new laws New Laws, continued from page 11
Real Estate Signs HB 34 (Albo) Advertising within Fairfax County Highway Rights-of-Way Despite protracted debate in the General Assembly, at the end of the session, the rules for posting directional real estate signs in Fairfax County remained unchanged:
• signs should not be placed in the medians or in the vision triangle formed by two intersecting streets
However, the bill did clarify the enforcement powers of Fairfax County to remove illegal signs and impose fines, and County officials have indicated to NVAR that they will enforce these regulations. It is expected that Fairfax will only enforce major violations on weekends, but please remember that signs in the highway right-of-way have always been—and remain—illegal.
• signs should not be attached to highway sign posts, telephone poles or other objects in the right-of-way
Though this legislation was specific to Fairfax County, other area jurisdictions also set regulations on offsite directional real estate signs. NVAR maintains a list of these regulations on the Government Affairs page of nvar.com. Realtors® posting directional signs should check local rules to avoid any penalties for possible violations.
• no more than five signs may be used per property, and signs advertising the same property cannot be placed within 500 feet of each other beside the right-of-way of one street
NVAR urges members to obey area sign laws. Continued violations by a few members are jeopardizing the rights of all members to use signs as a marketing tool.
• balloons, flags or other moving items attached to signs are prohibited
with private companies to conduct inspections, but those inspectors must follow the same policies as local employees.
Other Key Real Estate Legislation SB 409 (Hanger), Recordation Tax on Refinancing Previous Virginia law applied the recordation tax to refinancing applications made with a lender other than the original, but exempted those that refinanced with the same lender. This legislation applies the recordation tax to all refinancing applications equally, regardless of lender status, but at a reduced rate. Rather than the current state rate of 25 cents ($0.25) per $100, refinancing will be subject to a rate of 18 cents ($0.18) per $100 on mortgages up to $10 million, decreasing by 2 cents per $100 for each additional $10 million in value.
See go.nvar.com/2012laws for all 2012 Virginia real estate legislation, including the following subjects: Condominium and Property Owners’ Association Act Landlord-Tenant Insurance Mortgage Lending Taxation Transportation Land Use and Development
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HB 1068 (Hugo), Commercial Property Tax This bill extends the current cap on commercial property tax earmarked for transportation at 12.5 cents ($0.125) per $100 of assessed value until June 30, 2018. This tax is assessed at the option of the localities encompassed by the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority: Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax County, Fairfax City, Falls Church, Loudoun, and Prince William. Currently, Fairfax County, Arlington and Fairfax City impose the tax. HB 502 (Dance)/SB 34 (Locke), Receipts for Rental Payments This legislation allows a tenant to request a written receipt from the landlord when paying rent with cash or money order. In addition, if the tenant requests such information, the landlord shall provide within 10 business days a written accounting of the tenant’s debits and credits over the past 12 months. 12 http://go.nvar.com/1203
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