GRAR SUPPORTS ENACTMENT OF THE FOLLOWING
Property Tax Cap (A.3982-Silver / S.2706-Skelos)
STATUS: Assembly Ways & Means / Passed the Senate
Property tax relief is a top legislative priority for lawmakers and GRAR alike. REALTORS® have launched the “Cap that Tax” advocacy campaign in support of Governor Cuomo’s proposal to cap property taxes at two-percent, or the rate of inflation, whichever is less. Our nation-leading property tax burden is preventing young New Yorkers from achieving the American Dream of homeownership and making it tougher for seniors to keep their life-long homes. New York's REALTORS® are taking this action on behalf of the state's beleaguered homeowners who can no longer afford their escalating tax bills.
Prohibition of Private Transfer Fees (A.7358-Morelle / S.5203-Libous)
STATUS: Assembly Judiciary / Senate Judiciary
GRAR supports legislation that will ban the imposition or use of private transfer fees in New York State. Private transfer fees are analogous to real estate transfer taxes except that the fee is paid to a private party, typically a real estate developer, rather than to a government entity. These fees represent an additional hindrance to the transfer of property with no valid purpose other than benefiting the developer who imposes them.
Clarification of Definition of “Real Estate Broker”
GRAR supports amending the definition of “real estate broker” to include “introduces sellers and/or buyers or landlords and/or tenants”. This consumer protection legislation will clarify that persons that participate in these activities need a real estate license to do so.
Tax increment financing bond reform (A.5296-Schimminger / S.2446-Young)
STATUS: Assembly Ways & Means / Senate Floor Cal. No. 625
GRAR strongly supports the legislation that would allow municipalities to apply the school portion of real property taxes – with school district approval – to pay for debt service on tax increment financing (TIF) bonds to redevelop blighted areas across New York.
First-time Homebuyer Savings Accounts (A.3833; S.735-Robach)
STATUS: Assembly Ways & Means; Senate Investigations & Government Operations
GRAR seeks the passage of legislation that would allow individuals and couples to make pre-tax contributions to a savings account that would be dedicated to the purchase of a first home.
Vested Rights for Property Owners (A.347-Paulin / S.4554-Ball)
STATUS: Assembly Codes / Senate Calendar No. 541
GRAR supports legislation that would allow property owners to develop or alter their property under local codes, laws, ordinances, rules and regulations in existence nine months after the filing date of a complete project application or alternatively, at the discretion of the applicant, upon filing of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement. This legislation would require municipalities to maintain a consistent set of rules throughout a construction project, except in certain reasonable instances.
Homebuyer Tax Credit
GRAR supports legislation to provide a personal income tax credit to all who purchase a primary residence including a condo, co-op and one or two family home for under $1 million. The state tax credit is worth a total of $7,000 to be returned to the homeowner over a maximum of three years. This measure will provide incentives to homebuyers while stimulating the state’s struggling economy.
GRAR OPPOSES ENACTMENT OF THE FOLLOWING LEGISLATION
Reductions to the Mortgage Interest Deduction
GRAR opposes any proposal that would limit or repeal the Mortgage Interest Deduction (MID). The mortgage interest deduction (MID) is vital to the stability of the American housing market and economy and any attempt to reduce or eliminate the MID would have a detrimental effect on the state and nation.
Payment of Independent Contractors (A.6698-Silver / S.4129-Golden)
STATUS: Assembly Codes / Senate Labor
GRAR strongly opposes this bill which gives the Department of Labor greater oversight over employment contracts involving independent contractors. This bill has many technical problems as it relates to the real estate industry. Additionally real estate licensees and their activities are already regulated and monitored closely by the Department of State.
Expanded Agriculture Disclosure Notice (A.5825-Gunther / S.4958-Ball)
STATUS: Passed Assembly / Senate Agriculture
GRAR opposes a measure to expand current law by requiring sellers of property partially or wholly within five-hundred feet of an agricultural district provide the agriculture disclosure form to prospective buyers. The legislation fails to require from a government entity the availability of information necessary for sellers to determine their disclosure requirements.
Private Well Testing Act (A.667-Jaffee / S.2709-Grisanti)
STATUS: Assembly Cal. No. 175 / Senate Environmental Conservation
GRAR opposes legislation to require a water quality test as a condition of the transfer of any real property served by a well. This legislation will delay real estate closings and it is unnecessary, duplicative and essentially an unfunded mandate on New York State homeowners.
Doubling of Statewide Mortgage Recording Tax (A.3307-Magnarelli)
STATUS: Assembly Ways & Means
GRAR strongly opposes this legislation that would double the “Additional” mortgage recording tax in every county in New York State that is not part of the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District. New York has the highest closing costs in the country already. This bill will ensure we retain this dubious distinction by significantly increasing the cost to purchase a home, purchase a commercial property or refinance a current mortgage.
Statewide Transfer Tax Authorization (S.1447-Breslin)
STATUS: Senate Environmental Conservation
GRAR will again oppose all legislation that would create a more fluid process for the approval of transfer tax increases, regardless of the intent of the dedicated monies.
Wetlands Oversight (A.3374-Sweeney / S.4617-Avella)
STATUS: Passed Assembly / Senate Environmental Conservation
GRAR opposes this unnecessary legislation which would increase state Department of Environmental Conservation’s oversight of wetlands. If enacted, this proposal could stop or delay construction and development projects throughout New York State and discourage future business investments.
Well Water Education Act (A.671-Jaffee; S.4755-Saland)
STATUS: Assembly Codes; Senate Health
GRAR opposes legislation to require home inspectors and licensed real estate brokers and salespersons to provide well water education materials to prospective buyers addressing the potential hazards of well water. This bill has very serious technical flaws that if enacted into law, will cause a tremendous amount of confusion and uncertainty in real estate transactions across New York.
Source of Income Discrimination (A.1121B-Bing / S.83-Squadron)
STATUS: Assembly Codes / Senate Investigations & Government Operations
GRAR opposes this legislation that adds “source of income” as a protected class in New York State Human Rights Law as it relates to housing. The sweeping language of this bill constitutes a serious intrusion on the rights of property owners to conduct their own business with prospective purchasers and renters.
Prohibition on Brokers Providing Legal Advice or Preparing Legal Documents (A.45-Latimer / S.3473 -Oppenheimer)
STATUS: Assembly Judiciary / Senate Judiciary
GRAR opposes legislation which prohibits real estate brokers from providing legal advice or preparing legal documents in real estate matters unless such person is also a licensed attorney in New York State.
Restrictions on Property Owners Use of Apartments (A.3033-Lopez / S.81-Squadron)
STATUS: Assembly Housing / Senate Housing
GRAR opposes these bills which impose additional restrictions on a property owners’ ability to reside in their own property. This bill would prohibit property owners subject to rent regulation from recovering more than one apartment for their personal use. Current rent control laws already require that a property owner establish not only their good faith in seeking a tenant’s apartment for their own use, but also an immediate and compelling necessity for doing so.
Citizen Suits (A.4801-Kavanagh)
STATUS: Assembly Environmental Conservation
GRAR strongly opposes legislation that would grant any private citizen the ability to commence a civil action seeking to remedy certain violations to the Environmental Conservation Law (ECL). Providing private citizens with the ability to seek judicial enforcement of the ECL carries the unintended consequence of further crippling New York State’s building and development industries. Additionally, this legislation is unnecessary as current vehicles to remedy any violations of the ECL already exist.
Voter Registration (A.5909-Kavanagh / S.1560-Addabbo)
STATUS: Assembly Judiciary / Senate Judiciary
GRAR opposes legislation which requires every landlord that rents residential real property in New York State to provide tenants with voter registration forms at the time of lease execution. While GRAR strongly supports efforts to increase voter registration in New York, we do not believe the rental transaction is the appropriate mechanism to facilitate or fulfill the intent of this legislation.
On-bill Financing for Green Jobs/Green New York (S.1171-Parker)
STATUS: Senate Energy & Telecommunications
GRAR strongly opposes this legislation which would establish an on-bill financing program for the Green Jobs/Green New York program and allow energy companies to include a charge on a homeowners’ energy bill to repay NYSERDA loans associated with energy retrofits to the property. The legislation intends for these loan obligations to survive the closing and become the responsibility of the buyer. The bill also lacks the proper notice requirements so that all parties are aware of the outstanding loan prior to the transfer of property.
