GUIDE
TO UNEARNED REAL ESTATE FEES
A
new guide that further explains HUD's RESPA Statement of
Policy on Unearned Fees is available online. NAR asked a
well known RESPA expert to develop this guide that details
what the new HUD statement means to real estate brokers
about the legality of charging fees, such as transaction
fees. For a copy of HUD's RESPA Policy Statement go to http://www.hudclips.org/sub_nonhud/cgi/pdf/26321.pdf.
To access the guide go to http://www.realtor.org/realtororg.nsf/pages/respasec8b?opendocument.
For more info contact Jeanne
Delgado at realtors.org.
NATIONAL
NEWS TIDBITS
Landlord
Jailed for Lead-based Paint Mistake
(WASHINGTON)
- Apartment landlord David Nuyen of Silver Spring, MD.,
has been sentenced to two years in jail for failing to advise
tenants about the hazards of lead-based paint that he was
aware existed in one of his apartment buildings.
It
is the first time a prosecution based on the Lead Hazard
Reduction Act of 1992 has resulted in a jail term.
Nuyen
pleaded guilty to charges he failed to provide his tenants
with new notices about lead paint assessments performed
by an independent contractor.
Nuyen
admitted that he had notice of actual lead-paint hazards
in one of his apartment buildings from District of Columbia
lead inspectors. However, Nuyen failed to disclose actual
and potential lead hazards before leasing to tenants.
-
Reprinted from Real Estate Intelligence Report, 2002
NEW
REALTORS® ADS SAY MEMBERS WILL "WORK"WITH
CONSUMERS
(WASHINGTON)
- The REALTORS® have launched new public awareness advertisements
that focus on working "with" consumers, rather
than having consumers come to association members for every
element of the transaction.
When
the campaign was launched five years ago, the theme was
"You have a life, we let you live it," suggesting
that consumers could rely on REALTORS® to take care
of every aspect of the transaction.
The
new theme is, "Work with someone who'll work with you.
We're REALTORS®. Real Estate is our Life."
NAR
executive vice president Frank Sibley said the shift in
the campaign was due to polls taken last year that indicate
consumers want to be more involved in their transaction.
This
year's $20 million program is funded primarily by a $20
per member special dues assessment, up from $15 the previous
three years.
-
Reprinted from Real Estate Intelligence Report, 2002
REALTOR®.com®
NEWS
REALTOR®.com®
Statistics for February 2002*:
REALTOR®.com®
has over 1.7 million existing and new home listings from
more than 800 MLSs.
REALTOR®.com® has more than 90% of U.S. single family
REALTOR® listed homes.
There were over 4.1 million unique users on the REALTOR®.com®
site.
The average unique user spent over 16.9 minutes per visit
and 35.8 minutes per month.
There were over 324 million page views on REALTOR®.com®.
The average listing was viewed over 355 times.
*Sources:
Internal Logs, Jupiter Media Metrix, February 2002
-
Reprinted from News You Can Use, REALTOR®.com,
April 2002
NEW
LOOK IN LISTINGS
You
asked and we listened. By popular demand, the Listing Detail
page layout on REALTOR®.com has been redesigned to provide
more emphasis on the property and on the REALTOR®. For
i-LEAD™ XL subscribers, third party display advertising
has been eliminated from the listing display area as well.
And the reduction in ad space means lighter, faster loading
listing detail pages. To see the new design, go to http://REALTOR®.com
and search for homes in your community. Click through to
a property's listing details to peak at the new design!
- Reprinted from News You Can Use, REALTOR®.com,
April 2002
HOME
TOUR 360°™ VIRTUAL TOUR PROGRAM
Virtual
tours are a critical marketing tool for REALTORS®, and
REALTOR®.com is committed to improving virtual tour
solutions and the service that is provided to customers.
As part of this effort, REALTOR®.com greatly improved
the basic HomeTour 360° product. Each tour includes
the ability for your members to automatically post tours
to a number of sites within our distribution network. To
learn more about adding virtual tour content to your MLS
Web site, contact Jo
Ann Margulis at Realto®r.com.
-
Reprinted from News You Can Use, REALTOR®.com,
April 2002
