At 9:00 a.m., just as the first bus-load of REALTORS® arrived at the Arizona State Capitol, the temperature gauge read an unseasonably cold 35°F. With teeth chattering, more than 250 REALTORS® from around the state filtered into a big, white, warm tent in the center of Wesley Bolin Plaza to hear from the day’s speakers and meet with their local representatives.

First up, AAR’s Vice President of Government Affairs Nicole LaSlavic presented the day’s agenda, which included presentations from Dr. Lawrence Yun, chief economist from the National Association of REALTORS® regarding our nation’s economic forecast, as well as a federal briefing from Colin Allen, NAR’s consultant to the State of Arizona. LaSlavic also went into detail on the legislative hurdles that she’s up against this session. LaSlavic said, “With the start of the 51^st, 1^st regular legislative session, we should expect legislation from the governor’s office that appropriates money to the K-12 system, simplification of the state’s sales tax system as well as money to fund CPS caseworkers. On the legislative front, expect discussions to center around healthcare, gun control and school funding.”

LaSlavic went on to say that the budget will once again become a main focus in this session. Below is a list of what AAR will be focusing on this session:

HOA Legislation

This year, newly-elected Representative and REALTOR® Warren Petersen from District 12, has agreed to sponsor a bill for the association that would address all of these concerns regarding HOAs.

The bill would allow:

• A homeowner in an association to rent their property and designate a third party to act on their behalf.

• Upon rental, the homeowner or third-party agent would be required to provide the association with the name and telephone number of the tenant, as well as a description and license plate number of the tenant’s vehicles.

• If the property is in an age-restricted community, a government issued ID must be presented to the association for verification of the age restriction requirements.

• The bill prohibits an association from requiring the rental application, credit report, lease agreement, rental contract or the requirement for the tenant to sign a waiver limiting their right to due process.

• Lastly, the bill would limit the amount an association may charge to no more than $25 for each new tenancy.

Anti-Deficiency

The next area of focus is anti-deficiency. For many legislative sessions, the fight to protect Arizona’s current anti-deficiency statutes has been at the forefront. Repealing or modifying the anti-deficiency protections has been touted as a way for Arizona to avoid future financial/real estate meltdowns.  However, arguing that repealing or modifying Arizona’s protections as a way to avoid a future bad housing market is without merit. If deficiency protections are taken away from consumers, bankruptcies will increases as they will become the only option for homeowners who can no longer make their payments.

Through ongoing discussions, the bankers associations have agreed to stand down from pursuing legislation and have agreed to enter into discussions on this subject.

ADRE

The Arizona Department of Real Estate is running four bills this legislative session. They are:

• Real Estate Recovery Fund;
• Cancellation of Inactive Real Estate Licenses;
• Clearance Card Requirements;
• Branch Office Management.

The association has yet to take any formal position on the four bills presented. We anticipate these four bills will be introduced in the weeks to come.

As with all things related to the Legislative Session, please look for Capitol Insider Updates for your “in the know” scoop on the legislature.

To view photos of the event, visit AAR’s flickr page.