviction Moratorium (protecting NC REALTORS® property managers and their landlord clients)
• Negotiated substantial changes to the HOPE Program including allowing landlords to submit a rental assistance application on behalf of the tenant.
• Prevented 30 school calendar bills from becoming law and changing the school calendar law.
• Worked to Contain Insurance Costs (as a direct benefit to all homeowners

2022

• Helped secure $10,660,000 for the NC Housing Finance Agency.
• Helped secure $170 million in funding for the Workforce Housing Loan Program, this includes last year’s funding plus an additional $30 million.
• Successfully passed Remote Online Notarization (RON) so that a consumer, attorney and/or notary can now be in different locations and safely sign documents electronically.
• Worked with stakeholders to help pass Weston’s Law, a bill addressing elevator safety by requiring elevators in rental homes eliminate or reduce the space between elevator doors and landing doors.

2023

• Repealed the Privilege License Tax.  Starting July 1, 2024 members will no longer be required to obtain a $50 statewide license for the privilege of practicing their profession.  This translates to almost a 3 million dollar yearly savings for our industry.
• Successfully passed Unfair Real Estate Agreements Act, which protects homeowners from being targeted by risky real estate deals.
• Raised beach plan policy limits. The insurable value of habitational property was increased from $750,000 to $1,000,000 and the insurable value of commercial property was increased from $3,000,000 to $4,000,000.
• Successfully delayed the implementation of the Practical Applications of Real Estate Appraisal (PAREA) until Dec. 31, 2025.  PAREA is a new national training program that is a virtual alternative to receiving an appraiser license. The NCR Appraiser Section Board wanted to assess the effectiveness of PAREA before the state adopted it.
• Assisted in lobbying efforts to increase funding for the workforce housing program to $35,000,000 in nonrecurring funds for fiscal year 2023-2024 and the same amount for fiscal year 2024-2025.

2024 NC REALTORS® Plan of Action

Continue addressing housing needs in North Carolina demand immediate attention and sound policy to address the lack of housing availability, especially workforce housing. Population growth is exceeding housing production, which is increasing the cost of homes, outpacing salary and inflation increases.

Property owners should not face restrictions on who they are allowed to rent their property to. Local governments should not regulate or place restrictions that limit the duration or location of short term rentals.

While these initiatives occurred earlier in my career in the Carolinas, my commitment to protecting property rights and supporting strong housing markets continues today as I serve clients throughout Denton County, Texas and surrounding communities including Lantana, Texas and Argyle, Texas.