NCAR Loses 857 Members in February

Enrollment in the North Carolina Association of Realtors (NCAR) took another dive in February 2009, shedding 857 members, according to data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Virginia, Georgia and South Carolina all added members in January 2009. The NCAR membership roll of 37,758 as of 2/28/2009, is the lowest since June 2006. This is 2.22% below the January enrollment of 38,615 and 10.04% below the 2/29/2008 enrollment of 41,970 making for a 12 month loss of 4,212 members. Membership in NCAR peaked in November 2007 at 43,569 and the current roll of 37,758 represents a loss of 5,811 members or a 13.34% decline since then.

Gimme Gimme Gimme

In a letter last month to the Raleigh News & Observer, Julie Woodson of the NC Association of Realtors comes with Lexus cupholder in hand for a government handout of $15,000 per home sale which, by strange coincidence, is also the amount of a 6.0% commission on an average home price of $250,000.

NC Realtors have spent millions to stop a 0.4% transfer tax which would help local governments deal with growth by providing communities with services that add real value to real property, not the Ponzi style value of the housing bubble that got us into this economic mess.

It takes some nerve to ask for 15 times more than you’re willing to concede. If NC Realtors want government assistance and for "all parties to work together" they might stop wasting their members’ money attacking government in the first place.

NCAR Loses 3,154 Members in 2008

Membership in the North Carolina Association of Realtors (NCAR) continued to decline through the end of 2008, having peaked in 2007, according to data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The current membership roll of 40,188 as of 12/31/2008, is the lowest since October 2006. This is 7.28% below the 2007 year end enrollment of 43,342 and shows a loss of 3,154 members.

This is reflects a national decline in NAR membership which saw an average drop of 10.50% from 1,338,001 members to 1,197,529 being the lowest since July 2005 and showing a loss of 140,472 members since 12/31/2007. Membership in NAR peaked in October 2006 at 1,370,758. The only three territories that saw an increase in membership since 12/31/2007 were South Dakota (+2 members), North Dakota (+50) and Guam (+17).

The rate of growth in NCAR membership peaked in 2006 at 17% slowing to 5% in 2007 before turning negative for the first time in about 15 years. NCAR's membership decline of 7.28% closely matches Virginia's membership decline of 7.84%, and outperforms neighboring states: Tennessee declined 10.63%, South Carolina 10.72%, Georgia 20.06% (the greatest of any state) and Florida membership declined 15.14% since 12/31/2007.

New Take on the American dream

Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
Audio Report by Chris Fitzsimon [Click here to listen]

Just the Facts Ma'am

Campaign Finance 2008 Third Quarter for: NC REALTORS PAC [STA-C3219N-C-001]

Detailed Expenditures. Some notable expenditures:

10/3/2008 $209,640.00 [$209,640.00] CORNERSTONE SOLUTIONS & COMMUNICATIONS LLC
9/24/2008 $39,300.00 [$49,300.00] FALLON RESEARCH & COMMUNICATION, INC.
9/24/2008 $30,000.00 [$38,500.00] NORTH CAROLINA HOMEOWNERS ALLIANCE
10/18/2008 $27,449.52 [$174,466.43] North Carolina Association of Realtors, Inc.
10/03/2008 $8,500.00 [$38,500.00] NORTH CAROLINA HOMEOWNERS ALLIANCE
09/08/2008 $4,000.00 [$4,000.00] KENN GARDENER FOR WAKE COUNTY COMMISSIONER
09/16/2008 $4,000.00 [$4,000.00] BEVERLY PERDUE FOR NC GOVERNOR
09/16/2008 $4,000.00 [$4,000.00] BRYAN GOSSAGE FOR NC HOUSE
09/16/2008 $4,000.00 [$8,000.00] David Hoyle for NC Senate
09/16/2008 $4,000.00 [$4,000.00] DEBBIE CLARY FOR NC SENATE
09/16/2008 $4,000.00 [$8,000.00] Harold J. Brubaker for NC House
09/16/2008 $4,000.00 [$6,000.00] JIMMY LOVE, SR. FOR NC HOUSE
09/16/2008 $4,000.00 [$8,000.00] John Snow For NC Senate
09/16/2008 $4,000.00 [$4,000.00] Julia Boseman For NC Senate
09/16/2008 $4,000.00 [$8,000.00] Lorene T. Coates For NC House
09/16/2008 $4,000.00 [$5,000.00] LOUIS M. PATE, JR. FOR NC SENATE
09/16/2008 $4,000.00 [$5,000.00] Neal Hunt For NC Senate
09/16/2008 $4,000.00 [$6,000.00] Nelson Dollar For NC House
09/16/2008 $4,000.00 [$8,000.00] PAT MCCRORY FOR GOVERNOR
09/16/2008 $4,000.00 [$8,000.00] Paul Stam For NC House
09/16/2008 $4,000.00 [$8,000.00] Philip E. Berger For NC Senate
09/16/2008 $4,000.00 [$4,000.00] Pryor Gibson For NC House
09/16/2008 $4,000.00 [$4,000.00] RICHARD GUNN FOR NC SENATE
09/16/2008 $4,000.00 [$8,000.00] Tom Apodaca For NC Senate
09/16/2008 $4,000.00 [$5,000.00] William C. McGee For NC House

     Amounts in brackets [-] are cumulative for the 2008 election cycle.

NC Homeowners Alliance Send Realtor PAC Money

According to a new report filed with the IRS the North Carolina Homeowners Alliance made a contribution of $50,000 to RPAC, the National Realtors Political Action Committee. On the last page there is this entry:

Recipient's name, mailing address and ZIP code:
Realtors Political Action Committee
430 N. Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611

Purpose of expenditure
Contribution to National Realtors Political Action Committee

Amount of Expenditure
$ 50000
Date of expenditure
09/23/2008

The North Carolina Homeowners Alliance is a 527 political committee funded by a mandatory assessment on all NC Realtors by the NC Association of Realtors. This contribution of $50,000 to RPAC would appear to exceed Federal contribution limits, would appear to violate the limitations on corporate contributions and on the electioneering activities of a 527 committee.<-->

Realtors Attacking Stan Norwalk

NC Homeowners Alliance, the NC Realtors 527 Political Committee, has been robo-calling in Wake County with a message attacking Stan Norwalk who is running for County Commissioner against incumbent Republican Kenn Gardner. Gardner is the Commissioner who famously claimed no conflict of interest regarding the funding of an aquatic center he designed claiming he wasn't being paid, then turned around and sued the center for almost $400,000 in fees.

As a public official, he [Gardner] should have been more straightforward about his role. And his assurances that he had no conflict as he sought to advance the pool project now don't seem to hold much water.

NC Realtors 527 robo-call attacking Stan Norwalk [Click here to listen]

Big money and absurd claims in Clay County

Big money and absurd claims in Clay County

By Chris Fitzsimon, NC Policy Watch Thursday, August 28th, 2008

Voters in Clay County head to the polls Friday to decide if they want to raise the local real estate transfer tax by .4 percent to build a new elementary school.

Hayesville, the county seat, is 350 miles from Raleigh, but big Raleigh money, slick misleading mailers, and misrepresentations from the market fundamentalist think tanks may decide the election if previous local transfer tax votes are any indication.

The Asheville Citizen-Times reports that realtors and developers have spent more than $36,000 fighting the tax so far, most of it from the N.C. Association of Realtors in Raleigh. The realtors have bought victory in all 20 of local transfer tax votes since the General Assembly gave counties the authority to put the tax on the ballot last session.

The realtors are using all the misleading arguments in Clay County that they have perfected in the last few years, calling the proposed increase a home tax, an attack on the American dream, and feigning concern for low-income families. Those are families the realtors charge 6 percent to sell a house, 15 times more than the transfer tax now proposed to build a school.

The big Raleigh money pays for a constant barrage of slick mail pieces that all but claims the transfer tax increase will end civilization as we know it. And just like in previous elections the realtors and homebuilders have the support of Raleigh's most well-known market fundamentalist think tank, that issued a predictable report that the county doesn't need to raise any tax to build a new school.

The report demands that the county commissioners "practice more honesty in government," attacking public officials honesty and integrity as part of the propaganda campaign.

The report urges the county to put a bond issue on the ballot "if" a new school is needed, which only people from Raleigh could question. It also criticizes county officials for using a bond issue to pay for a new jail which opened in May, but it doesn't stop there.

One author of the report says that "flat-panel TVs for inmates and hidden taxes" appear to be the commissioners' priorities. He goes on to question the need for the jail, criticize its size, and wonders why it wasn't built in cooperation with neighboring counties.

Sheriff Joe Shook, who is elected by the people in the county, said at the opening of the new jail that inmates were sleeping on the floor in the old one. As for the flat-panel televisions, that's what stores sell now. That doesn't mean they are high definition or plasma TVs, they are just flatter than older models.

A simple check of the Best Buy website would have made that clear, and it turns out Graham County authorities are planning to send some of its inmates to the new Clay County facility that can hold up to 60 prisoners.

That was reported by the local newspaper in May, three months before the think tank report criticized local officials for not cooperating with other counties who might want to use the new jail. But the report isn't about the facts.

It is anti-government propaganda designed to mislead Clay County voters and supplement the absurd claims of big money real estate interests in Raleigh.

And it is likely to work. An industry that makes close to $2 billion a year in the state has a lot of money to throw around to control elections and mislead voters. Maybe the people in Clay County will be able to see through the propaganda and vote to ask the people who make money off the county's growth help pay for the costs associated with it.

But don't count on it. More likely is more chest-thumping by the realtors and homebuilders and anti-government zealots when the tax is defeated. But that won't prove much. It won't even mean that voters don't want the transfer tax.

It will just be another confirmation that big Raleigh money, slick ads, and faux research funded by the Right can buy elections in small counties. And we already know that. But what do we tell the kids about their overcrowded school?

Clay County Overdrive

The North Carolina Association of Realtors (NCAR) has poured more money into the committee set up by NCAR to defeat the Clay County transfer tax referendum than previously reported. According to the Asheville Citizen Times:

Through Aug. 8, the committee organizing the campaign received $10,000 from the N.C. Home Builders Association and more than $32,500 from the Realtors group, which also loaned the committee $15,000.

Of that $57,500 about $36,200 had been spent by August 8th, or $4.38 per registered voter, a record high. If the amount invested in the committee by NCAR is spent it will come to about $5.72 per registered voter. If the total amount invested in the committee is spent it will come to about $6.93 per registered voter. There are about 8,300 registered voters in Clay County. There are almost 6 million registered voters in North Carolina. Do the math. $10 million won't be enough money to make the transfer tax go away. NCAR will be squeezing its members for years to come.

Lobbyists Ranked, Brokers? - Not So Much

While the non-realtor lobbyists who represent realtors get high marks from their peers for excellence in braggadiccio the individual real estate brokers that they claim to represent consistently get poor ratings from the public at large.

This year's Harris Poll measuring public perceptions of 23 professions and occupations again ranks real estate brokers last, a position held for 5 out of 6 years since being added to the survey in 2003. In 2008 only 6% of respondents regarded real estate agent/broker as an occupation having "Very Great Prestige" while 34% ranked the occupation as having "Hardly Any Prestige At All".

What are realtors paying association dues and assessments for? NCAR's lobbyists are polishing their resumes at the expense of NCAR members and public respect for real estate professionals.

Nice Work If You Can Get It

Must be nice for a small group of non-realtor buddies to have access to a virtually bottomless well of money filled by millions of dollars in compulsory dues on every real estate broker and licensed or certified appraiser connected to a MLS in North Carolina. When will the North Carolina Real Estate Commission (NCREC) take action to protect consumers and licensed real estate brokers from the predatory and self-perpetuating actions of NCAR? After all, that's part of the NCREC mission:

Goal
· To identify and address issues affecting real estate consumers and practitioners
Objectives
· Detect and monitor special problems and areas of concern affecting real estate consumers and licensees
· Adopt positions, promulgate rules and propose legislation to address problems and concerns
· Disseminate to licensees and consumers information addressing subjects of special interest and concern

You won't find Zechini, Kent, DePriest or Woodard in the NC Licensee database. NCAR's political campaigns, supposedly on behalf of realtors, make claims and statements about transfer taxes and local government spending that would be prohibited if made by an actual real estate licensee to a consumer.

Misrepresentation or Omission [G.S. 93A-6(a)(1)]
Misrepresentation or omission of a material fact by brokers or salespersons is prohibited, and this prohibition includes both “willful” and “negligent” acts. A “willful” act is one that is done intentionally and deliberately, while a “negligent” act is one that is done unintentionally. A “misrepresentation” is communicating false information, while an “omission” is failing to provide or disclose information where there is a duty to provide or disclose such information.

Instead of the disciplinary action that an actual real estate broker would face, NCAR lobbyists are premiated for their powers of influence, regardless of the merits, or lack thereof, of the message:

The highest-ranked lobbyist involved in the transfer tax debate was John McMillan, who ranked 2nd and is a contract lobbyist who represented the N.C. Association of Realtors and 31 other clients. The Realtors Association opposed the real estate transfer tax. Also representing the Realtors Association were executive vice president Tim Kent and Rick Zechini, both of whom ranked among the most influential lobbyists for the first time (11th and 12th, respectively).

Nice work if you can get it

Forced Political Speech

Over the years, mandatory dues and forced political speech have been explored by the courts including the Supreme Court of the United States. Most, but not all, of the cases have involved mandatory union dues and political expenditures beyond the collective bargaining purposes of a union. The protection of members from forced political speech comes from what is know as the Abood line of cases. The case of Abood v. Detroit Board of Education was decided by the Supreme Court in 1977.

The Court ruled that compulsory dues for politics violates the First Amendment and that it is illegal to withhold forced dues from dissenters beyond the cost of collective bargaining.

National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.

In 1988 the Supreme Court ruled in Communication Workers v. Beck, a case related to a specific collective bargaining provision, that non-members required to pay dues could not be compelled to pay dues or fees beyond those related to collective bargaining. This established what is known as "Beck rights".

The Supreme Court again ruled June 2007 in a case about the protection of non-members from forced political speech, Davenport v. Washington Education Association, by upholding a Washington State law making it harder for unions to spend mandatory fees collected from nonmembers on political campaigns.

Prior court rulings have held that people required to pay fees to certain organizations for professional or other reasons -- such as attorneys who must join a state bar in order to practice law or undergraduates who are assessed student-government fees -- can't be compelled to contribute to political causes they oppose. Those rulings often have led to "opt-out" policies, in which individuals can request a refund of the portion of their fees that would be used for political speech.

Wall Street Journal 1/8/07

The Supreme Court in 1990 had held in Keller v. State Bar of California that:

1. The State Bar's use of petitioners' compulsory dues to finance political and ideological activities with which petitioners disagree violates their First Amendment right of free speech when such expenditures are not necessarily or reasonably incurred for the purpose of regulating the legal profession or improving the quality of legal services.

The virtual monopoly held by the North Carolina Association of Realtors (NCAR) over licensed residential real estate brokers in North Carolina, (NCAR members and non-members alike), North Carolina's Right to Work Law and the case law established by the United States Supreme Court, makes NCAR vulnerable to legal challenge over the mandatory dues assessment for the Issues Mobilization Fund and threatened punishment of dissenting members.

Realtors Held Hostage

Raleigh area Realtors Becky Harper and Carlton Brown have written an op-ed about the special assessment imposed on members by the North Carolina Association of Realtors for the political Issues Mobilization Fund. The article appeared in this morning's Raleigh News & Observer.

  Realtors Held Hostage

Realtors statewide have received a $70 mandatory assessment levied by the N.C. Association of Realtors to replenish its Issues Mobilization Fund. The Realtors association will use this money to pay for lobbying against things such as proposed stormwater management rules in coastal counties and Jordan Lake, and against steep-slope building restrictions in the mountains.

Every Realtor is forced to pay these fees. Failure to pay will eliminate access to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), the essential tool of a Realtor's trade.

The association has created a myth that it speaks for a huge constituency of committed members and has backed this up with its deep pockets. Its leadership, staff and paid lobbyists have used this massive fund to advance an agenda with little meaningful input from the thousands of residential Realtors who pay their dues just to maintain MLS access.

How NAR Controls MLS Access

Procedures to Be Followed by an Association of REALTORS® Upon Demand for Access to the Association’s Multiple Listing Service without Association Membership

In states other than California, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, whenever an association is confronted with a request or demand by an individual for access to the association’s multiple listing service without membership in the association, member associations are advised that the association should immediately advise both the state association and the Member Policy Department of the National Association, and the recommended procedures will be provided to the member association with any other pertinent information or assistance. It is important that the state association and National Association be advised immediately if such request or demand for access to the association MLS as described is received.

Mandatory:

Adoption is necessary to ensure compliance with mandatory policies established by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® Board of Directors and coverage under the National Association’s master professional liability insurance policy.

High Point Realtors Coerced PAC Payments

In 2005 the High Point Regional Association of Realtors (HPRAR) publicly mocked realtor members who had not contributed to the Realtors Political Action Committe (RPAC). Realtor Michael Pugh of High Point filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) that resulted in a $4,500 fine and a "cease and desist order" imposed on the HPRAR in 2007. A summary of the complaint and statement of the $4,500 civil penalty and specific violations of federal election laws can be found in the Conciliation Agreement 2/8/2007. Read the text and documentation of the newsletter taunts in Original Complaint 9/21/2005 and follow-up regarding Powerpoint presentation slides in the Supplement to Complaint 9/30/2005

RE: MUR 5681
High Point Regional Association of Realtors

1. HPRAR is a local association of realtors affiliated with the National Association of Realtors (“NAR’). As a local affiliate of NAR, HPRAR regularly solicits its members for contributions to NAR's separate segregated fund, the National Association of Realtors Political Action Committee (“RPAC”).

2. In August 2005, HPRAR listed the name of each individual realtor member who had not contributed to RPAC on two pages of its eight-page monthly newsletter. The names of the non-contributing individuals were listed under the name of their company, and the percentage of contributing members from each company appeared next to the company’s name. Companies that had a 100% contribution rate fiom its individual members were listed at the very top of the two-page list under the heading “2005 100% RPAC Companies.” No individual names of members who had already made contributions to RPAC were listed anywhere in the two-page spread. At the bottom of the second page there is a logo of RPAC with the question: “Have you made your contribution?” (Emphasis in original.) .

3. The newsletter also contained an article summarizing new state legislation “that makes significant improvements to the State’s real estate licensing law.” The end of the article stated, “These bills are representative of your RPAC dollars at work to improve our industry standards and working environment as well as to firher protect our customers and clients, the real estate consumer. Have you given your RPAC fair share? The article then gave a “special RPAC thanks” to an individual realtor member for her generous monetary support of RPAC.

4. HPRAR also displayed the names of non-contributing members on an overhead projection screen at the association’s monthly meetings and at the association’s 2005 Annual Meeting, held on September 21,2005, where checks were being presented to local candidates.

5. It is unlawful for a solicitation for contributions, whether written or oral, to fail to inform the employee or member being solicited at the time of the solicitation of the political purposes of the separate segregated fbnd and of his or her right to refuse to so contribute without any reprisal.

6. The solicitation in this matter lacked proper notice of the political purposes of RPAC and the member's right to refuse to contribute without reprisal, as required by [federal election law].

V. Respondent improperly solicited contributions to a separate segregated fund by failing to inform members being solicited at the time of solicitation of the political purposes of the RPAC fund and of the members' right to refuse to contribute without reprisal, in violation of [federal election law]. Respondent contends that the violation was inadvertent.

VI. Respondent will pay a civil penalty to the Federal Election Commission in the amount of Four Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($4,500).

VII. Respondent will cease and desist from violating [federal election law] by providing proper notice of the political purposes of the separate segregated fund for which contributions are being solicited, and the member's right to refuse to contribute to such fund without any reprisal, in any and all solicitations for contributions, whether written or oral, at the time such solicitation is made.

For further information search the FEC Enforcement Query System with Case #: 5681

Behind the RPAC Curtain

Members of the NC Association of Realtors who make a contribution to the Realtors Political Action Committee [RPAC] are actually making contributions to two PACs. 70% of the contribution goes to the state PAC known as the NC Realtors PAC and 30% goes to the national PAC known as RPAC.

Find out more about RPAC in its own words by reading the RPAC FAQ for Federal Political Coordinators or a detailed Powerpoint presentation on RPAC Administration or a handy list of Acronyms & Terminology Commonly used in Government Affairs which includes items like these:

NAR’s RPAC Major Donor Levels (per year)
Golden R Member: $ 5,000
Crystal R Member: $ 2,500
Sterling R Member: $1,000
Hall of Fame: $25,000 in aggregate contributions to RPAC
President’s Circle: Individual direct contribution program where $2,000 is given directly to NAR designated congressional candidates from Major Donors.

That's what is known as bundling and explains how NAR and NCAR could claim credit for contributions in support of Richard Burr beyond expenditures shown in federal reports to the Federal Election Commission and the Internal Rrevenue Service.

To join the program, you must contribute a total of $2,000 in personal contributions, in addition to your RPAC contribution, each calendar year. You must be a RPAC Major Donor of Golden, Crystal, or Sterling R level to participate. President's Circle members receive bipartisan requests throughout the year from NAR to use their funds to make contributions to national political party committees and/or NAR-selected federal candidates.