RELRA Bills HB 2630, 2631 Voted Out of House

By Jennifer Shockley

The state House of Representatives approved House Bills 2630 and 2631 (Gannon, R-Delaware), which revise the Real Estate Licensing and Registration Act (RELRA), by votes of 194-3 and 197-2, respectively in late June.

HB 2630 would allow escrow funds to be disbursed after a certain amount of time following termination of an agreement. HB 2631 would provide that the Consumer Notice be applicable only to one to four residential units. PAR worked with Rep. Gannon to craft the language.

HB 2631 included one PAR-supported amendment which was written to clarify some points raised by the State Real Estate Commission and the Department of State. The amendment (a) clarifies that vacant land which is to be developed for residential use is subject to the Consumer Notice and (b) states that the commercial exemption does not apply if a buyer or lessee is an individual who is not acting through an agent. In this sense, an “agent” is an individual working on behalf of a corporation.

Thank you to all who sent letters on these bills to your legislators. PAR will work over the summer to educate the Senate on the legislation and will push for a vote in the fall.

Meanwhile, the Senate considered and passed Senate Bill 917 (Pileggi, R-Chester) by a 50-0 vote. The legislation revises the Real Estate Appraisers Certification Act to give the Appraiser Board the authority to add “licensed appraiser” and “appraiser trainee” as categories of certification. The bill also provides that only a certified residential or certified general appraiser can supervise trainees; grandfathers the existing broker/appraisers; and makes the licensed appraiser class optional, not mandatory. In May, the PAR Legislative Committee voted to support the bill as amended. The bill was referred to the House Professional Licensure Committee for consideration.

The House and Senate worked into the July 4th holiday weekend to complete negotiations on the $26.1 billion 2006-07 budget. The budget included no Realty Transfer Tax increase or tax increase of any kind, however, the percentage of RTT revenue transferred to the Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund was reduced from 15 percent to 2.1 percent for fiscal year 2006-07. The transfer amount of 15 percent will be restored for fiscal year 2007-08 and thereafter. This will result in about $81 million staying in the General Fund.

The legislature also enacted a minimum wage increase, a package of bills containing tax cuts for Pennsylvania businesses, tax incentives for employers to invest in their workers’ health care and tax deductions for families who invest in their children’s college education.

Both chambers have recessed for the summer and will return September 25.