Summer - Mississippi Association of REALTORS

CAPITOL WATCHUPDATE ON LEGISLATIVE ISSUES IMPORTANT TO YOUR BUSINESSNew real estate license and disclosure laws take effect July 1By Sarah J. SchmidtMAR championed two primary initiativesduring the recent legislative session andclaimed success on both, setting thestage for much needed reform in license lawenforcement and property disclosures. GovernorHaley Barbour signed both initiatives into law earlierthis spring. They take effect July 1, 2005.Here’s what the laws mean for REALTORS ® :HB 1470 - Certain conditions deemed“non-material” and don’t require disclosureSponsored by Rep. Greg Snowden (R-Meridian), this measure outlines three specificitems that are not considered material to the physicalcondition of property, and are therefore, notrequired to be disclosed in a real estate transaction.The items now considered non-materialunder the new law are facts or suspicions that aproperty is or was:1. The site of a natural death, suicide, homicideor felony crime except for illegal drug activitythat affects the physical condition of the property(such as the manufacture of methamphetamine,which leaves behind harmful contaminants);2. The site of an act or occurrence that had noeffect on the physical condition of the property;3. Owned or occupied by a person affected orexposed to any disease that can’t be transmittedthrough common occupancy of real estate (suchas HIV/AIDS).If, however, a seller fraudulently answersdirect questions about such stigmas from a poten-continued on page 12Governor signs REALTOR ® bills into lawGovernor Haley Barbour signed two important pieces of REALTOR ® legislation into law onTuesday, April 19. Pictured from left to right (seated): Senator Merle Flowers, Southaven, whotook up the REALTOR ® licensee bill in the Senate; Governor Haley Barbour; andRepresentative Greg Snowden, Meridian, who took up the property disclosure bill in theHouse. Pictured from left to right (standing): Scott Brunner, CAE, Chief Executive Officer,Mississippi Association of REALTORS ® (MAR), Jackson; REALTOR ® Russell Wilcox, MARTreasurer, Jackson; REALTOR ® Janice Shows, MAR Executive Committee member, Jackson;REALTOR ® Bruce Kammer, MAR Immediate Past President, Poplarville; Meridian REALTORS ®Tom Coats and Marguerite Howell; REALTOR ® Nancy Lane, CCIM, MAR President, Jackson;and MAR Lobbyist Quentin Whitwell, HernandoWhat’s material? What’s not?Hattiesburg REALTOR ® pushedfor disclosure legislationBy Sarah J. SchmidtAclient finally found the home of her dreamsat a price she could afford. It was perfect inevery way…until she learned someone hadcommitted suicide there. Ugh! It was just toocreepy. She balked, and the deal came to ascreeching halt.That’s the story REALTOR ®Gwen James, Co-Owner ofColdwell Banker Don Nace, Inc.in Hattiesburg, tells about abuyer she encountered last year.Problem was, no one was sureJameswhether anybody had done anything wrong in disclosingthe suicide.Some people could care less about that kind ofinformation, but it was certainly something thisbuyer wanted to know. However, there was no affirmativeduty on the seller to disclose that information,since it was arguably not material to the physicalcondition of the property. Situations such asthis one that kept arising in Hattiesburg promptedJames to contact MAR staff proposing a need forlegislation to clarify Mississippi’s property disclosurelaws.In the end, the buyer reconsidered her initialreaction and realized it was silly to pass on the perfecthouse that was in no way tarnished physically bythe suicide. She bought the house and lived happilyever after. Thanks to property disclosure legislationthat James suggested and MAR supported during thispast legislative session, REALTORS ® too can live happilyever after in situations involving stigmatizedproperties."We were between a rock and a hard placebefore this legislation passed," James said. Shebelieves the majority of REALTORS ® and propertyowners wanted to disclose material facts and operatewithin the law, but the issue was whether suchinformation was really material. The new law givesdirection to REALTORS ® and property owners byidentifying things like suicide that don’t materiallycontinued on page 127 / MISSISSIPPI REAL ESTATE LEADER / Summer 2005