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Jackson, Miss. – Mississippi REALTORS® recently gathered in the office of Governor Phil Bryant for the signing of two very important Senate Bills impacting the real estate industry. SB 2171 addresses the removal of liability and mandatory disclosure from the real estate licensee regarding square footage information provided by the seller or other independent opinion. SB 2698 dissolves the Mississippi Home Inspectors Regulatory Board and transfers its duties to the Mississippi Real Estate Commission.
Present at the Bill Signing were REALTOR® and Representative Brent Powell—District 59-Rankin County, MAR CEO Beth Hansen, MAR Southern District Vice President Lisa Hollister, 2013 MAR President Ken Austin, MAR President-Elect Janice Shows and MAR First Vice President/Northern District Andrea Cummins. Also in attendance were Senator Josh Harkins, District 20-Madison/Rankin Counties and Senator Will Longwitz, District 25-Hinds/Madison Counties who were instrumental in the passage of the bills.
Mississippi REALTORS® is the business advocate for Mississippi real estate professionals, representing 5,100 REALTORS® active in all phases of real estate brokerage, management, development and appraisal.
Left to right: Representative Brent Powell, MAR CEO Beth Hansen, Lisa Hollister, Senator Josh Harkins, Governor Phil Bryant, Senator Will Longwitz, MAR President Ken Austin, Janice Shows and Andrea Cummins
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Mississippi REALTORS® are represented by two At-Large Directors on the NAR Board of Directors. Nancy Lane and Bruce Kammer currently serve as our NAR Directors. Bruce Kammer's term expires at the end of this year, so an election will be held at our June 14th Board meeting to fill the position, NAR Director for the term 2014-2016. If you are interested in applying, the form for your use can be accessed at the link below. Please return your completed application to Beth Hansen at bhansen@msrealtors.org, PO Box 321000, Jackson, MS, 39232 or 601/932-0382 (fax) by Monday, May 13, 2013.
The qualifications for serving for this position include:
• Have been a member of the Association for at least five (5) consecutive years immediately preceding such recommendation
• Must have demonstrated leadership as a REALTOR member in his/her Member Association (local board)
• Have agreed in writing to serve and attend the required meetings of the National Association (Midyear Meeting in DC in May and/or Annual Convention in November plus serve on an NAR Standing Committee or Task Force)
• Be currently serving on a MAR Standing Committee, Board of Directors, or Working Group for at least one (1) year in the three-year period preceding recommendation to NAR
If you have additional questions about qualifications for applying or would like more details of the selection process, please see Article V, Section 6 and Article X, Section 2 of the MAR Bylaws.
2013 NAR Director Application
Call Beth Hansen at 601-932-5241 if you have additional questions.
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Seeking to make a better connection with online consumers, realtor.com recently unveiled a new branding. The rebranding included a new logo and new overall design and structure of the web site.
The rebranding was initiated from an information-gathering project started by realtor.com® and its parent company, Move Inc. in early 2012. That initiative involved input from internal stakeholders, REALTORS® and consumers. The goal was to better reach and involve both REALTORS® and consumers.
The site received a new color palette, the official change to a lowercase "r" in the site name, an emphasis on relevant, up-to-date information for consumers and new email templates for marketing messages from REALTORS® to consumers.
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We will convene a brief General Membership Meeting at the MAR building, 4274 Lakeland Drive, Flowood, MS, on Thursday, February 7, 2013 at 12:45 pm.
On the agenda for the meeting we will have a vote on a proposed bylaws amendment (click here for the amendment), which was approved by the MAR Board of Directors in 2012. In summary, the 2012 Grassroots Political Involvement Committee brought forward a motion requesting that MAR's Federal Political Coordinators be added to the Grassroots Committee as voting members. This motion passed the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors, so it has been sent to the membership for approval. The amendment is to Article VIII, Section 1. G. Grassroots Political Involvement Committee. For a complete copy of the current MAR Bylaws, click on this link: http://www.msrealtors.org/PDF/misc/MARBylaws.pdf.
If you have questions about the proposed change, please let us know.
The General Membership Meeting is being held in conjunction with MAR's annual REALTOR® Day at the Capitol (for details and to register, click here: http://www.msrealtors.org/REALTORDay.php), where you will have a chance to join with other REALTORS® at the Mississippi State Capitol to meet face to face with your state lawmakers, hear a legislative update, and help honor MAR's 2012 Legislators of the Year.
Following our visit to the Capitol, we'll travel out Lakeland Drive to the MAR building for our annual Legislative luncheon, where we will hear from several speakers, including 2013 NAR President Elect Steve Brown of Dayton, Ohio. We are honored to have Steve join us, and look forward to hearing his update of NAR activities both in the Chicago headquarters and in Washington, DC.
To join us for REALTOR® Day at the Capitol, please register by Monday, February 4th at https://lamps.msrealtors.org/lampsmar/DefaultN.aspx?event=1718. There is no charge for this event.
The day before REALTOR® Day at the Capitol, MAR Committees will meet at the MAR building (schedule of events: http://www.msrealtors.org/LeadershipMeetings.php), and we'll enjoy our 3rd annual MARPAC Drawdown Throwdown at Sundown – this time at Duling Hall in the Fondren area of Jackson. Tickets for a chance to win up to $5,000 in cash are $100 each and will be available soon at msrealtors.org. Be watching your email and msrealtors.org for details!
We'll look forward to seeing you in Jackson in February!
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The REALTOR® Party needs your urgent help to protect the stability of the American housing market and the American economy. By now you have seen numerous news reports concerning the "Fiscal Cliff."
Many of these reports speculate that a change to the long-standing policy that allows homeowners to deduct mortgage interest payments from their income taxes could be part of a "Fiscal Cliff" deal.
REALTORS® need to "remind" Congress about our position on any proposed changes to the mortgage interest deduction. NAR's position is that the mortgage interest deduction is vital to the stability of the American housing market and economy and we will remain vigilant in opposing any future plan that modifies or excludes the deductibility of mortgage interest. Please click the link below and send this short message to your Senators and Member of Congress to remind them where we stand and that we will be watching to see who stands with us. It will take you less than a minute to send this message to let your voice be heard concerning this extremely important issue.
Click here to take action!
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