CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2003 AWARD WINNERS!

NEGLIGENT MISREPRESENTATION CASE ON LEAD ISSUE TO PROCEED

A listing broker who failed to disclose the presence of lead-based paint in a house that sold must defend against negligent misrepresentation allegations by the buyer, the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, has ruled. The broker argued he didn't know of the lead-based paint and so it didn't constitute a defect requiring disclosure. But the Court said that the broker had a duty under State law to disclose latent defects that heknew about or should have known about, and the presence of lead-based paint was a latent defect that arguably the broker could be expected to know about. To read a summary of this case in the Letter of the Law, NAR's online legal newsletter, Go To: http://www.realtor.org/letterlw.nsf/pages/0103flowers2.

NAR ANNOUNCES LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES FOR 108TH CONGRESS

NAR's 2003 legislative and regulatory agenda will focus on improving housing opportunities for Americans; increasing the transparency of the real estate transaction; keeping big banks out of real estate; promoting favorable real estate tax initiatives; and encouraging sound infrastructure, community development, and environmental policies. These issues were selected by NAR leaders who recently gathered at NAR's Legislative and Regulatory Policy meeting in Washington. Within these major issue areas, NAR's leadership decided that the following priorities were most important: developing recommendations to address the lack of property casualty insurance, pushing for a homeownership tax credit to increase the supply of affordable housing, reforming the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, keeping big banks out of real estate, reducing the depreciable period of leasehold improvements, and improving access to capital by encouraging Congress to enact the president's American Dream Down Payment Fund. For more info, Go To: http://www.realtor.org/PublicAffairsWeb.nsf/Pages/LegislativePriorities03.

FREE REALTOR® PINS

Tell them. Show them. Wear your REALTOR® pin with pride.

After five years of advertising, NAR has established clear value for and differentiation of REALTORS® in the minds of potential homebuyers and sellers. The effect of the campaign has been to create a preference in the consumer marketplace for working with REALTORS® (members of the National Association of REALTORS®) over those who are merely licensed real estate sales personnel. In other words, we have significantly heightened demand for people who are recognized, or "branded," as REALTORS®.

Go To: http://pride.realtors.org/rpcpinrq.nsf/pinrequest?OpenFor.

NEW MOLD GUIDE FOR MEMBERS AND CONSUMERS

A Guide to Mold, Moisture and Your Home (Item 141-24) is a new publication from NAR. This guide, created by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, educates consumers on how mold develops in the home and provides ways to remove and prevent it from returning. Quantity discounts are available through NAR's Information Central at 1-800-874-6500 or on-line at http://www.realtor.org/prodser.nsf/webitem/141-24.

HOMESTORE 2002 RESULTS SHOW CONTINUED IMPROVEMENT

Although Homestore reported forth quarter 2002 revenue from continuing operations down 5 percent from the third quarter, CEO Mike Long said, "We are encouraged by our progress during the past year. We strengthened our management team, regained regulatory compliance, stabilized our balance sheet, reduced our cost structure to a sustainable level, and settled our AOL dispute." The decline in revenue is a result of both the normal seasonality in the offline advertising license sale to a recurring monthly subscription fee offset by an increase in Media Services revenue. For more information, Go To: http://ir.shareholder.com/homs/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=103255.