2009 Legislative Issues Report.

MASSACHUSETTS ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

Government Affairs Department

• Continued to defeat attempts to initiate real estate transfer taxes on both the state and local level.
• Successfully lobbied for amendment to Comprehensive Energy Legislation that eliminated a provision which would have required costly energy auditing and scoring at time of transfer for all home sales in Massachusetts. 
• Successfully lobbied against legislation that would have mandated inspection and disclosure of hazardous contamination of all properties within a one-mile area of any home for sale.
• Lobbied successfully against burdensome lead paint legislation that would have mandated that every seller of a home built to conduct lead tests for the home as well as soil and water lead tests before sale.
• Represented REALTOR® concerns on new smoke detector regulations from the Board of Fire Prevention.  Worked to ensure that a provision was struck from the regulations requiring REALOTRS to physically remove the smoke detectors during inspection.
• Defeated a burdensome wetland disclosure proposal that would have required brokers to inspect and disclose all wetlands on any listing regardless of size.   Requiring brokers to investigate and report to buyers on the various wetland restrictions, overlay maps, and provisions in each community would exceed the practice of brokerage as defined in Chapter 112.
• Successfully lobbied against a bill which would have radically changed and expanded the Massachusetts Hotel/Motel Tax law.  This bill would have taxed all rentals made  by individual private homeowners.
• Strongly supported bills that would create uniform Title 5 and uniform Wetland Codes.  Uniformity of septic regulations from community to community will help ensure that their enforcement is based on science and not arbitrary guidelines, and will promote proper administration of the rules across the Commonwealth.
• Continued to support the creation of a Smart Growth Trust Fund with permanent funding.
• Defeated all efforts to water down Chapter 40B, the state’s anti-snob zoning law which has produced nearly 50,000 units of housing since its inception in 1969.