100 Years of Legislative Highlights

Legislative Highlights

1930s

1935

• North Carolina Association of Real Estate Boards was first incorporated under State laws

1940s

1940

• North Carolina Association of Real Estate Boards was first incorporated under State laws

1947

• A proposal for group life insurance for members of the NCAREB through Pilot Life Insurance Company was adopted.
• After much consideration it was decided that “the time was not right” to submit the proposed license law bill to the Legislature.

1950s

1951

• An Association sponsored License Law Bill failed to clear Committee in the Legislature.
• An Urban Re-Development Bill sponsored jointly by the Association and the League of Municipalities was enacted.

1953

• The License Law Bill died after passing the Senate when the House failed to act on it prior to adjournment.

1960s

1962

• NCAR President Glenn Tucker traveled to Europe with Governor Terry Sanford on a mission to “sell” North Carolina to European Travel Agencies.

1963

• The state-wide MLS was discontinued when it threatened the Association’s tax exempt status.
• The Association-sponsored Condominium Housing or Unit Ownership Bill passed the Legislature.
• Governor Terry Sanford delivered the Keynote address to the 542 Realtors, associates and spouses registered for the 42nd annual convention in Asheville.

1964

• The Congressional Reception and Dinner drew the largest Tarheel turnout in history, in Washington, D.C., nearly 100 realtors and wives.

1965

• A one-day Legislative Seminar was held in Raleigh with guest John C. Williamson, Secretary-Counsel of the NAREB Realtors’ Washington Committee, and several members of the State Legislature. The purpose was to explore avenues of working more effectively with State and National legislators.

1966

• President Kemp C. Clendenin, Jr. of Greensboro and Executive Vice President Bischel testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights regarding Title IV of the Civil Rights Bill. North Carolina Realtors contributed over $11,000 to help NAREB fight this section of the Bill.

1967

• Realtors engaged in a broad publicity campaign based on the slogan, “It’s A Good Day For Buying A Home.”
• The North Carolina License Law was amended with NCAR support to require a six-month apprenticeship period prior to obtaining a brokers’ license or equivalent education.

1968

• President David L. Godwin of Fayetteville issued a statement to all news media voicing the Association’s objection to Forced Housing.

1969

• The NCREEF pledged $50,000 over a 10-year period to East Carolina University to aid in establishing a chair in real estate.
• Realtor A.P. Carlton of Greensboro was named chairman of the N.C. Real Estate Licensing Board.

1970s

1970

• The North Carolina Real Estate Political Education Committee (REPEC) was formed.

1971

• NCAR experienced its most successful legislative year to date in terms of co-operation from members and recognition by members of the General Assembly.

1990s

1999

• HB 438 Housing Authority Exemption – NCAR successfully amended the Housing Authority Exemption bill to limit the exemption to property owned or leased by the Housing Authority.
• SB 974 – Vacation Rental Act – NCAR, with the help of the NC Vacation Rental Managers Association, was successful in passing the Vacation Rental Act.  The laws that had been in place dealt with long-term residential tenancies and did not address the specific concerns and needs of the vacation rental transaction
• Legislative Day – On May 12, 1999, over 200 REALTORS® attended NCAR’s Legislative Day.  REALTORS® lobbied their representatives and met afterwards for networking at a barbecue.  In an effort to increase participation, a “Get on the Bus” tour was held.  Buses made stops around the state to pick up REALTORS® and take them to and from Legislative Day.  Speakers for Legislative Day were Senator Tony Rand, Senate Pro Tempore Marc Basnight, and Representatives Andy Dedmon and John Bridgeman, both licensed REALTORS®.
• Real Estate Salesman/Broker Licensure – At the request of the NCAR and the NC Real Estate Commission, the Real Estate Salesman/Broker Licensure was introduced for the 1999 session.  NCAR successfully lobbied passage of this piece of legislation, which proposed a modest increase in required classroom hours.
• NC RPAC reaches state and national Goals in ’99 by raising $208,982.53, which was 104% of the fundraising goal.

2000s

2002

• HB 1120, Beach and Fair Plan Amendments was passed into law. The bill will require the N.C. Beach Plan to offer a homeowner’s insurance product for primary residences in the coastal counties. This will enable those who can’t get a homeowner’s policy in the voluntary market to find coverage. HB 1120 established a study by the Commissioner of Insurance to continue to work on issues of availability of homeowner’s insurance and report his findings and recommendations to the General Assembly by April 1, 2003.
• HB 1540 – Allows the construction of swimming pools in the 60-foot setback zone on oceanfront lots. The bill, which was sponsored by Rep. Bill Culpepper at the request of Dare County REALTORS® and homebuilders, reversed an overly restrictive rule adopted by the Coastal Resources Commission that would have prohibited all swimming pools inside the seaside buffer. This was a great common-sense victory for our industry.

2003

• HB 328 – Nonresident Commercial Licensure – authorizes nonresident real estate professionals licensed in other states to obtain a license in NC to engage in commercial real estate.
• Defeated – Taxes on Services & Transfer Tax, Impact Fee, Impact Tax & Inclusionary Zoning bills

2004

• SB 1118 – Special License Plates – authorizes the Division of Motor Vehicles to issue a HOMES4NC license plate. The revenue from the special plate will benefit HOMES4NC, which was established in 2004 by the NCAR Housing Foundation to promote safe, decent and affordable housing for all North Carolinians.
• HB 1083 – Apartment Submetering – makes it easier for landlords to submeter, which is the practice of charging tenants for the cost of providing water and sewer service based on the User’s metered consumption of these services. Reduces the regulatory burden for landlords that wish to submeter.
• HB 1464 School Calendar Changes – improving school calendar/tourism season in NC

2005

• REALTORS® at the General Assembly – REALTORS® successfully ran for office this year. In Senate District 35, Eddie Goodall won his first statewide election bid.  Some of the other victorious REALTORS® include Sen. Robert Pittenger, Rep. Harold Brubaker, Rep. Bruce Goforth, Rep. Julia Howard, Rep. Bill Owens, and Rep. John Rhodes.

2006

• RPAC milestones reached – The number of RPAC contributors across the state surpassed 10,000, the most ever. The Raleigh Regional Association of REALTORS® reached a milestone that no association had ever achieved by raising over $100,000.

2007

• SB 1408 – Protects appraisers from frivolous complaints. This bill would prohibit the NC Appraisal Board from investigating anonymous complaints.

2009

• HB 1305 – Beach Plan Changes – benefited property owners and the market.
• SB 1007 – Amend Home Inspector Licensure Laws), which improved home inspection reporting and increased the professionalism of the home inspection industry.
• 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.

2010s

2010

• Inspections – streamlined home inspections summary documents to only material facts and issues of safety.

2011

• HB 92 – Repeal Land Transfer Tax
• HB 485 – New Home Purchase Stimulus – due to the negative impact of oversaturation on the market and sellers.
• HB 174 – Commercial Real Estate Broker Lien Act – an issue NC REALTORS had been working on since 1997.
• HB 332 – Clarify Development Moratoria Authority – clarifies that a local government may not impose a moratorium on development approvals for the purpose of developing and adopting a new or revised development ordinance.
• SB 683 – Residential Building Inspections
• SB 507 – Clarify Exception/Real Estate Broker Laws –  we helped develop the bill language.
• HB 484 – Transfer of Foreclosure Program – the NC Commissioner of Banks and the NC Housing Finance Agency were both conducting foreclosure programs to help homeowners who have lost their jobs. In the wake of the budget crisis the General Assembly made an effort to reduce multiple programs which are accomplishing the same tasks.  As such, the program offered by the NC Commissioner of Banks was transferred to the NC Housing Finance Agency in House Bill 484 introduced by Representative Harold Brubaker (R-Randolph). The North Carolina Association of REALTORS® has worked with the NC Commissioner of Banks with their foreclosure program and two years ago, provided them with a grant to help market the program. Earlier this year NCAR received a second grant from NAR to continue assisting with this program. NCAR Government Affairs staff is now corresponding with the NC Housing Finance Agency to determine how to best use these funds to the benefit of the home owning public.

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

• SB 99 – Appropriations Act of 2018 – Extending the moratorium on the Map Act for an additional year, until July 1, 2019. Removed the exemption for collection of sales taxes from security systems on real property. Defines a property management contract and exempts those services and the repair, maintenance, and installation (RMI) services done under those contracts from sales tax. Allows cities to use property tax funds to support education.
• SB 224 – Landlord Recovery of Expenses/Rule 60 Motion – In response to recent lawsuits challenging the ability of property management companies to recover fees incurred in summary ejectment proceedings, this legislation clarified those deemed recoverable. Examples of recoverable expenses are attorney’s fees, filing fees, and service fees.

2019

• Led the coalition to pass Association Healthcare Plans legislation, giving independent contractors an additional option for health insurance.
• NC DOT – compiled 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.

2020s

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.