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On February 16, 2016, Gov. Christie delivered the Fiscal Year 2017 budget proposal in a speech to a joint session of the State Legislature. The budget proposal totals $34.8 billion and contains no tax or fee increases.   In his seventh budget address as Governor, Christie focused a lot of his attention to the public pension system, gas tax, and funding for hospital charity care for the uninsured and teaching hospitals. In relation to real estate, Christie called for eliminating the estate tax and additional property tax relief…

On Tuesday, January 19, NJ Realtors® President Tg Glazer and Local Government & Regulatory Affairs Coordinator, Bruce Shapiro, partook in an important roundtable discussion held by U.S. Senator Bob Menendez in his Newark office. The group, which included a number of industry stakeholders, engaged in meaningful discussions on how to best develop solutions to tackle New Jersey’s foreclosure crisis.   “Addressing foreclosure, and taking measures to both help those in the process and prevent other homeowners from facing that…

On January 12, 2016, Gov. Christie delivered his State of the State Address to a joint Session of the State Legislature. In his speech, the Governor called for an elimination of the estate tax and expressed his opposition to a constitutional amendment on mandatory pension payments, expressing that passage of such an amendment could lead to tax increases in future years.   The Governor also again reiterated previous actions taken by his administration and the State Legislature, including the 2% property tax cap. In addition to…

Over the last few months, New Jersey Realtors® and our dedicated members have continuously rallied for our bill that proposed restrictions on Megan’s Law offenders obtaining real estate licenses and also made common sense changes to current continuing education laws. As we previously reported, the bill unanimously passed in both the Assembly and Senate and was put before the governor to sign.   On Monday, January 11, Gov. Christie conditionally vetoed the bill, which we expected. We have decided to reject the conditional veto…

On Tuesday, December 1, NJ Realtors® CEO, Jarrod Grasso, and General Counsel, Barry Goodman, spoke in front of the NJ Real Estate Commission to ensure the continued ability for real estate licensees to be independent contractors.   New Jersey Realtors® has closely monitored proceedings around the country surrounding the ability for Realtors® to continue to be classified as independent contractors. New Jersey Realtors® strongly supports the ability for real estate licensees to retain their status as independent contractors so…

On November 16, the NAR Board of Directors met during the NAR annual conference in San Diego to discuss and approve a number of issues vital to the Realtor® community. Below are the highlights from this important meeting.   Free Forms Benefit from NAR The new zipLogix® benefit means members will get free access to various forms libraries of zipForm Plus®, as well as zipTMS, the company’s transaction management system with unlimited document storage.   Consumer Advertising Campaign A new, millennial-focused campaign is…

Following the elections for the State Assembly on November 3, the Democratic party has expanded their control in the General Assembly, controlling at least 51 seats in the next session of the State Legislature, up from the 48 seats currently held by the Democratic party. At least three seats have changed control from the Republican party to the Democratic party, one in the 1st District (portions of Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland counties) and two in the 11th District (portions of Monmouth County). One race in the 16th district (in…

At its meeting on November 3, 2015, the North Brunswick Township Council adopted an ordinance creating a new Certificate of Continued Occupancy inspection requirement. Working with the Middlesex County Association of Realtors®, New Jersey Realtors® was able to have the fees that sellers would have to pay when selling their homes reduced. As originally discussed earlier this year, the CCO inspection fee was proposed at $260.00. When the ordinance was introduced, it was listed as $195.00. After learning that the CCO fee as introduced…

In the days and weeks leading up to the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure Rule, many industry leaders, including NAR, grew increasingly concerned about the harsh penalties that could come as the result of a misstep in following the new procedures.   In response to these apprehensions, the House of Representative passed a bill created to assist smaller lending, title and escrow companies with compliance. The Homebuyers Assistance Act will not hold these parties liable for unintentional noncompliance prior to February 1, 2016…

On Tuesday, September 8, the Metuchen Borough Council voted to pass ordinance 2015-10, which addresses vacant and abandoned properties and storefronts within the community. After the ordinance was proposed earlier in the summer, the Middlesex County Association of Realtors® worked with members of the Borough Council to address some concerns over areas of the ordinance that pertained to storefronts and commercial properties. The original proposal detailed a timeline for which properties would be considered vacant that many Realtors®…