N.C. Association of Realtors Fights Disclosure Form Amendments

(September 9, 2005) -- The North Carolina Association of REALTORS® has issued a call for action to members, asking them to fight proposed amendments that would expand disclosure obligations under the state's Residential Property Disclosure Statement.

According to David McGowan, NCAR's political specialist, the association is asking members to contact their local politicians to express their opposition to the changes.

At issue is the fact that while the legislation appears to apply only to properties along the coast, it would establish sweeping new obligations for property owners throughout the state. Language included in the bill (H.B. 512) would require property owners to disclose any and all land-use or zoning information relating to the property, such as the existence of variances, site-specific developments restrictions, site-specific or phased development plans, planned-unit development approvals, special- or conditional-use districts, and conditional rezoning.

"While we certainly don’t have a problem with full disclosure for homeowners and real estate practitioners who are working with them, those disclosures are currently taken care of with the North Carolina Real Estate Commission's (NCREC) property disclosure form," says McGowan.

The legislation would use a new disclosure form not subject to control by the NCREC. Instead, the new form would be implemented and managed by the Coastal Resources Commission.

"It would add a new regulatory body to a process that quite frankly has nothing to do with real estate," McGowan says. He adds that NCAR was not included in any of the discussions for the bill.

McGowan is doubtful that the bill will gain momentum, now that the call for action has brought it to the attention of NCAR's members and their legislators. "At one point we felt like it was gaining momentum, and we wanted to try to stop it as quickly as possibly," says McGowan.

—By Bridget McCrea for REALTOR® Magazine Online

Reprinted from REALTOR® Magazine [September, 2005] (http://www.realtor.org/realtormag) with permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. Copyright 2005. All rights reserved.