NAR
NEWS
TO
CALL OR NOT TO CALL?
On
Thursday, September 25, 2003 the US District Court for
the District of Colorado ruled that the FTC's Do-Not-Call
Registry violates the First Amendment and prohibited
the FTC from implementing the registry. U.S. District
Judge Edward Nottingham said the program violated constitutional
free speech protections because it amounted to "a
government restriction on lawful and truthful commercial
speech."
The
FTC has stated it will appeal the decision and expects
ultimately to implement the National Do-Not-Call Registry.
It recommends consumers continue to place their numbers
in the registry and reminds consumers of their ability
to ask companies to place their name on a company specific
list if they do not wish to receive further calls. In
light of this decision, telemarketers for now will not
have to comply with the requirements of the Do-Not-Call
Registry.
Also,
on Wednesday, September 24th the U.S. District Court
for the Western District of Oklahoma ruled that the
FTC exceeded its authority in creating the National
Do- Not -Call Registry. This decision is in response
to the lawsuit filed by the Direct Marketing Association
challenging the FTC's Do-Not-Call Registry. The decision
states that the FTC did not have the proper statutory
authority to create the Do-Not-Call registry. However,
the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) clearly
does have the proper statutory authority, since Congress
directed it to consider creating a national Do-Not-Call
registry in 1991 via the Telephone Consumer Protection
Act (TCPA). While it appears the FCC still has the ability
to enforce the registry, Congress approved funding for
administration of the national list only for the FTC.
Nonetheless, that very same day Congress passed a law
to overturn this Courts action. What a roller coaster
week- please stay tuned!
Taken
from realtor.org
NATIONAL
HOUSING OPPORTUNITY SURVEY FINDS HOUSING AFFORDABILITY
TO BE A VOTING ISSUE
WASHINGTON
(September 25, 2003) - Two out of three Americans are
concerned about the cost of housing in their communities,
and 67 percent would be more likely to vote for a candidate
who works to make housing more affordable, according
to the National Housing Opportunity Pulse, a new national
survey released today at the National Summit on Housing
Opportunities convened by the National Association of
Realtors®.
"Our
survey found that people worry about affordable housing
just as much as they worry about affordable health insurance,
and only slightly less than jobs and unemployment,"
said NAR President Cathy Whatley, owner of Buck &
Buck Inc. in Jacksonville, Fla.
"These
findings reaffirm what Realtors® have known all
along. Armed with these findings, our Summit partners
concluded that it's time to put affordable housing on
the public agenda."
The
survey found that 71 percent would like to see government
place a higher priority on making housing more affordable
for renters and homeowners alike. Local, state and federal
governments received a grade of "C" from their
constituents for their work on affordable housing.
HAVE
YOU WORN YOUR REALTOR® PIN LATELY?
Tell
them. Show them. Wear your REALTOR® pin with Pride.
To
be a REALTOR®, you invest a lot in yourself. Besides
your chosen real estate specialty, you spend time learning
and meeting the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
Code of Ethics. And, many of you spend time and money
to earn designations. Yet, for all the prestige that
your NAR membership brings, according to recent NAR
research, most of you aren't identifying yourselves
as REALTORS® by wearing your REALTOR® pin. That
means you aren't receiving the full benefit of NAR's
ongoing Public Awareness Campaign. The REALTOR®
Pride campaign is designed to educate members on the
need to "show your REALTOR Pride."
Between
1999 and 2002, the percentage of consumers who believe
there's a benefit to working with a REALTOR® as
opposed to a salesperson increased to 61% from 42%,
according to a study conducted by NAR by independent
research firm, Riter Research, Inc.
So,
wear your REALTOR® pin with pride. It's arguably
the easiest way to represent the professionalism and
results-driven experience consumers want and prefer.
Taken from Indiana Realtor August
2003
STATE
NEWS
The
Indiana Association of Realtors legal staff has just
released the video:
"LISA'S
GREATEST HITS Volume IX". The
video contains the latest legal information in VHS format:
-
Indiana License Law
- Earnest
Money Rules
- Property
Disclosure
- Mold
- Code
of Ethics
- Federal
Do-Not-Call Rules
- Advertising
- VOW's
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