Now that the 2011 Legislative session has ended, here are a couple of points of interest to Nevada Realtors and others. Please know that the Nevada Legislature meets every other year. One would think that is a good thing because they don't pass or attempt to pass any laws in the OFF years. WRONG. They may not pass a law but they spend all their time figuring out just how they can.
THERE WILL BE ADDITIONAL POSTING ON THE NEW LAWS, THE EFFORT TO PASS THEM, AND COMMENT ON THOSE THAT DID NOT PASS. SOME WE MAY SEE AGAIN. SO LOOK FOR ADDITIONAL POSTS IN THE COMING DAYS.
Taxes: There was an effort to put a sales tax on services and that fight is not over yet. We will continue to fight the battle. It is likely that it will appear as a ballot question. The transaction tax proposed this session did not pass. Also the margin tax failed too. However there was a last minute attempt on the last day of the session and on the last hour to place both taxes on the ballot. How typical and dramatic a move from legislators is that? Sounds just like Congress doesn't it? The Assembly attempted to take the question of both taxes directly to the people. However, that effort failed.
What did pass though was and extension of the 2009 taxes which were set to expire on 6-30-2011. As part of the budget discussions there was an agreement to implement education and collective bargining reform and the modified business tax know as payroll tax was eliminated for business with payroll of less that $250,000 annually. That was a big save for the real estate industry.
The Nevada Association of Realtors was intimately involved in crafting two legislative items. The first was prohibition of private development transfer fees in Nevada which was passed and signed into law. The second was to repeal the change in our licensing period. Licensees have for years, renewed every two years. After 6-30-2011 renew every four years with an increase appropriate for continuing education and fees. SB413 would have repealed this four year process and kept it at two years. Unfortunately the real estate division of Nevada attached a $3,000,000 unsolicited fiscal note (A note is basically a price tag) and given the legislature is trying to cut costs anywhere they can, it became a huge obstacle to over come. In the end, the bill did not pass.
So, how much do you love your cell phone? Realtors really do. We live by that phone, in our cars, out of our cars etc. Effective July 1st, 2011 you can be pulled over for the use of your phone without hands-free device while driving and be given a warning. Starting 1-1-2012 citations will be issued.
We finally got the bill passed and the Governor signed into law that makes sure demand letters from homeowners associations are good for 15 days after receipt. Lobbyists for various intersted worked hard to defeat this important law however we won in the end.
Foreclosures and Short Sales were a hot item. A new law makes it a misdemeanor for a bank to unreasonably delay responding to a short sale offer. It spells out that acceptance or rejection is to be received within 90 days. It also prohibits banks from getting a deficiency judgment if they agreed to a short sale. (under certain circumstances)
Another new law is to prevent banks from "double-dipping" and going after the borrower for the full amount of the deficiency when they receive compensation from other sources. It caps the amount a third party can be awarded if they bought the right to the deficiency for pennies on the dollar. This new law also reduces the amount of time a junior lien holder has to file for the deficiency. It has been six years and now is six months!! This is to make it in line with primary lien holder time frames.
THERE ARE SEVERAL OTHER LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE. SO LOOK FOR THOSE IN THE COMING DAYS.
This blog post provides general legal information, not legal representation or advice regarding real estate related questions. No client relationship is created by your use of the Information provided here and any information you receive. You should not act upon this information without seeking legal counsel. Information given is for your benefit only. Do not practice law! You must seek your own legal advice.
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