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CORPORATE ALLY PROGRAM UPDATE
Founding members,
As 2015 comes to a close, I want to thank you for your investment in the REALTOR® Party Corporate Ally Program. Because of you, the REALTOR® Party Corporate Ally Program met its $1 million goal for 2015…and then some!
We’ve heard your feedback and recently added an option for program investors to support issues campaigns, giving you more say in how your investments are spent. Whether you choose to invest in issues or candidate campaigns or both, as usual, half of each investment supports state and local campaigns and the other half supports federal campaigns.
To reach our $2 million fundraising goal in 2016, we are looking at numerous ways to engage the support of the business community, including reaching out to real estate companies and franchisors to participate in the program among other fundraising strategies. I hope you are excited as I am about the Corporate Ally Programas we head into this invigorating election year in 2016.
I am grateful for your partnership, and I look forward to your continued involvement in 2016. On behalf of the entire NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® Leadership Team and the Corporate Investor Council, I wish you and yours a very happy holiday season and a successful new year.
Signed,
Marbury Little, DSA
2015-2016 Chairman
Corporate Investor Council
Email: Marbury@aol.com
Phone: 504-782-3361
THE VIEW FROM WASHINGTONJerry Giovaniello, Senior Vice-President NAR Government Affairs
During the 114th Congress, NAR’s legislative and regulatory agenda continued to focus on creating a fundamentally sound and robust U.S. real estate market while protecting the business interests of members and consumers. NAR achieved several accomplishments and set the foundation for many important issues moving forward.
G-fees Removed as a Financing Mechanism from Transportation Bill
After aggressive advocacy outreach by NAR through letters, meetings and an all-member Call for Action which generated the highest response rate in NAR history, Congress removed the use of guarantee fees (G-fees) as a financing mechanism from the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act). Had this provision been included the fees would have been passed on to homeowners. President Obama signed the bill into law on December 4, 2015.
For more information visit: www.realtor.org/gses
TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) Rule Implementation Delayed; Written Guidance Issued
Following months of intense outreach by NAR, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced it was moving the implementation date of the new TRID rule from August 1 to October 3 to accommodate the busy buying and selling season. While pleased with this decision, NAR continued to actively engage with the CFPB to request written assurances that the early enforcement of the new rules will take into account the good faith efforts of supervised entities. On October 1, CFPB Director Richard Cordray, on behalf of the six federal financial regulatory agencies, provided those assurances in a written letter to the industry. Additionally, NAR worked with CFPB to allow brokers and agents to co-brand the “Your Home Loan Toolkit” and received clarification on affiliate title companies and mortgage lenders can co-brand, produce, and deliver the toolkit to agents without violating RESPA.
For more information visit: www.realtor.org/respa
Protection of Homeownership and Real Estate Investment Incentives
NAR continues to educate Congress and their staff on the vital role that real estate tax provisions play in the nation’s housing markets and economy. While comprehensive tax reform is not likely to be enacted soon, Members of Congress are still exploring the possibility of some limited business-only tax reforms and looking to current law provisions, such as Section 1031 Like-Kind Exchanges, that can be repealed or curtailed in order to “pay for” lowering tax rates. NAR has submitted several letters to Congress’ tax writing committees outlining its position on Section 1031 Like-Kind Exchanges and other real estate related tax provisions.
For more information visit: www.realtor.org/tax-reform
FHA Mortgage Insurance Premium Reductions Finalized
On January 8, 2015, President Obama announced that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) would reduce FHA annual mortgage insurance premiums (MIP) by 50 basis points. This reduction is a victory for NAR members who had called for lower fees on FHA loans since early 2014. NAR lead a coordinated effort with other advocacy groups to educate the Department of Housing & Urban Development and the Administration about the critical need to reduce these fees through letters and in-person meetings with then FHA Commissioner Galante. In addition, NAR worked with 17 Senators to send a letter to HUD Secretary Castro asking him to set FHA premiums at a level that “balances both sustainability and affordability.”
For more information visit: www.realtor.org/fha
NUMBERS AND CENTS
 |
 |
 |
| $1 million | 197K | 229 |
| Money raised for the Corporate Ally Program in 2015. | Number of members, or 20.7%, who participated in the G-fees Call for action. | Number of state and local independent expenditure campaigns complete in 2015. |
YOUR INVESTMENT AT WORK
Support Candidates, Issues or Both
Acting on issues important to real estate and supporting elected officials that control those issues are components of making the REALTOR® Party successful and promoting a vibrant business environment. Corporate Ally Program investors now can choose to direct their investment to support either candidates and/or issues.
- Investments directed to candidate independent expenditures (IE) will be split equally between the NAR Federal IE Program and the NAR State and Local IE Program.
- Investment directed to Issues Advocacy will be split equally between the NAR Public Issues Advocacy Program and the NAR State and Local Issues Mobilization Program.
Money collected in 2015 for the federal independent expenditure program will be used in 2016. Below is a state breakdown of independent expenditures completed in 2015.
| State | No. of Campaigns | Amount |
| AL | 1 | $118,309 |
| CA | 8 | $109,528 |
| CO | 3 | $64,149 |
| DC | 1 | $6,051 |
| FL | 7 | $196,175 |
| GA | 4 | $28,376 |
| IA | 2 | $60,196 |
| IL | 25 | $183,779 |
| KS | 3 | $14,645 |
| LA | 10 | $529,142 |
| MD | 3 | $11,300 |
| MO | 6 | $37,331 |
| MS | 23 | $114,369 |
| NJ | 14 | $469,338 |
| NM | 1 | $14,183 |
| NY | 4 | $45,176 |
| OH | 6 | $105,361 |
| OK | 1 | $563 |
| PA | 13 | $108,700 |
| SC | 7 | $16,739 |
| TN | 1 | $14,489 |
| TX | 11 | $117,425 |
| UT | 33 | $87,962 |
| VA | 34 | $448,257 |
| WA | 8 | $120,794 |
| Total | 229 | $3,022,349 |
Corporate Ally Program Event Requests
Interested in learning more about the Corporate Ally Program? Have a Corporate Investment Council member speak at your next event. Use the REALTOR® Party Director & Liaison Request Form and select the Corporate Ally Program under type of event.