O r e g O n r e A L T O r S ® 2010 Legislative Report

The 2010 “Special” Legislative Session was unlike any other that our state has seen as the legislature convened less than a week after a bitterly contested special election. While there was talk of putting the election behind, the tone and the atmosphere inside the Capitol reflected a very different impression. Tensions were high,

time was short and there were a vast number of bills being considered that would have greatly impacted the real estate industry and the economic future of Oregon.

At the outset, the prospects for a successful session appeared bleak; however, the Oregon Association of REALTORS® had what can only be deemed a successful session. Numerous harmful legislative proposals were stopped or significantly altered and a very important proactive piece of legislation successfully navigated the halls of Salem. The efforts of the Association were bolstered significantly by legislators from both major political parties, due in no small part to Oregon RPAC’s commitment to support those candidates supportive of REALTOR® values and core issues rather than party affiliation.

Over 200 individual bills were introduced for consideration by the legislature in 25 days, and the Oregon REALTORS® identified 43 bills with a potential impact on real estate license law, land use planning, regulation of appraisal management companies, mortgage lending practices, economic development, domestic water and private property rights and housing affordability and attainability. The Oregon REALTORS® Government Affairs Key Committee, led by Chair Sue Curths, worked closely with the Public Policy staff, and put forth substantial effort to thoroughly analyze the legislative proposals and to provide invaluable insight and expertise into potential impacts on the real estate industry. It was only through the collective strength of our association that the Oregon REALTORS® successfully navigated the 2010 Special Session.

momentum statewide. The Oregon REALTORS® remain committed to ensuring that an adequate supply of housing and employments lands are available for all Oregonians and will continue to oppose efforts that would allow individual stakeholders in a particular region from negatively impacting the ability to provide jobs and affordable homes for all residents in the region.

The Oregon REALTORS® stopped harmful efforts to further restrict the ability of rural property owners to live on their own land.

Had HB 3661 gone into effect, for the first time in Oregon’s history permits would have been required for domestic wells throughout much of Oregon as determined by the Oregon Water Resources Department. Permitting is a lengthy and costly process for landowners, and domestic wells have been demonstrated to have a negligible impact on Oregon’s vast water resources.

In addition, the bill would have further eroded private property rights by reducing the daily volume of water that current landowners are allowed to draw for their domestic use. The Oregon REALTORS® support education for rural landowners to ensure that water is used in the most efficient manner and will continue to advocate for incentive-based solutions to encourage conservation rather than regulatory diminishment of private property rights.

The Oregon REALTORS® protected future home purchasers and the real estate market against local governments arbitrarily establishing home prices.

Working again with the Oregon Home Builders Association, the Oregon REALTORS® defeated HB 3650 which would have allowed local governments to arbitrarily establish sales prices for homes in a practice commonly referred to as mandatory inclusionary zoning. While mandatory inclusionary zoning is commonly supported by affordable housing advocates, the practice artificially lowers the cost of specific units while adding to the cost of the remaining market-rate units in a development. Under current law, local governments are allowed to adopt voluntary inclusionary zoning programs which provide incentives to developers to develop below-market housing units.

The Oregon REALTORS® added important safeguards for consumers and the real estate market through the regulation of Appraisal Management Companies.

With final passage and approval of HB 3624, Appraisal Management Companies (AMCs) will now be required to register with the Department of Consumer & Business Services (DCBS) and will be prohibited from attempting to influence appraisals, alter completed reports or place certain detrimental requirements on appraisers. The bill also requires DCBS to audit AMCs to ensure that competent appraisers are being used on transactions, including geographic competency. In addition, HB 3624 requires DCBS to adopt rules to establish a procedure to allow a consumer to challenge or question the results of an appraisal.

In response to the adoption of the Home Valuation Code of Conduct, the National Association of REALTORS® encouraged each state Association to pass legislation to regulate AMCs in an effort to diminish their detrimental unintended impact on the real estate industry. The Oregon REALTORS® will remain engaged as DCBS moves forward with the rulemaking process to fully implement the bill by its effective date of January 1, 2011.

The Oregon REALTORS® ensured that adequate buildable land will remain available for housing and employment in future land use planning.

In joining the Oregon Home Builders Association in opposition to HB 3648, the Oregon REALTORS® were able to ensure that the designation of urban and rural reserves in the Portland Metropolitan Region was not significantly undermined. As introduced, the bill would have prohibited counties and metropolitan service districts from designating additional land as urban reserves until at least 50 percent of the previously designated urban reserves had been included within the urban growth boundary. This proposal is especially dangerous as urban and rural reserves are designated in areas where stakeholder counties have significantly different views on how future development will occur.

The effects of the bill had the potential to impact all urban areas of Oregon, as the concept of designating urban and rural reserves is one that has been gaining

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The January Special Election cast a long shadow over the 2010 Special Session but ultimately the Oregon REALTORS® and the real estate market escaped without further damage being inflicted. It is no coincidence that time after time the Oregon REALTORS® have what are widely viewed as extremely successful legislative sessions. It is through our grassroots strength, the importance of the real estate industry to Oregon’s economy, our civic engagement at the local level and the value our members place on being involved in the political process that carries us through the turmoil of the Capitol.

With primary and general elections only months away, the Oregon REALTORS® and Oregon RPAC will work to ensure that legislators and candidates who support REALTOR® values and beliefs are successful in their quest to serve the people of Oregon.

There are many significant issues likely to be addressed by the 2011 Legislature, which will convene in less than nine months. Land use planning, destination resorts, navigability, mandatory energy audits at the point of sale and many other topics are already being discussed by legislators and state agencies alike. It is through our collective strength that we will ensure the interests and values of all REALTORS® and their clients are protected throughout the interim and beyond. The Oregon REALTORS® remain steadfastly committed to protecting the American Dream of home ownership and will work day and night to guarantee that dream remains within reach.

The Oregon REALTORS® support voluntary, incentive-based programs that provide developers with benefits in exchange for developing below-market rate housing units. Under this win-win scenario, affordable housing units are seamlessly integrated into a development, while the developer is provided with incentives that offset the cost. Voluntary systems have been successful in other states, and the Oregon REALTORS® will continue to work with stakeholders to advance proposals that encourage and allow their adoption by local governments.

The Oregon REALTORS® protected the private property rights of landowners with waterfront property throughout the state.

While SB 1060 was described as merely placing an Attorney General’s Opinion into statute, the potential legislation went well beyond the opinion and would have significantly diminished the private property rights of people who own property adjacent to ANY body of water in Oregon. If successful, the bill would have granted public access to privately-owned land adjacent to all rivers and lakes in Oregon in order to continue any public use on the water. Perhaps even more troubling than allowing unfettered public access to private land, the bill would have prohibited landowners from constructing any barriers (i.e. a fence) to stop the public from entering and would have included penalties for doing so.

The topic of navigability has been an issue since the time of statehood and will continue to be an issue in Oregon well into the future. The Oregon REALTORS® remain steadfastly committed to protecting private property rights and will continue to do so as this controversial topic remains in the spotlight with increased usage of Oregon’s waters.