Illinois REALTOR® April 2016

APRIL 2016

THE VOICE FOR REAL ESTATE IN ILLINOIS

License Law RPAC • RVOICE A LOOK BACK:

100 YEARS OF

ADVOCACY

9 Marketing Strategies for Spring Best Apps for REALTORS®

www.illinoisrealtor.org

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CONTENTS APRIL 2016

Departments 4 President’s Message: New Name; Same Mission 5 What’s Online: Happy Birthday, Illinois REALTORS® 5 Marketwatch 6 Quick Takes: Fair Housing Month, NAR 100 Years, IDFPR Goes Paperless, Illinois Buyers and Sellers Profile 12 Legal Update: Affiliated Title Companies and MSAs 13 Professional Standards: Advertising Rules

p. 14

26 At the Capitol: 1996 Transfer Tax Flashback 37 RVOICE: Advocacy Protects REALTORS® from Cloud, Transfer Taxes 39 REALTOR® Community

ILLINOIS REALTORS®

THE VOICE FOR REAL ESTATE IN ILLINOIS

Features

9 14 For recaps and photos from anniversary events throughout 2016: www.iarbuzz.com www.illinoisrealtor.org/anniversary #IAR100YearsStrong

18 21 25

Nine New Marketing Strategies for Spring Illinois REALTORS®: History Defined by a Commitment to Advocacy RPAC Shows History of Growth; Stronger Voice for REALTORS® GAD Program Provides Protection at the Local Level Conference & Expo Speaker Craig Grant: Best Apps for REALTORS®

ILLINOIS REALTOR® April 2016

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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Mike Drews | GRI, 2016 President

NAME CHANGES; COMMITMENT TO FIGHTING FOR PROPERTY RIGHTS, INDUSTRY REMAINS Throughout our history, the state’s REALTORS® have been part of an association which operated under a number of names.

Founded as the Real Estate Association of Illinois on April 25, 1916, our organization later became the Illinois REALTORS® Association, the Illinois Association of Real Estate Boards and finally, in 1973, the Illinois Association of REALTORS®.

Beginning this month, your association takes on its fifth name, Illinois REALTORS®.

Why the change?

Over the years, most people dropped the “association of” in our name in favor of just calling our 44,000-member association ‘Illinois REALTORS®.’

The more we thought about it, the more we liked the shortened name better.

Illinois REALTORS® sounds less formal and more modern. It clearly conveys who we are, where we live and what we do.

The board of directors approved the name change in October. Its members recognized changing the association’s name this year would be notable in a year filled with notable events celebrating our first century.

No matter what we call ourselves, the mission of the Illinois REALTORS® remains unchanged from 100 years ago.

We’re still fighting for the industry and those who rely on it.

We’re still working to protect private property rights.

And we still take pride in helping families realize the American Dream of homeownership.

That won’t change this year, or the next 100 years.

After all, we are Illinois REALTORS®.

Mockup of sign in front of Illinois REALTORS® headquarters, updated with our new name, provided

by Ace Sign Co. Used with permission.

4 www.illinoisrealtor.org

ILLINOIS REALTORS® THE VOICE FOR REAL ESTATE IN ILLINOIS 2016 OFFICERS President Mike Drews, GRI mdrews@dossrealtors.com President-Elect Doug Carpenter, ABR, AHWD, GRI, SFR doug21@comcast.net

Happy Birthday, Illinois REALTORS®!

The association is celebrating 100 years of advocacy, education and ethics in 2016.

The month of April is particularly important as April 25 marks the association’s official incorporation in 1916. Learn more about this important milestone, get social media tools to help you share the news and see an online copy of the association’s historical timeline at www.illinoisrealtor.org/anniversary Come to any of the major events in 2016 and you’ll get your own 100th Anniversary pin (above).



Treasurer Matt Difanis, ABR, GRI matt@mattdifanis.com

WHAT’S ONLINE

Immediate Past President Jim Kinney, ABR, CRB, CRS, GRI, SRES jim.kinney@bairdwarner.com

Chief Executive Officer Gary Clayton, CAE, RCE Editor Jon Broadbooks Senior Editor Stephanie Sievers Content Marketing Specialist Bill Kozar Graphic Designer Katie Grant For advertising information contact Advertising & Sponsorship, (217) 529-2600, info@illinoisrealtors.org The ILLINOIS REALTOR® (ISSN 0744-221) is published four times a year during the months of January, April, July, and ­October by the Illinois REALTORS®, Post Office Box 19451, Springfield, Illinois 62794-9451. Periodical postage paid at Springfield, Illinois and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to: The ILLINOIS REALTOR®, Post Office Box 19451, Springfield, Illinois 62794-9451, 217/529-2600.

Opinions expressed in any signed articles of the ILLINOIS REALTOR ® are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Illinois R ­EALTORS®. Advertising of product or services does not imply endorsement.

Advertising rates are available at www.illinoisrealtor.org or on request. ­Annual dues of every REALTOR®, ­REALTORASSOCIATE®, and Affiliate member includes $3 for a one-year subscription to the ILLINOIS REALTOR®.

VOLUME 53: NUMBER 2 Copyright © 2016 Illinois REALTORS® All rights reserved. www.illinoisrealtor.org e-mail: info@illinoisrealtors.org blog: www.iarbuzz.com

Like us on Facebook.

Join us on LinkedIn. Follow @ILREALTOR and @ILREALTORmag on Twitter.

Subscribe to YouTube.com/illinoisrealtor

Chicago REALTOR® Sonia Anaya stands in front an oversized replica of the January Illinois REALTOR® magazine cover.

www.illinoisrealtor.org/anniversary

Princeton REALTOR® Linda Hamer and Illinois Valley Association of REALTORS® Association Executive Gail Pyszka in front of the association’s traveling timeline.

#IAR100YearsStrong

GO

MARKETWATCH A CLOSER LOOK AT THE HOUSING MARKET Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of REALTORS®, and Geoffrey Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory (REAL) at University of Illinois, offered an analysis of the real estate market at the association’s Public Policy Meetings earlier this year. The topics covered the economy, job growth, issues facing first-time buyers, foreclosures and more. Two takeaways from the presentation: (Left to right) Lawrence Yun and • Yun said housing inventory is low after a Geoffrey Hewings. slowdown in housing construction during the recession and the market has not yet fully recovered.

• Hewings said Illinois’ ongoing fiscal problems could create economic uncertainty and hinder future home sales and prices.

Download Yun’s presentation, “Economic and Real Estate Outlook” and Hewings’ presentation, “Housing Forecasts, 2016” at www.illinoisrealtor.org/ membermarketstats. You can also find housing forecasts, county-by-county data, market talking points and consumer infographics.

ILLINOIS REALTOR® April 2016

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QUICK TAKES FAIR HOUSING SPOTLIGHT:

Landlord, Tenants and Section 8 April is Fair Housing Month and Legal Hotline Attorney Betsy Urbance answers the question of whether, in a residential lease transaction, it is appropriate for a landlord to refuse to rent to tenants who are recipients of the federal Section 8 or housing choice voucher (Section 8) program?

Generally speaking, landlord participation in the federal Section 8 voucher program is still voluntary UNLESS there is a local ordinance that includes source of income as a protected class and the source of income class includes the Section 8 program. It is extremely important for licensees to be aware of local ordinances that can be stricter than federal or state fair housing laws. For example, both the city of Chicago and Cook County have local ordinances protecting source of income as a class, and both interpret their source of income class to include receipt of Section 8 subsidies in their definitions. As a result, if the property is located within these areas, a landlord or property manager may not deny an applicant based on their participation in the Section 8 subsidy program. The applicant could be denied for other permissible reasons, such as bad credit history, bad tenant history, a criminal record, etc. Brokers and landlords should take great care to determine whether source of income is a protected class in the areas where the subject property is located. There are a few other locations within the state of Illinois that include source of income in their local fair housing ordinances. So, it is important for the broker to research this if they get this question.

REALTOR ‘R’ Celebrates 100 Years in 2016 In 1916, the National Association of REALTORS® adopted the term “REALTOR®” and the REALTOR® mark. To help celebrate, NAR wants to hear your stories. NAR has created a website for REALTORS® to submit pictures and stories that highlight the work they’ve done across the nation. Read their stories and submit your own at 100years.REALTOR.

6.4

million

The number of seriously underwater U.S. homes — those with a home loan at least 25 percent higher than the property’s estimated market value — at the end of 2015, according to RealtyTrac’s Year-End 2015 U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report.

The good news? The number of has fallen to about half of the 12.8 million level during the 2012 peak.

Freddie Mac Video: Avoiding Mortgage Fraud Freddie Mac has a new video on the mortgage process that you can share with your clients to help them avoid any red flags when applying for a new mortgage or mortgage modification. Watch the video at http://bit.ly/1R15jq2

NAR Launches ‘Get Realtor’ Ad Campaign Technology has made it easier for consumers to take a more active role in home buying and selling, but many may not realize how important it is to have a REALTOR® involved in the process. A new ad campaign from the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) called “Get Realtor,” emphasizes the expertise and experience a REALTOR® can bring to the table. According to NAR, the campaign aims to “redefine the R®” and build brand awareness with today’s buyers, sellers and real estate investors, especially among Millennials and today’s hyper-connected consumer. Watch for the ads online, on television, radio and in print publications. Find out how you can use the ads at www.realtor.org/consumeradvertising-campaign.

6 www.illinoisrealtor.org

AT A GLANCE:

Illinois Buyers & Sellers

Did you know that first-time buyers make up 37 percent of all homebuyers in Illinois? Or that 25 percent of Illinois sellers offer incentives, the age of the typical Illinois buyer is 36 years old and the median age of the average home seller is 50? Get a better understanding of your potential clients with the 2015 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers Illinois Report at www.illinoisrealtor.org/webfm_send/1621 Here are a few highlights: Most commonly cited reasons for selling were the home was too small (24 percent), followed by a change in family situation (16 percent).

Typical Illinois sellers have a median income of $103,900.

The median home price in Illinois was $189,750 at 96 percent of the asking price.

IDFPR goes paperless for renewal notifications and licenses

MORTGAGE

25 percent of Illinois sellers offered incentives to attract buyers.

Illinois home sellers sold their homes for a median of $19,500 more than the purchase price.

71 percent of sellers have recommended their agent once since selling.

$189,750

TYPICAL ILLINOIS SELLERS

50

age of typical Illinois home seller

36

age of typical Illinois buyer

81

percent of sellers work with an agent to sell their home.

86

percent of buyers purchase through a real estate agent.

TYPICAL ILLINOIS BUYERS

15

FIRST TIME

• 69 percent were married couples • 17 percent were single women

Typical Illinois buyers have a median income of $90,200.

• 5 percent were single men • 8 percent were unmarried 13 percent were couples veterans.

First-time buyers made up 37 percent of all home buyers.

years • 8 percent chose a new home • 92 percent purchased a previously owned home • 14 percent bought seniororiented homes

Illinois buyers expect to live in their home for a median of 15 years.

In Illinois, 86 percent of buyers using the Internet during their home search found photos very useful.

The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) is no longer issuing paper renewal notices and licenses. All renewal and licensing documentation will be done electronically.

In a news release, IDFPR Secretary Bryan A. Schneider said the change would increase efficiency, reduce costs and provide the most up-to-date license information.

To ensure you receive future email notifications from IDFPR, check to make sure that your email address and contact information are upto-date at https://www. idfpr.com/applications/ LicenseReprint Update your name at www.idfpr. com/Forms/DPR/ DPRCOAnamechange. pdf IDFPR has created an online FAQ about the transition at www. idfpr.com/About/ PaperlessFAQ.asp If you have questions about the renewal process, you can call IDFPR at 1-800-560-6420.

ILLINOIS REALTOR® April 2016

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2016

BROKER LICENSE RENEWAL

9

g n i t e k r a M New w o n e s u o t s e i g e t a Str art J u m p st

E

very year brings a new selection of marketing tools, applications, tricks and strategies aimed at helping agents and brokers market themselves and their listings.

How do you know which ones are worth your time and which ones aren’t?

Illinois REALTOR® spoke with agents, brokers and experts to find out what works best when it comes to using the tried-and-true offline methods and mixing them up with some new digital and online strategies that you might not have tried before. Here are nine strategies that you’ll want to incorporate into your own toolkit.

1

Embrace the online “review” process. No one likes to read nega-

tive or even lukewarm reviews about their services online, but as Webbased reviews have grown in popularity, so has the need to address online feedback.

“Agents need to take control of the online review process,” says Ben Scandlen, CEO of The Way Company (thewayco.com), a Ben Scandlen marketing automation firm. “Research shows that 90 percent of customers read reviews online prior to making a decision and if a real estate agent doesn’t proactively manage the review process his or her business can be affected by even one negative review.”

Scandlen advises agents to use a service such as SurveyMonkey or Google Surveys to consistently ask for feedback from clients throughout the relationship.

“If the client gives negative feedback, ideally the agent can address the issue before the client writes a public review,” he says. What if the client gives positive

ctics a t g n i t marke s ’ m r fi e your d a r g p rea or u get McC

By Brid

feedback? “Ask them to leave the review on a real estate website,” says Scandlen.

2

Link your social media accounts together. Managing

multiple social media accounts can be a burden, but Chase Michels, a licensed assistant at Brush Hill Realtors in Downers Grove, has streamlined the process with IFTTT (If This Then That, (ifttt.com). The platform allows him to tie together Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and other social media accounts with one application. “When we post an update, it goes out to all of the social Chase Michels media platforms,” says Michels. “It’s a great time-saver and it helps us keep all of our accounts up to date.” He also uses the platform to search Craigslist for new listings in his area and to auto-post listings that Brush Hill Realtors is running on the site.

3

“Boost” Your Facebook posts.

When Brush Hill Realtors has an open house, Michels allocates $5 a day to “boosting” an event-related post on the company’s Facebook business page. He uses a similar approach with new listings. The boost allows Michels to target a specific demographic (e.g., 35to 56-year-old Facebook and Instagram users with more than $100,000 in annual income and who are located within a three-mile radius of the listing). You can boost a page, post, photo or other content by clicking the “boost posts” link at the bottom of the page on Facebook, says Michels. “Facebook has the most data out of any social media site,” he says, “so it’s a very good place to target your audience and make sure you’re not wasting

your marketing dollars on an audience that’s not interested, too far away, or that can’t afford to buy the house in question.”

4

Get interactive with your floor plans. Peruse the listings

5

Give your email newsletter a modern-day facelift. Agents

on Realtor.com right now and you’ll find a small percentage of agents using a new tool to market their listings: interactive floor plans. They’re using these interactive floor plans to give viewers a true feel for what it would be like to walk around in a home. Offered by companies such as MapsAlive.com, Floorplanonline.com, and FlyInside.com, an interactive floor plan usually includes an illustrated map, and lets potential buyers “click” on certain areas of the floor. From that vantage point, they can see either a video clip or an image of the actual home.

and brokers have been using email newsletters forever, but guess what? They still work, according to Max Cron, creative strategy for Online Optimism (www.onlineoptimism. com), a marketing agency in New Orleans that works with real estate agents. “Email newsletters are a key Max Cron component of building relationships in real estate,” says Cron, who suggests agents use platforms such as Emma, Constant Contact, or MailChimp to automate the email newsletter creation and distribution process.

Use the newsletter to keep both existing and prospective customers informed about your listings, speaking opportunities, closings, open houses, even personal events such as weddings, births, and

ILLINOIS REALTOR® April 2016

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graduations. Agents can take their email campaigns to the next level by integrating multimedia elements such as high-definition videos, or 360-degree photography and virtual tours in their newsletters, he says. “Buyers want to know what it will feel like to live in the house even when they’re viewing homes online. Including HD photography and 360-degree images and videos in your newsletters will help them achieve this goal,” he said.

6

Don’t ignore the merits of snail mail. In today’s “always on” world of real-time communication, it’s hard to imagine that snail mail still has a place in the agent’s marketing toolkit, but it does. In fact, both Michels and Kevin Kwit, a Realty Executives Elite broker in Lemont, say “Just Listed” and “Just Sold” postcards continue to generate interest, new listing appointments and sales for their companies. Kwit, for example, uses “What’s Your Property Worth?” postcard campaigns to attract owners who might want to list their homes for sale. He especially likes being able to specifically target geographical regions, communities and neighborhoods. “As crazy as it sounds, I think people still like having something to hold onto — something that lasts longer than an email or a social media post,” says Kwit. “When you can get your name in front of someone consistently, it sticks in their minds.”

Kevin Kwit

7

Stage your listings virtually. Who says staging a home has to cost thousands of dollars and eat up your (and your client’s) precious time? Provided by companies such as Virtually Staging, VirtualStagingSolutions.com, and Obeo (via its Obeo StyleDesigner, www.obeo.com), virtual staging allows you to place furniture, artwork, floor coverings, and other elements in a home without having to physically move those items in and out of the property. “Traditional staging is effective but expensive and time-consuming,” said Matthew J. Leone, director of Web marketing for Halstead Property, in HGTV’s How to Stage Your Home With the Click of a Mouse (www.hgtv.com/design/real-estate/how-to-stageyour-home-with-the-click-of-a-mouse). It didn’t make fiscal sense for all price points. “Virtual staging gives us the ability at all price points to creatively think for our buyers and allows them to visualize what the space can be.” *From Illinois REALTORS® Legal Services: If you choose to use virtual staging for a listing, be sure to disclose it in photos or in the listing so consumers are aware a virtual staging service has been used. You need to take care that you are not using virtual tools in a manner that would be deceptive or misleading. Read more from Illinois REALTORS ® Legal Services at www.illinoisrealtor.org/legal/issues/advertising#11 and in the REALTOR® Magazine article, “Virtual Staging: Stay True

by Disclosing,” at realtormag.realtor.org/law-and-ethics/ethics/ article/2010/06/virtual-staging-stay-true-disclosing

8

Break through the digital clutter with a “blended” approach. When the Internet became a

focal point for homebuyers and, subsequently, real estate agents, offline efforts were either left in the dust or considered completely separate from Web-based activities. That approach is changing as all industries — not just real estate — grasp the value of integrating online and offline marketing,

10 www.illinoisrealtor.org

advertising, and selling into one streamlined strategy. At MisterHomes Real Estate in Palatine, Managing Broker Matt Hernacki says his company has been putting more effort into fusing its online and offline marketing efforts. When an online lead comes in, agents will pick up the phone and attempt to make Matt Hernacki person-to-person contact within an hour or less. Then, they’ll follow up with postcards, direct mail and other methods that support the company’s Web-based marketing — all in the name of breaking through the digital clutter.

“People are so buried in information that email has basically become the digital version of ‘junk mail,’” says Hernacki.

“It’s getting harder and harder to engage prospective customers online, so we take the process offline when we can.”

9

Get serious about your real estate photography. It doesn’t take a trained eye to see that the quality

of photos in the MLS and and on online sites such as Realtor.com can be poor. From blurry photos to fisheye lenses to pictures of messy homes, the photos on these sites leave much to be desired. This presents a significant opportunity for the listing agent who does put effort into good photography and videography. And with 87 percent of buyers finding photos “very useful” during their online house hunts, according to the National Association of REALTORS® 2015 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, the payoff could be high.

“To capture the property at its best, you really should be using a professional photographer,” Michels advises, noting that Redfin reports that professionally-photographed properties sell for anywhere from $934 to $18,819 more than homes photographed by an amateur. “We understand that the Web appeal of our listings is a huge selling point, so we hire a professional photographer for all of our listings.”

About the writer: Bridget McCrea is a business, real estate and technology writer in Clearwater, Fla. She can be reached at bridgetmc@earthlink.net

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© 2015 Copyright. All Rights Reserved. Realtors Property Resource, LLC® is a member benefit of the National Association of REALTORS®.

LEGAL UPDATE Elizabeth A. (Betsy) Urbance | Illinois REALTORS® Legal Hotline Attorney; Associate, Sorling Northrup Attorneys

LEGAL ISSUES: AFFILIATED TITLE COMPANIES AND MARKETING SERVICE AGREEMENTS Q The real estate brokerage company I work for

also has ownership in a title insurance company.

We recommend our affiliated title company to our brokerage clients. Is this permissible? If so, what are the requirements to do this legally?

A Yes, this can be permissible. However, it is very important to make sure that you are in compliance with both federal and state law relating to affiliated businesses where the affiliates are settlement service providers. What are settlement service providers (SSPs)? These are services that are provided with regard to a real estate “settlement.”

Some examples of settlement services include: title searches, title examinations, the provision of title certificates, title insurance, services rendered by an attorney, the preparation of documents, property surveys, the rendering of credit reports or appraisals, pest and fungus inspections, services rendered by a real estate agent or broker, the origination of a federally related mortgage loan (including, but not limited to, the taking of loan applications, loan processing, and the underwriting and funding of loans), and the handling of the processing, and closing or settlement. (12 U.S. Code 2602(3)). As you can see, title insurance services fall under this definition.

There are several important points to know. First, affiliated businesses are governed by the federal Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) when SSPs are involved. Additionally, there is an Illinois statute governing recommendations to consumers for title insurance services.

In your case, we are discussing a real estate brokerage that is affiliated with a title insurance company. Let’s examine the RESPA requirements for settlement service providers. This discussion should answer most of the questions that arise.

RESPA provisions strictly prohibit referral fees between the SSPs, the real estate brokerage and title company in this case. This means that nothing of value can be exchanged between affiliates. However, each entity is permitted to make a return on the ownership of each company. In other words, the

12 www.illinoisrealtor.org

real estate broker might refer title business to its affiliate title company. Nothing of value is exchanged. The title company will profit from selling the title insurance and then the owners of the title company will ultimately get a return on their ownership.

Next, the affiliates must provide a written disclosure to the consumer that is separate and distinct from other documents. The very specific requirements for the disclosure form are these: • An explanation that the companies are affiliated with each other; • An explanation as to how they are affiliated or related to each other, i.e. common ownership; • An itemization of the cost for the affiliate’s service or a range of the cost for those services; • A bold and capitalized statement that the buyer/ consumer is free to shop for other service providers and is not required to use the affiliate; and, • The signature of the consumer including the date.

• This written disclosure is essential. Without this, there are RESPA violations where affiliates recommend each other’s business. If the brokerage provides a written disclosure that satisfies RESPA, it is likely to also satisfy the requirements of Illinois law. You should get specific advice from your company attorney on this question.

In addition, a real estate broker should not also work for the title company or any other SSP for that matter, unless that person is doing separate and distinct work for the other company that is not included on the list of services usually provided to the consumer when the broker is wearing his or her “broker hat.” Affiliated companies should be able to stand alone, be separately capitalized, and their list of employees or associates should not be identical to the other affiliates.

Arrangements that don’t comply will be viewed as “sham” affiliates under RESPA.

Q My brokerage company wants to enter a

marketing service agreement with a local lender where the lender will place its brochures in the real estate company lobby. Is this permissible? If so, what should my brokerage company be concerned about?

A Marketing Service Agreements, or MSAs, should be entered only with extreme caution, and are also governed by RESPA so the anti-referral fee provisions apply. The federal

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) views these arrangements with a jaundiced eye based on review of recent publications and programs (www.klgates.com/agree-to-marketor-not-to-agree-to-marketthat-is-the-question-11-10-2015).

The bottom line is that there must not be anything of value being exchanged between the SSPs (see above) for referrals of business. Attorney Phil Schulman has produced a list of Do’s and Don’ts for MSAs. (http://rismedia.com/2015-01-04/ dos-and-donts-for-marketing-agreements) If your real estate company wants to enter into an agreement with a local lender, for example, that agreement should be non-exclusive and the negotiated fee should be a flat one that will be hard to change once the MSA is entered. The MSA should be in writing and should specifically state that it is a generic marketing service agreement and in no way a referral arrangement. There mustn’t be any change in the fee paid that would be based on business gained by the lender. Schulman, a well-respected RESPA expert, recently indicated that while CFPB has not declared MSAs illegal per se, they are very risky and it is hard to create one that will comply with RESPA’s anti-kickback provisions. If your company proceeds with such an arrangement, get specific legal advice before proceeding.

GOT A LEGAL QUESTION? The Illinois REALTORS® Legal Hotline is the Designated REALTOR®/managing broker’s go-to source for legal information.

Phone: 800.952.0578 | Email: burbance@iar.org HOURS: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday GOT A LEGAL QUESTION ON TRANSACTIONS? Call the Illinois REALTORS® Transaction Helpline.

Phone: 844.647.3833 | Email: jbaker@iar.org NEED HELP RESOLVING A DISPUTE WITH A REALTOR®?

Illinois REALTORS® has a Consumer Help Line to try and resolve questions relating to real estate transactions.

Help Line: 217.529.2600 | Email: www.illinoisrealtor.org/disputes HOURS: 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday

Advertising Rules Under the Code of Ethics and the Illinois Real Estate License Act

By Rebecca Carraher | Illinois REALTORS® Professional Standards Coordinator In 2015, the association’s Ethics Citation Panel reviewed 114 complaints and issued 53 citations. The majority of the citations issued were for Article 12, advertising violations.

Effective Jan. 1, 2016 the Standard of Practice 12-5 was amended as follows: REALTORS ® shall not advertise nor permit any person employed by or affiliated with them to advertise real estate services or listed property in any medium (e.g., electronically, print, radio, television, etc.) without disclosing the name of that REALTOR’S ® firm in a reasonable and readily apparent manner either in the advertisement or in electronic advertising via a link to a display with all required disclosures.

Previously, the Standard of Practice determined that the disclosure of a firm’s name might not be practical in electronic displays of limited information (e.g., “thumbnails”, text messages, “tweets”, etc.) and exempted such displays from the disclosure requirement, but only when linked to a display that included all required disclosures.

Even though the new rule marks a significant change to the Code of Ethics, the Illinois Real Estate License Act, Section 10-30(d) is still more restrictive and reads as follows: “A sponsored licensee may not advertise under his or her own name.

Advertising in any media shall be under the direct supervision of the sponsoring or managing broker and in the sponsoring broker’s business name, which in the case of a franchise shall include the franchise affiliation as well as the name of the individual firm.”

As you can see, even with the change to Standard of Practice 12-5, a REALTOR® must still disclose the name of that REALTOR’S® firm in all advertising media as neither the Illinois

Real Estate License Act nor the Rules under the Act contain the “click-through” provision. In this case, the Act is stricter than the Code, so REALTORS® will be required to adhere to the Act. Other common violations filed through Illinois REALTORS®’ Ethics Citation Program are Article 1, Standard of Practice (SOP) 1-16 and Article 3, Standard of Practice 3-9.

SOP 1-16 states, “REALTORS® shall not access or use, or permit or enable others to access or use, listed or managed property on terms or conditions other than those authorized by the owner or seller.”

SOP 3-9 states, “REALTORS® shall not provide access to listed property on terms other than those established by the owner or the listing broker.”

• A buyer’s REALTOR® needs specific authority from the seller’s side to access a listed property.

• Generally speaking, a buyer’s REALTOR® should not allow a buyer to enter a property unaccompanied.

• Be responsible for everyone you allow to enter the property.

• Leave the property as you found it.

• Follow the rules and regulations governing lockbox use to the letter.

For more information on Illinois REALTORS®’ Ethics Citation Program, go to www.illinoisrealtor.org/disputes

ILLINOIS REALTOR® April 2016

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ILLINOIS REALTORS® • CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF ADVOCACY, EDUCATION AND ETHICS IN 2016

#IAR100YearsStrong

Illinois REALTORS®: A History Defined by a

COMMITMENT to

Advocacy

BY Stephanie

I

llinois REALTORS ’ founding mission statement in 1916 included the promise to “watch over and concern itself in all matters for the betterment and protection of real estate interests.” That focus of advocating for the industry and private property rights remains a core value today.

Whether lobbying for or against a state legislative proposal, fighting local mandates that could hurt homeownership or pushing for changes to improve the industry’s license law, the association has worked hard to make it easier for Illinois REALTORS® to do their jobs and do them well.

“The association really has become the leading voice for real estate in Illinois,” said Illinois REALTORS® President Mike Drews. “Our state and local government affairs teams are some of the best in the business and the willingness of our members to contribute to RPAC and pitch in with grassroots advocacy efforts have all helped to advance the industry.” ®

Advocacy innovator and leader

The association has realized its early goal of representing REALTORS® throughout the state. Under CEO Gary L. Clayton’s leadership, the association’s political advocacy program has grown and become a model for other REALTOR® associations.

Illinois perfected the Local Governmental Affairs Director (GAD) concept and became the first to centralize the program under the state association, providing the supervision, professional development and resources to ensure statewide coverage.

“It has really made the REALTORS® a unique and powerful force,” said Director of Governmental Affairs Greg St. Aubin The association’s RVOICE program and the new consumer-focused Real Property Alliance foundation take the REALTOR® message of protecting private property rights directly to Illinois homeowners statewide.

Another innovation has been the State Legislative Contact (SLC) program. Modeled after the National Association of REALTORS® Federal Political Coordinator (FPC) program, Illinois REALTORS® who are SLCs serve as liaisons to their local state senator or representative. Those relationships reinforce the association’s legislative agenda and as such serve as a bridge between elected officials and members in the district.

It is this multi-pronged approach to advocacy that has helped Illinois REALTORS® stand out compared to other lobbying groups in Springfield, said Assistant Director of Legislative and Political Affairs Julie Sullivan. It also allows the association to quickly mobilize when potentially harmful proposals such as fire sprinkler mandates, tax hikes or unnecessary local requirements threaten the industry.

14 www.illinoisrealtor.org

Sievers | Senior Editor

100 YEARS of Advocacy Milestones From its inception, the association has been a strong advocate for the industry, whether it was fighting for or against legislative proposals that would affect the business or pushing for license law changes to improve professionalism. Here are a few of the major advocacy and license law milestones over the last century:

1921 – Just five years after its

formation, the association successfully defeats the Kessinger rent–control bill in 1921 that would have allowed municipalities to set rental prices in communities.

1922 – One of association’s

early goals is realized when Illinois’ first real estate license law takes effect on Jan. 1, 1922.

It is amended later to require more investigation into an applicant’s character. Applicants had to give sufficient legal consent before being given a license and the law made it easier to revoke a license for dishonesty and incompetence.

1925 – Property taxes are a

1931 – The license law is

1933 – Illinois REALTORS®

successfully lobby for tax reform that put a limit — initially 1.5 percent of the property’s total cash value — on property taxes.

1957 – The real estate license law requires written examinations for brokers and salesmen. Licenses could also be suspended or revoked if licensees used misleading or untruthful advertising or used the term REALTOR® if not authorized to do so.

1961 – The license law

requires a high school diploma or certificate in order to take the broker’s exam.

1966 – The Illinois Supreme

Court rules in the landmark case, Chicago Bar Association v. Quinlan and Tyson Inc., establishing the respective roles of real estate brokers and lawyers in the real estate transaction process. The ruling still shapes the industry today.

1968 – The Real Estate

Transfer Act takes effect and states that any real estate transfer by deed is subject to state tax, something the association keeps fighting.

1973 – The Real Estate

Recovery Fund is created to protect property owners from damages caused by broker violations of the license law.

The annual Capitol Conference “REALTOR® Lobby Day” is a prime example of the association’s grassroots political advocacy in action.

The first Capitol Conference was held in 1977 and though the format has evolved over the years, the mission is the same: give Illinois REALTORS® a chance to meet with state legislators and show the collective power of our members.

Building relationships with elected officials is important, says Champaign REALTOR® and longtime Capitol Conference attendee Max Mitchell. When the personal connections exist, legislators know they can turn to REALTORS® for insight when they want to know more about a particular issue, he said.

In the earliest days, there wasn’t just one Capitol Conference, but a series of smaller events. At one point there were as many as 35 in a year featuring individual local associations on different days, Mitchell said. His wife, Betsy, is a former Illinois REALTORS® lobbyist who was in charge of the early local lobby days. The visiting contingents were smaller, legislative Marilyn Glazer’s trips to Springfield sparked an interest in advocacy that has continued briefings were more informal and REALTORS® would throughout her career. Here the Skokie have lunch with local legislators before heading to the REALTOR® is pictured with former Gov. Jim Capitol.

Thompson.

Even then, Illinois REALTORS® could be counted on to explain how decisions in Springfield impact the real estate industry at the local level.

Skokie REALTOR® Marilyn Glazer describes the early Capitol Conferences as “rough and tumble” and remembers being quickly thrown into the mix on her first trip to Springfield in the 1970s. Then-Illinois REALTORS® CEO Bob Cook introduced Glazer to her new state representative, Alan Greiman, and said “you know the issues; tell them to Alan,” and walked away, leaving her to forge a connection, which she did.

Champaign REALTOR® Max Mitchell talks By 1987, the Capitol Conference had become the a legislator during a Capitol Conference ® one-day event that it is today. Illinois REALTORS have with event. met with governors, other state constitutional officers and heard from leading housing experts during their visits to Springfield over the years.

Illinois lawmakers are impressed by the large REALTOR® turnout at Capitol Conference, but the event serves a second purpose as well, says Julie Sullivan, assistant director of Legislative and Political Affairs. REALTORS® are the best advocates for the real estate industry and attending Capitol Conference can inspire them to become more involved in advocacy, she said.

“They see it in operation. They see how we’re perceived at the Capitol. They may see a few votes in committee or on the floor,” Sullivan said. “It really helps them connect the dots and see what our advocacy efforts are all about.”

“Illinois REALTORS®, individually and collectively as an association, provide a unique example of serving their clients and customers, while at the same time working for the betterment of property owners and the cities, villages and municipalities were they work and reside,” said CEO Gary L. Clayton. “Our association’s commitment to dedicating such a great amount of resources to protecting the private property rights of an unknowing public — year in and year out — would be incomprehensible in most circles. But it has been our members’ steadfast mission for the last 100 years and Illinois REALTORS® are well positioned to continue protecting private property rights and advocating for consumers for the next 100 years.”

Advocating for a stronger industry through the license law

Another major advocacy focus has been the state’s real estate license law. The association pushed for the first license law, which went into effect in 1922, and has continued to be at the forefront of making sure the license law regulating REALTORS® promotes

ILLINOIS REALTOR® April 2016

15

ILLINOIS REALTORS® • CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF ADVOCACY, EDUCATION AND ETHICS IN 2016

amended to require that applicants complete a competency requirement.

Capitol Conference REALTOR® Lobby Day #IAR100YearsStrong

perennial issue and even in 1925, Illinois REALTORS® were arguing against real estate being forced to carry such a large portion of Illinois’ tax burden.

In 1928, the association helped pass a constitutional amendment requiring property be taxed based on value.

ILLINOIS REALTORS® • CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF ADVOCACY, EDUCATION AND ETHICS IN 2016

#IAR100YearsStrong

1978 – The association wins a

professionalism and reflects a changing case which gives the state, industry. not local governments, the Education and competency requirements responsibility of licensing have been strengthened. Rules outlining everyand regulating REALTORS®. thing from standards of practice to agency 1981 – Illinois requirements have evolved REALTORS® over the years. Licensing catsucceed in egories have been enhanced helping elimiand the disciplinary guidenate the state’s lines have expanded. mortgage What began years ago as usury law, a basic license law creating which artifibasic standards for an unregIllinois REALTOR® magazine cially capped ulated industry has evolved the interest a lender could into a 60-page document governing all aspects charge on a mortgage, limof real estate licensing. Every step of the way, iting homeownership.

Illinois REALTORS® have had a role in shaping the law to best uphold industry professionalism.

1983 – License law changes eliminate inconsistencies and fine–tune the Real Estate Recovery Fund to cover consumers who are unable to recover damages from the broker who caused them harm.

1989 – A license law rewrite includes provisions for agency disclosure.

1992 – Illinois becomes the

first state in the county to enact a Commercial Brokers Lien Act providing commercial brokers with lien protections in real estate transactions.

1995 – An amendment to the

license law recognizes limited liability companies as acceptable entities for real estate brokerage.

1996 – In a hard–fought battle, the association successfully lobbies for legislation requiring home rule units to get voter approval on transfer taxes.

1998 – In 1998, the U.S. Court

of Appeals rules in favor of REALTORS® and declares Illinois’ real estate “anti– solicitation” law unconstitutional. The law criminalized the solicitation of homeowners if they had asked not to be contacted.

Right: 1991 Illinois REALTORS® Lobby Day

16 www.illinoisrealtor.org

Building stronger communities

The advocacy efforts of Illinois REALTORS® have not only built a strong member association but have also made sure that consumers and priIllinois REALTORS® eminent domain mailer. vate property rights are top of mind when governments consider legislation or proposals.

REALTORS® are by their nature, community service-minded, and that is reflected in the association’s work in Springfield and communities around the state, St. Aubin said.

“We’ve always been Illinois REALTORS® join a coalimore than a lobbying tion rally to stop the proposed organization,” he said. gross receipts tax in 2007.

“From the very beginning of our organization, it was as much about lobbying and watching out for our members as it has been being a constructive participant in our communities.”

Read more about the association’s successes with the REALTORS® Political Action Committee (RPAC) on page 18 and get to know Illinois’ 12 local Governmental Affairs Directors (GADS) and some of that program’s milestones on page 21.

1999 – Illinois REALTORS®

successfully fights “smart growth” attempts to mandate land use and building covenants aimed at curbing growth and suburban sprawl.

2000 – The Real Estate

License Act of 2000 goes into effect. In 2009, it is rewritten including more consumer protections, making changes to education requirements, eliminating the salesperson category and implementing the broker and managing broker categories.

2006 – The association

plays a key role in helping to rewrite the state’s eminent domain law after launching an extensive lobbying and advocacy campaign to reach consumers.

2007 – Illinois REALTORS®

lead a coalition in lobbying against former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s proposal to shift the state away from corporate income taxes and toward a gross receipts tax. The association conducts a study on the negative impact the proposal would have on the housing industry and helps fund a media campaign against the bill.

Today – The association con-

tinues to successfully fight against local mandates and proposals — fire sprinkler mandates, local inspections and others — that can have a negative impact on private property rights.

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#IAR100YearsStrong ILLINOIS REALTORS® • CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF ADVOCACY, EDUCATION AND ETHICS IN 2016

RPAC shows history of growth, stronger voice for REALTORS® 1976 RPAC button

By Bill Kozar | Content Marketing Specialist In 45 years, the mission of the REALTORS® Political Action Committee (RPAC) has never changed, even though it has raised more than $21.8 million and communication tools have become more sophisticated, says Greg St. Aubin, Illinois REALTORS® director of government affairs.

RPAC Milestones 1969 — The Real Estate Political Action Committee (REPAC) starts nationally.

1970 — Illinois Real Estate

As one of two staff liaisons to Illinois REALTORS®’ Political Education Committee RPAC Board of Trustees, St. Aubin says RPAC continues to (REPEC) starts as a voluntary, nonpromote the election of pro-REALTOR® candidates and to profit, unincorporated commitprotect business and private property rights. tee, not affiliated with any politi® In 2015, Illinois REALTORS ’ RPAC raised a record cal party. The first meeting was $1,096,944, exceeding the $1 million mark for the second held at the Sheraton Motor Inn in consecutive year and the sixth time in the last 11 years. That Springfield on Jan. 9, 1970, with is quite a change from its first year, 1971, when it raised John Whitehead of Rockford as $35,343. chairman.

The state’s REALTOR® political action commit1974 tee effort has its roots in the 1970s when it was formed to — NAR address a lack of transparency in campaign donations, St. REPAC’s name Aubin said. It has grown substantially over the past four changes to ® decades, providing REALTORS with better knowledge REALTORS® of candidates who understand Political Action REALTOR® issues and providCommittee ing money to those candidates’ (RPAC). election bids.

“Education is critical,” 1979 — RPAC says Julie Sullivan, Illinois becomes the larg1974 RE REALTORS®’ assistant est political action PEC pam p h le director for legislative and t committee in the REPAC logo, ca. 1973.

U.S. with more than political affairs and a staff liai$1 million in contributions to fedson to the PAC’s trustees. “We eral candidates during the 1977-78 help members understand the elections. importance of RPAC, so they will support it. The RPAC trust1980 — The NAR REALTORS® ees decide how to use our funds Independent Expenditure (IE) to educate the public and elected Program is launched as an extenIllinois RPAC logo, 2016 officials about the candidates sion of RPAC to provide electoral who believe in the core principles we advocate.” support to targeted candidates.

One of those who sees the value of maintaining a strong 1982 — All 50 states and the PAC presence is Daniel L. Goodwin, chairman and CEO of District of Columbia have cooperathe Inland Real Estate Group of Companies in Oak Brook. tive agreements with RPAC and Goodwin has been a consistent supporter of RPAC over the have state PACs. years, and has been inducted into the National Association of REALTORS®’ RPAC Hall of Fame.

1986 — RPAC launches Golden “RPAC has helped residential and commercial real R program, requiring an initial estate professionals get their message out during the last 45 $5,000 individual contribution. years,” Goodwin said. “And it continues today with issues like the proposed repeal of Section 1031 of the tax code.

1989 — The NAR Opportunity Race Program begins by disbursWhile some are lobbying Congress for change, RPAC helps ing $40,000 for us explain that like-kind exchanges contribute to the growth two REALTOR® of our economy by stimulating transactional activity and candidates. promoting investments. They also allow property owners to defer capital gains taxes.”

Left: 1990 RPAC logo

18 www.illinoisrealtor.org

1995 — RPAC raises the amount shared with states to 70 percent (formerly 65 percent) and launches its first national fundraising effort.

Once states meet their national RPAC goal, they can keep 100 percent of funds for state elections.

RPAC logo, ca. 1990s

1999 — RPAC becomes the largest PAC contributor for candidates, meeting its fairshare goal of $10 per member for the first time ever.

2002 — Doug Carpenter of Mokena, Illinois REALTORS® President-elect, becomes the first Illinois member of the NAR RPAC Hall of Fame. “Dick Crosby was one of the first people to educate me about the value of RPAC,” Carpenter says. “I saw the need to support RPAC — not only for members’ sake but to protect the rights of private property owners. I budgeted for it every year. I still do.”

2003 — RPAC raises its fair-share goal to $15 a member.

2004 — Illinois REALTORS® CEO Gary Clayton, President John C. Kmiecik, President-elect John Veneris and Treasurer Stan Sieron lay the foundation for reaching $1 million for RPAC fundraising by making it the 2004 goal. Though Illinois REALTORS® fell short of the goal, Kmiecik said: “We succeeded in creating a culture of giving to RPAC. We focused on building the number of major investors. After the year was over, the AE’s, our leaders and other contributors said, ‘We can do this next year!’”

Strategy For Legislative Success

NAR RPAC Triple Crown Award

RPAC

No doubt about it. It requires a well funded PAC to fund the campaigns of real estate-friendly candidates…and to build the credibility of your profession as an effective and influential group.

2009 — Coinciding with the country’s economic downturn, Illinois REALTORS® fundraising year ends under $1 million ($751,867).

2014 — Illinois REALTORS® wins the NAR Triple Crown Award and exceeds $1 million fundraising mark for the first time in six years ($1,076,983). The Triple Crown is defined by meeting NAR’s RPAC participation goal, the national fundraising goal, the Major Investor goal and the Presidential Circle goal. Phil Chiles, 2014 Illinois REALTORS® president, says: “Winning the Triple Crown was a huge achievement. Illinois had never won it before. Our extreme push with RPAC Ambassadors enabled us to meet our participation goals for the first time.”

2015 — Illinois REALTORS® raises a record $1,096,944 for the year.

Who are our current RPAC Trustees and what do they do?

The RPAC Trustees have general supervision and control over the affairs and funds of the REALTORS® Political Action Committee. Learn more: www.illinoisrealtor. org/Member/committees/ RPAC.

The new Political Advocacy Fund (PAF) supports local association political initiatives and the “Illinois Association of REALTORS® Fund,” an Independent Expenditure (IE) political committee to elect REALTORS® and REALTOR® Party Champions.

Today — To date, 44 Illinois REALTORS® have been inducted into the RPAC Hall of Fame.

Sources: “100 Years in Celebration of the American Dream,” edited by Stacey Moncrieff (NAR, 2007) and Illinois REALTORS® archives.

Your REALTOR® political team is among the best in Illinois, with high credibility and an impressive track record of wins on your behalf.

Protection and influence you could never achieve on your own

ILLINOIS REALTORS® • CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF ADVOCACY, EDUCATION AND ETHICS IN 2016

2005 — Illinois REALTORS® raises more than $1 million for RPAC for the first time ($1,036,628), setting a record. It marks the first of four consecutive years of RPAC fundraising exceeding $1 million.

Effective lobbying

How do I reach the next level of RPAC support?

NAR RPAC Investors programs: • RPAC Hall of Fame (at least $25,000 lifetime investment) • President’s Circle ($2,000 in addition to Major Investor) • Golden R ($5,000 initially/$2,000 to sustain) • Crystal R ($2,500/$1,500 to sustain) • Sterling R ($1,000) Illinois REALTORS® recognizes NAR programs and offers additional recognition: • Emerald R ($2,000) • Ruby R ($1,500) • Governor’s Club ($500) • Capitol Club ($250) • Gold Inner Circle ($99) • Silver Inner Circle ($50) Get more information about these programs and RPAC Pacesetters at: www.illinoisrealtor.org/rpac/ programs.

The 2016 trustees are: • Dan Wagner, chair, Chicago • Chris Seniker, vice chair, Edwardsville • Loretta Alonzo-Deubel, LaGrange Park • Sonia Anaya, Chicago • Richard Davis, Marion • Jeff Gregory, Plainfield • Jim Kinney, Chicago • Jeff Kolbus, Peoria • Lynn Madison, Schaumburg • Ed Neaves, Bloomington • Piero Orsi, Gurnee • Michael Parent, Wheaton • Chris Studebaker, Geneva

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ILLINOIS REALTOR® April 2016

#IAR100YearsStrong

You

Yes, you. You vote. Plus, you have influence with your family, friends, colleagues and customers.

We depend on you to leverage your influence in urging them to support pro-real estate candidates.

19

By Bill Kozar | Content Marketing Specialist

It was through the efforts of Metropolitan Governmental Affairs Liaison Paul Williams that Illinois REALTORS® fought to protect REALTORS® and property owners from municipal ordinances, rules and procedures that increased red tape, infringed on their rights, raised taxes and imposed fees on real estate transactions.

Then, in 1989, Illinois REALTORS® hired Mike Scobey as coordinator of local govenmental affairs to work with local associations on hometown issues. Like Williams, Scobey worked with local associations and local governments, largely in northeastern Illinois.

Then, in March 1996, when the Chicago Association of REALTORS®’ (CAR) local government affairs director left, that association’s leaders asked for recommendations on a replacement.

“It was a lightbulb moment,” says Illinois REALTORS® Director of Governmental Affairs Greg St. Aubin. “I asked Gary (Clayton, Illinois REALTORS® Chief Executive Officer) ‘Why not hire our own GAD?’”

Not long after, Mike Mini was hired as Illinois REALTORS®’ first local GAD. Soon, other local Illinois associations started asking Illinois REALTORS® to hire GADs to represent their interests.

In 20 years, the program has grown from one local GAD to 12, including Scobey, who is now the Assistant Director of Advocacy and Local Issues, and serves as the local GAD for Oak Park Association of REALTORS® and liaison to the Northern Illinois Commercial Association of REALTORS®.

“The unique thing about Illinois REALTORS®’ local GAD program is that we’ve done so much more than simply providing local members with lobbying representation,” St. Aubin says: “We’re fully integrated and embedded in our philosophy of what we do. We commit huge resources toward backing up the GADs with cutting-edge advocacy tools that make the REALTOR® voice heard loud and clear at the local level.”

These tools include: • Access to expert legal analyses by association attorneys and through NAR’s Land Use Initiative Program.

• The ability to do targeted mailings.

• Robocalls and live calls.

• Grassroots mobilization to engage members and the public on critical issues.

• The ability to conduct economic impact studies and polling on issues to back up positions with strong data.

• The ability to access RPAC funding to support the election of local policymakers who understand REALTOR® issues.

Local GAD Team Members

Mike Scobey (Assistant Director of Advocacy and Local Issues, Oak Park and Northern Illinois Commercial)

Kristopher Anderson (Chicago)

Kyle Anderson (Egyptian, Greater Gateway, Southwestern Illinois)

Brian Bernardoni (Chicago)

Conor Brown (Belvidere, Heartland, Northwestern Illinois, Rockford Area)

Gideon Blustein (Livingston County, Three Rivers)

Kristie Engerman (Bloomington-Normal, Mid Valley, Quincy, Peoria Area)

Alex Finke (Fox Valley, HomeTown, Illini Valley, Quad City)

Howard Handler (North ShoreBarrington, Mainstreet)

Tom Joseph (Kankakee-Iroquois Ford, Mainstreet)

Neil Malone (Capital Area, Central Illinois, Champaign County, Danville, Decatur and Logan County)

Jeff Merrinette (Mainstreet)

ILLINOIS REALTOR® April 2016

21

ILLINOIS REALTORS® • CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF ADVOCACY, EDUCATION AND ETHICS IN 2016

Local real estate issues and the rights of local property owners have been important to Illinois REALTORS® since its founding in 1916, but the roots of today’s local Governmental Affairs Director (GAD) program got their start in the late 1970s.

#IAR100YearsStrong

GAD program provides protection at local level

ILLINOIS REALTORS® • CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF ADVOCACY, EDUCATION AND ETHICS IN 2016

#IAR100YearsStrong

Scobey and local GADS Brian Bernardoni, Jeff Merrinette and Kyle Anderson shared their thoughts on the program’s successes:

Q. Why do we have a local GAD program?

SCOBEY: “Even though local real estate issues have always been key to our members, in the late 1980s, home rule units started to discover how they could use their relatively new power. Ordinances on point-of-sale home inspection requirements, real estate transfer taxes, development impact fees, ever-escalating property taxes contributed to the need to monitor local government and then speak up about these policy proposals whenever and wherever they came up.”

BERNARDONI: “From my perspective, the City of Chicago and Cook County have so many different policymakers who could impact real estate that it necessitates having vigilant watchdogs observing the issues. Sometimes, what happens in Chicago can have an impact on other municipalities, especially tax policy and zoning/building codes.”

warmly by members who knew me and had worked with me in the past. I surrounded myself with knowledgeable members who were vested in making sure we were headed in the right direction.”

Q. What were some of the most significant issues in the early days?

MERRINETTE: “Early in my career, in the early ’90s, the big issue was sign ordinances. There were a few towns which banned ‘for sale’ signs, and we overturned those prohibitions in a couple of years.”

BERNARDONI: “The market in 2002-2003 was just starting to grow,” says Bernardoni, “so development issues such as affordable housing, building sprinklers and building codes were at the forefront. Health care and banks in real estate also were prominent. We were also mindful of issues of the Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance (RLTO) and diversity.”

Q. How were GADs received when they started?

Q. How did Illinois REALTORS®’s program compare to other state association programs?

SCOBEY: “I think we were well-received because

SCOBEY: “In the early ’90s, few other state associations of

REALTORS could take some comfort in knowing a staffer was monitoring municipal governments, then taking action and mobilizing members when necessary.” ®

BERNARDONI: “I was a lobbyist for the Building Owners and Managers Association of Chicago, representing the highrise office building industry, and I was an executive director for an economic development organization, so I was very familiar with the industry and the players. I was received

REALTORS® hired professional staff members to serve as local government affairs directors. Also, Illinois REALTORS® did something that few other associations did: we hired and trained GADs. From that came the ability to share experiences, learn from each other and draw upon Illinois REALTORS® resources.”

BERNARDONI: “I think it is evident we have long been ahead of the curve. Boards across the nation have copied many of

Congratulations Illinois REALTORS® on your

100 Year Anniversary!

Board of Directors and Staff at North Shore-Barrington Association of REALTORS®

22 www.illinoisrealtor.org

Q. What was one of your biggest victories as a GAD? MERRINETTE: “One of my biggest victories is actually a series of smaller victories. For more than 20 years, I have sorted through reams of traffic studies and reports for the DuPage County Impact Fee Advisory Subcommittee. While not glamourous, this work has held down the number of impact fees new homeowners must pay into the road system. Each year, I review the traffic reports and weed out all the projects that are not due to ‘new development,’ and this satisfies the court’s order that impact fees must be ‘uniquely and specifically attributable’ to new growth. In fact, we are re-evaluating the question of the need for road impact fees in DuPage County. I would love to be on the committee when we recommend dissolution of road impact fees.

“Another highlight was our constant battle with the Village of Bensenville. The mayor held absolute power over building inspections and real estate transfers there. When he decided to fight Chicago over the expansion of O’Hare Airport, he instituted several draconian inspection programs. We helped recruit a mayoral candidate to oppose him and a full slate of opposition trustees who won their races and took office. We recently did very much the same thing in Broadview last year.”

ANDERSON: “My greatest victory was working with Belleville city leaders to stop a vacant property ordinance. It would have cost property owners collectively more than $18,000 every six months for registration plus require increased insurance and inspection scrutiny. The ordinance was killed in committee and a partnership formed between the city and local REALTORS® to help address derelict properties.

“Also, I hope to use a grant to assess the current housing stock and set up a plan to help revitalize some of these declining neighborhoods. This is a fine example of REALTORS® providing solutions for local problems to help make our communities better.

We were the only people at the table making the case against the vacant property registration and urging a more proactive approach to improving the housing situation.”

SUCCESS TOGETHER

By Rebecca Jensen President and CEO of Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED)

I

love to talk about victories — who doesn’t?

We had a great one earlier this year, and it would not have happened without MRED’s partner associations working closely with us to get a great result. Government affairs was indispensable, too!

During the summer of 2015, MRED and the local associations in the Chicagoland area became aware that the city of Chicago had made changes to an existing ordinance that could result in tax liability for REALTORS®, MRED and the associations. Colloquially referred to as the “Cloud Tax,” the new verbiage identified payments for real estate data as something that may be taxable in the city of Chicago. Exactly who and how they would be responsible was not clear.

The Chicago Association of REALTORS® (CAR) spearheaded efforts amongst the associations to submit a Request for Private Letter Ruling asking that fees for MLS data access be exempt from the tax. MRED, on advice of legal counsel, submitted a separate request, identifying many of the same issues. Concurrent with these requests, lobbying efforts were made via CAR’s Senior Director of Government Affairs, Brian Bernardoni. No stone was left unturned in this effort to shield association members and MRED customers from taxation for doing their business.

Both CAR and MRED were contacted in late December by the city of Chicago, and after meetings we each received the rulings in writing in January: MRED MLS access fees are exempt!

These rulings by the city mean that MRED’s Chicago customers in the twelve MRED local REALTOR® associations will not have to pay a tax on their MLS services. The percentage assessed could have ranged from 5.5 percent to 9 percent of what real estate professionals have been charged, adding to each brokers’ expense to do business on a monthly basis. This ruling saves members hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in tax, and saves the associations and MRED all the staff hours relating to collecting and paying the tax.

This was a significant victory for real estate professionals.

The ruling has meaning across the country, to other jurisdictions that are considering this type of tax. MRED could not be prouder of the collaborative efforts made. What a great example of high level “hand in glove” cooperation between MRED and our local association partners on a critical issue. We always work so well together, and I’m thrilled to celebrate this great win for our customers and REALTOR® association members!

I hope this serves as a great reminder to everyone of the value of your association membership, and in particular how impactful NAR, Illinois REALTORS® and your local association can be to your bottom line, especially when government affairs issues are involved.

As always, MRED stands ® ready to provide award winning customer service to anyone who Midwest Real Estate Data REinventing MLS contacts us. Please feel free to get in touch with our Help Desk at 630-955-2755 or help.desk@ MREDLLC.com with any and all questions. See you soon!

ILLINOIS REALTOR® April 2016

ILLINOIS REALTORS® • CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF ADVOCACY, EDUCATION AND ETHICS IN 2016

• We have engaged members who thrive on our success and seek us to get even more engaged.

• We have the resources to do the job well.

• We have a centralized focus — based out of Springfield — so we are collaborative and on a disciplined message across the state.

• We have longevity. Many of us have 10 to 15 years with the association. That gives us a competency/awareness/knowledge base which other states simply don’t have.”

SPONSORED CONTENT FROM ILLINOIS REALTORS ®’ CENTENNIAL SPONSOR

#IAR100YearsStrong

our programs. We have an extraordinarily smart, aggressive team that communicates well and advocates thoughtfully. The tools, the training, the education and the political acumen of this group is formidable. But I think the reasons we are ahead of the curve are even more interesting:

23

PROFESSIONALISM • NETWORKING • COMPETITIVE EDGE

GRI

www.illinoisrealtor.org/GRI

Get on the

FAST TRACK!

NEW! The Illinois REALTORS® offers three

FAST-TRACK OPTIONS to earn credit for the first 30 hours of GRI. Get your GRI from home in less than one calendar year!

1

Proficiency Exam, $115

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Reach the finish line with 30 additional hours of online courses from the Illinois REALTORS® at www.illinoisrealtor.org/GRI

Why GRI?

REALTORS® who learn more are REALTORS® who earn more.

GRI is the most widely held designation in Illinois and NAR reports those with a designation

EARNED OVER $27,000 MORE ANNUALLY THAN NON-DESIGNEES. (2013 NAR Profile) BONUS! GRI is the only REALTOR® designation that does not require a payment of an annual renewal fee. CE Credits are included in all Institute courses, including the Graduate Course.

How to Pick

IAR CONFERENCE & EXPO 2016 CELEBRATING 100 YEARS 191

6

Advocacy • Educat ion • Ethics

201

6

Conference

Speaker

Craig Gran

t

RIGHT APP

By Dawn Pennington | Illinois REALTORS® Marketing Specialist

C

raig Grant is one of the top technology, marketing and risk management instructors in the country. Known as “The Real Estate Tech Guru,” he speaks at over 150 industry events each year, including NAR and state conventions. Grant was selected to speak at Illinois REALTORS®’ 2016 Conference & Expo because of his ability to take extremely complex technology topics and present them in a way that the average non-technical person not only understands, but is able to apply in order to improve their business.

Grant’s sessions at the Illinois REALTORS® Conference & Expo were “Working with Today’s Hyper Connected Consumer” and “The Real Estate Mobile Road Warrior.” Both sessions included guidance on how to identify the right tools to use based on your communication needs and how to use certain tools to reduce your operating costs and increase your efficiency.

Apps are some of the most powerful and accessible tools today and there are multitudes to choose from. “Apps are all about solving a problem,” Grant said. “So if there is something you are struggling with out in the field or if something is taking you too long to do, there is most likely an app out there to help you solve that problem. It is all about identifying a need and finding an app to help you solve that need. The best part is, there are so many apps these days, some might solve a problem you didn’t even know you had, but once you start using the app you couldn’t imagine living without it.”

Five of the real estate apps Grant recommends are listed below.

•

•

Homesnap

Homesnap lets you discover information about any home nationwide just by taking a photo of it. The app reveals square footage, number of bedrooms and bathrooms and estimated price, regardless of whether the home is on market. Photos are stored in your history so you can keep track of your searches. Homesnap Pro for real estate agents costs $29.99 per month and provides additional details about a home and real-time access to agent-only MLS data. It also contains a messaging feature, email marketing and the ability to run an instant Comparative Market Analysis.

Magic Plan

the

Magic Plan is a tool for creating floor plans and work estimates. Input a room’s dimensions by taking photos of it. The initial setup of the plan takes some time, but once the floor plan has been created, you can add notes, objections and attributes and export the data to dxf, pdf and html. Subscription plans and enterprise pricing are available for commercial use.

•

GoConnect for Real Estate

•

Expensify

•

Open Home Pro

GoConnect is meant to combine and take the place of a calendar, organizer and address book and to do list. Input your business contacts and events and use the app to prioritize daily activities. The app allows you to track leads, create listing presentations and access the MLS. Automate activities by setting a pattern for the steps of your transactions using a premade list of tasks or adding your own customized tasks.

Expensify is a financial app that may be used to automate expense reports.

It eliminates manual entry of figures by allowing users to upload photos of receipts. The app “reads” the receipt and creates a corresponding expense entry. You can use the app to track your time and mileage and to generate expense reports. The app costs $5 per month for an individual. Corporate and custom options also are available.

Open Home Pro offers a means of collecting information about prospective buyers and organizing leads. Use the app to generate follow-up emails to visitors of an open house. Customize the app to request specific answers to questions. You can also use the app to create and store photo slideshows of all your prospective listings with custom landing pages for each listing. Open Home Pro integrates with Facebook and Twitter for easy sharing.

THINGS TO LOOK FOR IN AN APP: ZZ Is it compatible with your device or operating system?

ZZ Is it updated regularly with new features and functionality?

ZZ Can you export data for saving and offline storage?

ZZ Will it integrate with other applications you use?

ZZ Is there a user guide or tutorial available?

ZZ Does the developer offer customer support?

ILLINOIS REALTOR® April 2016

25

AT THE CAPITOL Julie Sullivan | Assistant Director, Legislative

and Political Affairs

1996 TRANSFER TAX FLASHBACK For the past century, Illinois REALTORS® has been a fierce advocate for real estate professionals and private property owners.

The path to legislative success can be long and complicated and a perfect example of that is Illinois REALTORS®’ hard-fought battle to give voters more of a say in local real estate transfer taxes.

In 1996, Illinois REALTORS® had been trying for nearly 20 years to address the ongoing issue of escalating home rule real estate transfer taxes. Frustrated homebuyers would learn at a closing that they were subject to a municipal transfer tax, in addition to the state’s real estate transfer tax and a county tax used for administrative purposes. Home rule municipalities were able to impose this “hidden tax” by municipal ordinance.

As these municipal taxes proliferated the amounts imposed rose to as high as $10 per $1,000 of value, Illinois REALTORS® was committed to enacting legislation that would expose these ordinances and give property owners a voice in their enactment. The most daunting challenge: any restriction on home rule units would require a threefifths, super majority vote in the General Assembly.

Home rule municipalities were able to impose this “hidden tax” by municipal ordinance.

The Battle Over SB 1463

Illinois REALTORS®’ goal with transfer taxes was clear: enhance citizen involvement through public notice and hearings and require voter approval for new transfer taxes or increases to existing ones. REALTORS® also wanted to address how municipalities would use the real estate transfer tax to delay property transfers until various local requirements were met (i.e. payment of a water bill or submitting to an inspection).

In 1996, Illinois REALTORS® redoubled its efforts on the issue and pursued Senate Bill 1463. Our unprecedented direct lobbying connected with the public and our members. In March 1996, the Senate approved the bill on a bi-partisan roll call vote and sent it to the House where the political environment became even more intense. Virtually every legislator was heavily lobbied by both sides.

Prior to a House Executive Committee vote in favor of the bill, Illinois REALTORS® redrafted portions of the legislation to clarify and respond to some of the municipal lobby’s objections. The final debate on the House floor in May lasted over an hour as the municipal lobby focused its objections on a provision

26 www.illinoisrealtor.org

News of a prop osed 1,500 perc ent Cook Coun made the front ty transfer tax inc page rease is Illinois REALTO ®of the Dec. 15, 1996 Chicago Su n-Times. Picture RS member Ge d orgia Pierini, wh article, along wi o was featured th her son. in the

that would not allow the tax to be used as an enforcement mechanism, a move they claimed would cost millions of dollars. The bill lost by just seven votes. However, the House sponsor, REALTOR® Representative Anne Zickus (R-Palos Hills) used a parliamentary procedure to place the bill on “Postponed Consideration” to allow another vote to be taken when the House returned for the fall session.

Negotiations continued over the summer recess with the bill’s sponsors, Illinois REALTORS® leadership and members of our Government Affairs Member Involvement Group agreeing to remove the provision prohibiting local governments from holding up transfers of property until various local requirements were met. Illinois REALTORS® came to this decision knowing it would address the concerns of many legislators who, while supportive of the notice, hearing and referendum provisions, were under pressure from municipalities, especially the city of Chicago, to oppose the other provision.

In December there was another contentious debate in the House, prompting then-House Democratic Minority Leader Michael Madigan to call for a Democratic caucus to discuss the bill. This was unusual, but there was confusion as to whether Illinois REALTORS®’ amendments addressed the municipal lobby’s chief concerns. The House eventually passed the amended SB 1463 with the requisite super majority.

Since the House had amended the bill, a concurrence vote was required in the Senate when they reconvened in January 1997. Before that happened, Cook County and

Since SB 1463 became law, the proliferation of these [transfer tax] ordinances has stopped.

Gov. Jim Edgar signs Illinois REALTORS® initiative SB 1463 in 1997, joined by (standing from left) Marion Valle, chair of government affairs MIG; Julie Sullivan, assistant director of legislative and political affairs; Illinois REALTORS® President Pat Dalessandro; Illinois REALTORS® CEO Gary Clayton; Greg St. Aubin, director of governmental affairs; and REALTOR® Dick Lessner.

some city councils sought to enact local transfer tax increases, outraging their constituents. Cook County (the only home rule county in Illinois) shockingly proposed to increase its transfer tax 15 times its rate (a jump from 50 cents per $1,000 to $7.50 per $1,000.) Partnering with homeowners, Illinois REALTORS® successfully defeated the proposals in all but one village.

In his Senate testimony urging his colleagues to support the amended SB 1463, chief sponsor Sen. Steve Rauschenberger (R-Elgin) spoke of its

importance with regard to private property rights: “The right to transfer real estate is a common-law right that goes back to the Magna Carta.” and “The right to own property unfettered, free from government intervention, is a fundamental American right. We need to pass this bill and send it on to the Governor.”1 The Senate concurred, passing the bill 52-3-2 and Gov. Jim Edgar signed the bill into law 11 days later (Public Act 89-701).

This is an important legislative victory to retell as we look back at our history and Illinois REALTORS®’ successful record of advocacy.

Since SB 1463 became law, the proliferation of these ordinances has stopped. Voters in home rule communities are more aware of efforts to create or increase municipal real estate transfer taxes and are able to make their voices heard before taxes are enacted.

1

State of Illinois 89th General Assembly Regular Session Senate Transcript from January 6, 1997

!

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ILLINOIS REALTOR® April 2016

27

2/29/2016 10:37:51 AM

THANKS A MILLION! The Illinois REALTORS® Political Action Committee (RPAC) Trustees extend a sincere THANK YOU to all 2015 RPAC Major Investors.

In total, 413 members invested at least $1,000 _ a significant portion of the $1,096,944 raised and it made a difference. By the numbers, 58 races received funding in the April elections, 71% of the REALTOR® candidates supported WON their races, and 15 races featured REALTORS® running for local office. RPAC helps elect pro-real estate candidates to public office and always has your business interests in mind.

RPAC Hall of Fame Aggregate lifetime investment of at least $25,000

Douglas Carpenter 2002

John P. Vranas 2010

Ann Hammerstad 2013

Gary Clayton 2004

Jean Crosby 2011

Mike Onorato 2013

Peggy Kayser 2005

William T. Griffin 2011

Chris Read 2013

Gerald Perlow 2005

Ronald E. Hardgrove 2011

Gerry Schuetzenhofer 2013

John C. Kmiecik 2006

John F. Kretchmar 2011

Christopher Tenggren 2013

Lynn Madison 2006

Pamela A. Krieter 2011

Kay Wirth 2013

John A. Veneris 2007

Piero Orsi 2011

Loretta Alonzo-Deubel 2014

Darcy Dougherty 2008

Robert J. Zoretich 2011

Jim Barbagallo 2014

Steven Good 2008

Daniel W. Bock 2012

Joe Hanauer 2014

Nancy Suvarnamani 2008

I Mac Boyd 2012

Doug Hartmann, Sr. 2014

Rob Wigton 2009

Ginger Downs 2012

Michael D. Oldenettel 2014

Patrick Dalessandro 2010

Jim Kinney 2012

Hugh G. Rider 2014

Daniel L. Goodwin 2010

Stan Sieron 2012

Sonia Anaya 2015 *

Albert M. Suguitan 2010

Frank Wehrstein 2012

Judy Doyle 2015 *

Arthur van der Vant 2010

Greg St. Aubin 2012

* 2015 RPAC Hall of Fame members will be celebrated at the NAR REALTORS® Legislative Meetings in Washington, D.C. May 2016, followed by the Illinois REALTORS® Hall of Fame Toast June 20, 2016.

Hall of Fame members are indicated with a gold star.

2015 Illinois President’s Circle members are indicated with a round frame.

2015 RPAC Pacesetters are indicated with a red star.

New MaJOR Investors are indicated with a blue star.

President’s Circle members are an influential group of REALTORS®/Major Investors who contribute directly to REALTOR® Party Champions through this NAR program. RPAC PACESETTERS pledged to be Major Investors by Feb. 2, 2015.

PlatinuM “R”s ($10,000)

golden “R”s ($5,000)

Tommy Choi Chicago

Mabél Guzmán Chicago

Adam Lofgren Peoria

Mark Massey Granite City

North Shore-Barrington Association of REALTORS®

Karen Robertson Shorewood

Rebecca Thomson Chicago

Norm Willoughby Decatur

SuStaining golden “R”s ($2,000)

Sonia Anaya Chicago

Mac Boyd Arcola

Doug Carpenter Orland Hills

Philip E. Chiles Springfield

Colleen Clavesilla Algonquin

Gary Clayton Springfield

Matt Difanis Champaign

Ginger Downs Chicago

Matthew Farrell Chicago

Michael Golden Chicago

Daniel L. Goodwin Oak Brook

William T. Griffin Pekin

Dana Hybl Carol Stream

Jim Kinney Chicago

Amy Kite Naperville

John C. Kmiecik Oak Lawn

Lynn Madison Schaumburg

Michael D. Oldenettel Springfield

Patrick A. Dalessandro Niles

Joe Hanauer Laguna Beach

Piero Orsi Gurnee

SuStaining golden “R”s ($2,000) continued

Ed Prodehl Joliet

Al Suguitan Glen Carbon

Chris Read Woodridge

Hugh G. Rider Chicago

Nancy Suvarnamani Christopher Tenggren Chicago St. Charles

CRyStal “R”s ($2,500)

Nicholas H. Apostal Chicago

Doug Hartmann Collinsville

Gerry Schuetzenhofer Edwardsville

Stan Sieron Belleville

Greg St. Aubin Springfield

John P. Vranas Chicago

Dan Wagner Oak Brook

Frank Wehrstein Rockford

Rob Wigton Glen Carbon

SuStaining CRyStal “R”s ($1,500)

Joe Hardin Shiloh

Debbie Prodehl Homer Glen

Millie Rosenbloom Chicago

Dean Rouso La Grange

Loretta AlonzoDeubel La Grange Park

Connie Conway Winnetka

Rebecca Jensen Lisle

Pam Krieter David McClintock Downers Grove Joliet

Ed Neaves Bloomington

eMeRald “R”s ($2,000)

Ayn Bartok Harrisburg

Jim Cleveland Decatur

Frank Montro Orland Park

Georgia Pierini Winnetka

Jeff Gregory Plainfield

Sam Powell Chicago

Sheryl Grider Whitehurst Peoria

Jim Haisler Crystal Lake

Carol Meinhart Champaign

Ezekiel (Zeke) Morris

Eric Ryden Moline

Kay Wirth Crystal Lake

Chicago

Ruby “R”s ($1,500)

Brian A. Bernardoni Chicago

Mike Buscher Springfield

Heather Cunningham Danville

Karen Cupp Carterville

Richard Davis Marion

Chad Doyle Swansea

Judy Doyle Swansea

Tom Ewing Rockford

Sharlyn Franzen Champaign

Madeline Hoeft Champaign

Marianne James Marion

Jerry Jansen Effingham

Joe Kenny Darien

Sandy Michel Stempinski

Steve Myers Springfield

Tammy Anderson Owens

Collinsville

Heather Oyler Peoria

Charay Palmer Marion

Debbie Pawlowicz Lisle

Elaine Rhodes Godfrey

Julie Roth Champaign

Cheryl Ruzich Herrin

Tim Ryan Mokena

Chris Seniker Edwardsville

Jeffrey Speer Effingham

Kevin Van Eck Chicago

Vandalia

SteRling “R”s ($1,000)

Ron Abrams Chicago

Angela Aeschliman Chicago

Jayme Ahlden Champaign

Lucas Albright Aurora

Kyle Anderson Hamel

Rebecca Arce Chicago

BJ Armstrong Bloomington

John Armstrong Bloomington

Mary Bahry Wheaton

Zack Baker Peoria

Elizabeth Ballis Chicago

Karen Barbagallo Rockford

Jeffrey Barkstall Champaign

Richard Bassford Moline

Jack Bataoel Bloomington

Scott Bechtel Champaign

Jenni Beck Alton

Cynthia A. Bevis Mt. Vernon

Carrie J. Bey-Little Glen Ellyn

Genie Birch Lincolnwood

Gary Bohn Chicago

Steve Bois Rockford

Lori A. Bonarek Morris

Terri Booker Decatur

Sterling “R”s ($1,000) continued

Brent Borah Springfield

Pam Borowski Freeport

Mitzi Brandenburg Springfield

Carrie L. Brase Edwardsville

Thomas M. Bretz Chicago

Matthew Brewer Springfield

Carla Brinkoetter Decatur

Tom Brinkoetter Decatur

Jon K. Broadbooks Springfield

Liz Brooks Chicago

Conor Brown Rockford

Kristen Butcher Springfield

Pat Callan Wheaton

Teresa Camarato Herrin

Debra Campbell Columbia

Nicholas Campo Pawnee

Daniel Carcasson Bloomington

Marty Carlson Champaign

Joe Castillo Chicago

William Caton Naperville

Christine Chase Wheaton

YOU

Janelle Clark Bartonville

Skip Clayton Chatham

Mark Coleman St. Charles

Beverly Collins Springfield

Richard Conte Naperville

Andrew Cook Morris

Rob Cole-Dempcy James L. Coleman, Jr. St. Charles O’Fallon

Tonya H. Corder G. Joseph Cosenza Homewood Oak Brook

Bill Craig Champaign

Jean Crosby Rockford

Nancy Crowder Danville

Carie Cycholl Springfield

Bob Davenport Carbondale

Janie Davis Carterville

Kristie L. DeBrun Pawnee

Brett Decker Chicago

Juan Del Real Cicero

Rebecca Demond Swansea

Mark Deubel La Grange Park

Charles Dinolfo Oak Lawn

Stephanie L. Do Springfield

Bob Dohn Schaumburg

Brian K. Dolan Aurora

Joseph M. Doolin Decatur

Mike Drews Aurora

Kimberly Elliott-Birtch

Springfield

Bill Embry Mackinaw

Michael Emery Chicago

Steve Engel Plainfield

Kristie Engerman Dunlap

Hank Erwin Geneva

Ron Ewing Elgin

Linda Feinstein Hinsdale

Chris Fischer Homer Glen

Gaspar Flores Chicago

Kathy Frankenberger

Deb Frazier Belleville

Adam Freeman Chicago

Kevin Fritzsche Decatur

Eduardo “Eddie” Garcia Chicago

Arlington Heights

SteRling “R”s ($1,000) continued

Kathleen A. Garst Springfield

Betty Bell Gauze Champaign

Antje Gehrken Chicago

Vicki Geiger Morris

Andrea Geller Chicago

Bev George Edwardsville

Bobbie Gerbrecht Grayson St. Charles

Judy Gibbons Barrington

John E. Ginder Peoria

Michael Gobber Westchester

Roseanna Gomer Naperville

Sharon Gorrell Naperville

Kevin Gouchenouer Effingham

Ricky Gray Channahon

Linda Green Champaign

Judy Griffin Centralia

Mike Gross O’Fallon

Mari Halliday Peoria

Sandy Hamilton Springfield

Maurice L. Hampton

Chicago

Dallas Hancock Peoria

Ron Hardgrove Peoria

Sharon Harkness Champaign

Chris Harrison Decatur

Doug Hartmann, Jr. Collinsville

Royal Hartwig Palatine

Phil Harvey Peoria

Jane Hay Springfield

Jana Heffron Peoria

Becky Lober Hendricks

Springfield

Matt Hernacki Palatine

Chris Hilton East Peoria

Larry Hines Elgin

Tammy Mitchell Hines

David Holden O’Fallon

Susan Holden O’Fallon

Gregory Holthaus Carbondale

Shawna Holtman St. Louis

Shawn Hornsby Morris

Gary Jacklin Lisle

Corky Joyner Springfield

Julie Kaczor Naperville

Bruce Kaplan Lake In The Hills

Connie KappertKnipp Mascoutah

Timothy J. Kearney Springfield

Lisa C. Keating La Grange Park

Kim Keefe Woodstock

Teresa Keenan Geneva

Brenda Keith Champaign

Kris Keller Chicago

Michelle Kelly Oak Park

Kerry Kidwell Bloomington

Kyle Killebrew Springfield

Lynn Klein Hampshire

John Klemm Springfield

Daniel Kniery Bloomington

Marilyn Kohn Peoria

Jeff Kolbus Peoria

Robert R. Kopp Chicago

Columbia

Terri Jeffries Galen L. Johnson Oakbrook Terrace Pawnee

Keith A. Hancock Richard W. Hanselman Glenview Springfield

Lee Hansen New Lenox

SteRling “R”s ($1,000) continued

Thomas Krettler Palatine

Cindi Kruse Springfield

Wayne Kurchina McHenry

Julie Lading Edwardsville

Matt Laricy Chicago

Jeff Lasky Lisle

John Lawrence Oak Park

Heidi Lawton Elmhurst

Jean Lewis Collinsville

Rita Liberatore Plainfield

John Lofgren Peoria

Ann Londrigan Springfield

Jeff Lowe Chicago

Susan Madison Springfield

Ed Mahoney Springfield

Randy Malawy Glen Carbon

Katherine Malkin Chicago

Neil Malone Springfield

Michael Maloof Peoria

Erin Mandel Chicago

Jan Mandis Carbondale

Diana Massey Edwardsville

Barbara Matthopoulos Vassiliadis Palm Harbor, FL

Sheri McAdams Lockport

Bill McCarthy Peoria

Pat McCarthy Peoria

Ki McCurley Springfield

Cindy McDowall Crystal Lake

Mandy McGuire Columbia

Donna McQuade Geneva

Adam Merrick Peoria

Jim Merrion Elgin

Casey Meyers Woodstock

Rhonda Milburn Peoria

Jim Miller Chicago

Sue Miller McHenry

Suzanne Miller Peoria

Karla Mina Chicago

Max Mitchell Champaign

Jim Mulvoy Aurora

Donna Munson Decatur

Todd Musso Virden

Renee Naffziger St. Charles

Dave Naso Chicago

Nick Nastos Chicago

Joanna Firestone Nemerovski Chicago

Sam Nichols Springfield

John Nimmo Anna

Barbara O’Connor Chicago

Mike Onorato Coal City

Renee Oreshkov Springfield

Patricia Palzet-Taylor

Wauconda

Judy Panozzo Frankfort

Barry Paoli Chicago

Wayne Paprocki Northbrook

Karen Parent Wheaton

Michael Parent Wheaton

Alisa Patterson Byron

Doug Payne Smithton

Grigory Pekarsky Chicago

Mike Pence Springfield

Gerald Perlow Lincolnwood

Matt Persicketti Nykea Pippion-McGriff Joliet Chicago

SteRling “R”s ($1,000) continued

Paul Polarek Morris

Tere Proctor Chicago

Michael Prodehl Joliet

Dawn Purple Peoria

John Purple Peoria

Linda Landing Rayho

Edwardsville

Larry Reedy Elmhurst

Janice Ricci Barrington

Matthew Rittof Plainfield

Lisa Klein Rossow Marengo

Thomas Roth Champaign

Edward Ruettiger Plainfield

John K. Rutledge Wheaton

Dan Sale Springfield

Marvin Sandel Bloomington

Deb Sanders Effingham

Deb Sarsany Springfield

Rob Schaid McHenry

Chris Schaller Springfield

Ian Schwartz Chicago

Mike Scobey Chicago

Ronald G. Sears Chicago

Sarah Seniker Edwardsville

Linda Shafer Frankfort

Brandon Shaffer Bloomington

Mark J. Shell Wilmington

Kathy Shemwell Collinsville

Margery Shinners Downers Grove

Shadia Shukair Chicago

Pradeep Shukla Des Plaines

Nancy Siegmund Centralia

Vicky Silvano Chicago

Matt Silver Chicago

Jim Sim Frankfort

Michael Simpson West Dundee

Margie Smigel Chicago

Kelly Smith Chicago

Stephen Snyder Bloomington

Gail Spreen Chicago

Ginger Sreenan Rockford

Don E. St. Germaine, Jr. Bonfield

Madelyn Staack Fox Lake

Steven Starwalt Champaign

Greg Staton Mattoon

Bruce Steinke Shelbyville

Doris Stephens Glen Carbon

Winnie Stortzum Arcola

Dede Strano Belleville

Chris Studebaker Geneva

Julie Sullivan Springfield

Ruta Susinskas Lockport

Kirk W. Swensen Mattoon

Margie Swensen Mattoon

Glenn Swick Quincy

Laura F. Swinden Libertyville

Len Taylor Springfield

Nick Taylor Mahomet

Russ Taylor Mahomet

Catherine Terpstra Naperville

Jennifer Teske Collinsville

Joanna Theismann O’Fallon

Sheila Thomas McHenry

Dave Thompson Marion

Kristie Tindall Decatur

SteRling “R”s ($1,000) continued

PJ Trautman Champaign

Kim Tumas Orland Hills

Vicky S. Turner Dixon

William E. Utnage, Jr.

Champaign

Gabriel Velixaru Chicago

Chris Vernald Chicago

Erika Villegas Chicago

Steve Volkodav Northbrook

Melissa Dowson Vorreyer Springfield

James L. Votanek Barrington

Sarah L. Ware Chicago

Carolyn Weinert St. Charles

Linda Wheaton Edwardsville

Sue Wiskowski-Fair Aurora

David Wolf Chicago

Brian Wood Mt. Vernon

Suzanne Wood Centralia

Amanda Wycoff Bloomington

Allan R. Young Springfield

Sara Young Naperville

Joyce Zelazik Homer Glen

Deena Zimmerman Chicago

Rockford Chapter

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Jean Kay Hutson Karen Irace Robin Jackson Kim Jasker Gordon Johnson Thomas Jones Marc Kamp Jim Karges Nandan Kashyap Jacqueline Kaufmann Julie Kellenberger Becky Kirchner Pamela Kirkpatrick Wendy Kolbus Thomas Krieger Brian Kwilosz Connie Legris Claire Leopold Michael Lescher Darlene Little Jeff Lochbaum Vittoria Logli Kay MacIntire Chris Marek

Barbara McElroy Debby McKibben Tammy McNeany Sandra McTernan Steve Meeker Joyce Meiser Lynn Merritt Kerby Wendi Mielke Danell Moberly Charles Montgomerie Gary Mueller Ben Myers Debra Norberg Christopher Norton Kathy Nosek Kathy O’Brien Boston Richard O’Connor Laura Oremus Connie Paris Tammy Parzygnat Paula Pezza Mary Phelan Sherry Plain Wayne Powell

Liliana Quaglia Michael Quaglia Jayne Ragan Tyler Ragan April Ranallo Kenneth Redeker John Reedy Laura Reedy-Stukel Patrick Regan John Rekart Roland Rosenboom Verra Rudolfi Michael Santanello James Schaid Lindsey Schendel Scott Schier Christine Schroeder George Shanley Karen Sheesley Lori Shields Brenda Short Jennifer Sjoblom Diana Sjuts Dan Slagell

James Somer Connie Stelling Peter Steward Gary Stittgen Angela Stodden Robert Straka Jason Tabour Camill Tedrick Sandra Thew-Sonneson Terri Trotter Earley Lisa Vieweg Angela Walker James Waller Tammy Wampler Bobbi Jo Ward Penny Wilson Kelly Wolf Kelly Wyatt-Bisciotti Kathy York Mary Zahn Mark Zipperer

Capitol Club ($250-$499) Rebecca Adams Kristopher Anderson Paula Anderson Theresa Anderson Leticia Andrade Edith Apostal Denis Ascot Valerie Ashley Carmen Augelli Ahmed Aydoner Nancy Badord Judy Balsley Susan Baltaragis Dick Barr Sandra Basel Colleen Basinski Brad Benedict Chad Black Kristin Blankenship Jeanie Blue Gideon Blustein Debbie Borgwald Jane Bourscheidt Robert Bray

Dennis Brim Colleen Brinkoetter James Brockway Kris Brown Kimberly Buscher Dominic Campo Ryan Cannon Grant Chignoli Susan Cooney Diane Cote Gailene Cowger Valerie Curry Christine Dahm Tim Dain Pam Desanti Dara Dickinson Mario DiLorenzo Linda Dressler Patrick Duffy Betty Ebert-Rylko Erica Epperson Laura Fish Lisa Fox Warren Frank

Disclosure: Contributions to RPAC are not deductible for federal income tax purposes. Contributions are voluntary and are used for political purposes. The amounts indicated are merely guidelines and you may contribute more or less than the suggested amounts. The National Association of REALTORS® and its state and local associations will not favor or disadvantage any member because of the amount contributed or decision not to contribute. You may refuse to contribute without reprisal. Up to thirty percent (30%) may be sent to National RPAC to support federal candidates and is charged against your limits under 2 U.S.C. 441a. A copy of our report filed with the State Board of Elections is (or will be) available on the Board’s official website www.elections.il.gov or for purchase from the State Board of Elections, Springfield, Illinois.

www.RPACnow.com

Mike Scobey | Assistant Director, Advocacy and Local Issues

ADVOCACY PROTECTS REALTORS® FROM CLOUD, TRANSFER TAXES The association’s team of local Governmental Affairs Directors (GADs) has been hard at work fighting to protect REALTORS® and property owners from proposed municipal ordinances that would increase the cost of doing business and owning property in Illinois. Illinois REALTORS®’ RVOICE program provides the resources (legal analyses, ability to reach out to voters, for example) to the GADs and local REALTOR® activists to help in this important advocacy.

Here are some recent examples of how GADs and Illinois REALTORS® are getting the job done: zz MLS Data Exempt from Chicago’s ‘Cloud Tax’ In July, 2015, the city of Chicago introduced a measure which would have imposed a 5.25 percent tax on the use of data stored in the digital cloud, the “cloud tax.” At first, it appeared that this “cloud tax” would mainly apply to “streaming” movies and other entertainment-related digital data. But within a few days, it became clear that the city was also focusing on other types of data that could be downloaded as well as Web-hosting. REALTORS® were concerned the city might apply the tax to any entity that uploaded and maintained listing data online.

Advocacy by a coalition of groups including the Chicago Association of REALTORS®, Midwest Real Estate Data LLC and other local REALTOR® associations resulted in a major win for REALTORS® in January. The city agreed to exempt MLS information from application of the proposed tax on data. Brian Bernardoni, Illinois REALTORS®’ Government Affairs Director in Chicago, said the “cloud tax” would have added an estimated $250,000 in costs to the real estate industry. Additional costs to maintain records and manage the tax payments would have pushed that number Bernardoni even higher. zz REALTORS ® Succeed in Keeping Transfer Tax Increase off the Joliet Ballot A local government attempting to push through a real estate transfer tax during the end-of-year holiday season (when citizens may not notice) is not a first in Illinois. Long-time REALTOR® members may remember Cook County’s ill-fated attempt to increase the county transfer tax by 1,500 percent back in December, 1996.

In December, Joliet proposed increasing the real estate transfer tax from $3 per $1,000 value up to $5 per $1,000 in an attempt to generate revenue for the

city’s 2016 budget. REALTORS® rallied to the cause, filling the council chambers and providing personal testimony.

Local GAD Gideon Blustein explained that the increase would have unintended consequences for Joliet’s fragile housing recovery, such as giving neighboring comBlustein munities without real estate transfer taxes a greater competitive advantage. REALTOR® testimony helped illustrate how the economic costs would outweigh the projected $1.1 million in new city revenue. In a victory for local property owners, the city council chose not to pursue the tax increase. zz Vacant Property Registration Ordinance in Belleville Pulled from Consideration In late 2015, the city of Belleville introduced an ordinance requiring the registration of properties not occupied for six continuous months. The ordinance required the owner to register the property as vacant, pay a $25 annual fee, carry increased insurance and submit a property maintenance plan to the city. At the end of two years of being continually vacant, the property would be inspected by the city and would be under stricter review by the city.

Local GAD Kyle Anderson told city officials that while REALTORS® appreciated the city’s efforts to improve local housing stock, the ordinance would not produce the desired result. He argued that vacant properties which are code compliant do not need to have more costs and Anderson regulations imposed on them. He also pointed out the city needs a plan for dealing with the existing vacant properties (estimated at 90 parcels) that the city owns. The proposed ordinance died in the city’s housing committee. Anderson and local REALTORS® will continue to work with the city. The REALTOR® Association of Southwestern Illinois has applied for an NAR Smart Growth grant to help conduct a housing analysis for a targeted housing area of Belleville.

Learn more about Illinois REALTORS® local Governmental Affairs Directors program and the GAD serving your local area at www.illinoisrealtor. org/localgovernment

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k n a h T 2016 RPAC ! u o Y PACESETTERS Illinois REALTORS® thanks our “Pacesetter” members who pledged or invested at the $1,000+ level to the REALTORS® Political Action Committee as of February 5, 2016.

Ron Abrams Angela Aeschliman Jayme Ahlden Lucas Albright Loretta Alonzo-Deubel Sonia Anaya Kyle Anderson Nicholas H. Apostal Rebecca Arce BJ Armstrong John Armstrong Joy Baez Mary Bahry Elizabeth Ballis Karen Barbagallo Jeffrey Barkstall Ayn Bartok Jack Bataoel Jenni Beck Steven Bennett Brian A. Bernardoni Cynthia A. Bevis Carrie J. Bey-Little Meenu Bhaskar Genie Birch Gideon Blustein Gary Bohn Steve Bois Lori A. Bonarek Pam Borowski Mac Boyd Laura Boyer William Brady Mitzi Brandenburg Carrie L. Brase Thomas M. Bretz Carla Brinkoetter Tom Brinkoetter Jon K. Broadbooks Conor Brown Cari Brunner Anthony Buscher Mike Buscher Kristen Butcher Pat Callan Teresa Camarato Debra Campbell Nicholas Campo Daniel Carcasson Marty Carlson Doug Carpenter Becky Carraher William Caton Christine Chase Philip E. Chiles Tommy Choi Colleen Clavesilla Gary Clayton Jim Cleveland Joffre Colbert

Rob Cole-Dempcy Mark Coleman Richard Conte Connie Conway Andrew Cook Tonya H. Corder G. Joseph Cosenza Diane Cote Seth Couillard Bill Craig Jean Crosby Nancy Crowder Heather Cunningham Karen Cupp Valerie Curry Carie Cycholl Patrick A. Dalessandro Mike Dapkus Bob Davenport Janie Davis Richard Davis Kristie L. DeBrun Brett Decker Juan Del Real Rebecca Demond Susan Denby Mark Deubel Matt Difanis Bob Dohn Brian K. Dolan Joseph M. Doolin Ginger Downs Chad Doyle Judy Doyle Linda Dressler Mike Drews Julie Duncan Cynthia Eckols Bill Embry Michael Emery Steve Engel Kristie Engerman Hank Erwin Ron Ewing Judith Fahrner Matthew Farrell Sharlyn Franzen Linda Frierdich Kevin Fritzsche Betty Bell Gauze Bev George Bobbie Gerbrecht Grayson Judy Gibbons Michael Gobber Daniel L. Goodwin Sharon Gorrell John Grafft Linda Green Jeff Gregory Sheryl Grider Whitehurst

Judy Griffin Mike Gross Mabél Guzmán Mark Haeffele Jim Haisler Mari Halliday Maurice L. Hampton Dallas Hancock Keith A. Hancock Dave Hanna Richard W. Hanselman Lee Hansen Joe Hardin Sharon Harkness Chris Harrison Doug Hartmann Doug Hartmann, Jr. Royal Hartwig Valentina Hatzelis Sam Hazleton Rorry Heide Larry Hines Tammy Mitchell Hines Madeline Hoeft David Holden Susan Holden Gregory Holthaus Shawna Holtman Shawn Hornsby Dana Hybl Marianne James Jerry Jansen Terri Jeffries Rebecca Jensen Thomas Jones Corky Joyner Bruce Kaplan Connie Kappert-Knipp Lisa C. Keating Kim Keefe Kris Keller Michelle Kelly Joe Kenny Kerry Kidwell Kyle Killebrew Vera Kincaid Jim Kinney Amy Kite Lynn Klein John C. Kmiecik Daniel Kniery Marilyn Kohn Thomas Krettler Thomas Krieger Pam Krieter Brad Krueger Wayne Kurchina Julie Lading Matt Laricy Edward Larsen

Jeff Lasky John Lawrence Heidi Lawton Marki Lemons Ryhal Debbie Lence David Levin Jean Lewis Steve Littlefield Adam Lofgren John Lofgren Ann Londrigan Lynn Madison Susan Madison Randy Malawy Erin Mandel Jan Mandis Diana Massey Mark Massey Roger Massey Barbara Matthopoulos Vassiliadis David McClintock Cindy McDowall Mandy McGuire Donna McQuade Carol Meinhart Jim Merrion Casey Meyers Sandy Michel Stempinski Lana Miller Sue Miller Max Mitchell Frank Montro Ezekiel (Zeke) Morris Jim Mulvoy Steve Myers Dave Naso Ed Neaves John Nimmo Michael D. Oldenettel Mike Onorato Piero Orsi Carrie Ottum Tammy Anderson Owens Heather Oyler Charay Palmer Patricia Palzet-Taylor Judy Panozzo Wayne Paprocki Karen Parent Michael Parent Alisa Patterson Debbie Pawlowicz Doug Payne Gerald Perlow Matt Persicketti Georgia Pierini Nykea Pippion-McGriff Paul Pless Sam Powell

Eileen Price Debbie Prodehl Ed Prodehl Michael Prodehl Linda Landing Rayho Chris Read Elaine Rhodes Janice Ricci Hugh G. Rider Matthew Rittof Karen Robertson Millie Rosenbloom Judy Ross Lisa Klein Rossow Julie Roth Thomas Roth Edward Ruettiger John K. Rutledge Cheryl Ruzich Tim Ryan Eric Ryden Dan Sale Marvin Sandel Deb Sanders Deb Sarsany Rob Schaid Scott Schier Barbara Schori Gerry Schuetzenhofer Mike Scobey Ronald G. Sears Chris Seniker Sarah Seniker Brandon Shaffer Kathy Shemwell Margery Shinners Pradeep Shukla Nancy Siegmund Stan Sieron Matt Silver Jim Sim Michael Simpson Allison Smith Stephen Snyder Gail Spreen Ginger Sreenan Greg St. Aubin Don E. St. Germaine, Jr. Madelyn Staack Karen Stailey-Lander Steven Starwalt Doris Stephens Dede Strano Chris Studebaker Julie Sullivan Ruta Susinskas Nancy Suvarnamani Glenn Swick Laura F. Swinden Len Taylor

Nick Taylor Reggie Taylor Russ Taylor Christopher Tenggren Catherine Terpstra Jennifer Teske Joanna Theismann Sheila Thomas Dave Thompson Rebecca Thomson PJ Trautman Stacy Tucker Vicky S. Turner Kevin Van Eck Steve Volkodav James L. Votanek John P. Vranas Dan Wagner Sarah L. Ware Frank Wehrstein Carolyn Weinert Linda Wheaton Heather Wiedrich Rob Wigton Norm Willoughby Kay Wirth Sue Wiskowski-Fair Brian Wood Suzanne Wood Amanda Wycoff Allan R. Young Mary Zahn Deena Zimmerman Bloomington - Normal Association of REALTORS® Champaign County Association of REALTORS® Chicago Association of REALTORS® Egyptian Board of REALTORS® Inc. Heartland REALTOR® Organization Mainstreet Organization of REALTORS® North Shore-Barrington Association of REALTORS® Peoria Area Association of REALTORS® REALTOR® Association of Southwestern Illinois REALTOR® Association of the Fox Valley Rockford Area Association of REALTORS® Three Rivers Association of REALTORS®

RPAC supports candidates for public office who support the real estate industry and protect private property rights.

INVEST TODAY! www.RPACnow.com Disclosure: Contributions to RPAC are not deductible for federal income tax purposes. Contributions are voluntary and are used for political purposes. The amounts indicated are merely guidelines and you may contribute more or less than the suggested amounts. The National Association of REALTORS® and its state and local associations will not favor or disadvantage any member because of the amount contributed or decision not to contribute. You may refuse to contribute without reprisal. Up to thirty percent (30%) may be sent to National RPAC to support federal candidates and is charged against your limits under 2 U.S.C. 441a. A copy of our report filed with the State Board of Elections is (or will be) available on the Board’s official website www.elections.il.gov or for purchase from the State Board of Elections, Springfield, Illinois.

REALTOR® COMMUNITY FOLLOW US:

Chris Read named 2016 Illinois REALTOR® of the Year REALTOR® Chris Read, of Woodridge, has been named the 2016 Illinois REALTOR® of the Year. Read, CRB, CRS, GRI, ABRM, CIPS, CNC, SFR, BPOR, SRS, SRES, is the Managing Broker/Owner of CR REALTOR® and is CEO of CR Strategies in Woodridge.

In her nearly 40-year real estate career, Read has shown a commitment to association service, political advocacy and the promotion of professionalism and high industry ethical standards. She will be honored at a June 21 banquet in Springfield.

2016 LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT CLASS

The association’s new Leadership Development Class kicked off in February. The 12 REALTORS® in this year’s class will attend a variety of training sessions this year to help them prepare for future work on committees, boards or as officers in real estate associations.

Ed Neaves Receives REALTOR® Political Involvement Award

Association expands global focus with Consulate General Liaison Program Illinois REALTORS® have launched a new program to build engagement with global partners. A subgroup of the association’s Global Business Council, the new Consulate General Liaison Program aims to position the REALTOR® community as a leading source for service and information for a growing global clientele. Illinois REALTORS® with a history of working with Consulates General on programming, trade missions and outreach have been chosen to serve as liaisons. The launch team and the countries they will work with includes: • • • • • • • •

Jim Kinney, United Kingdom Jana Herdova, Czech Republic Sonia Anaya, Mexico Michelle Shang, China Pradeep Shukla, India Don Pasek, Poland Nancy Suvarnamani, Thailand Maurice Hampton, Canada

Association of South Asian Real Estate Professionals holds first inaugural gala The newly formed Association of South eep Corder, Prad a ny Asian Real Estate Professionals (ASARP) To r) r. (l to Tom Krettle in the Chicago area held its first inaugural gala Shukla and earlier this year and appointed its 2016 leadership including President Pradeep B. Shukla and Vice President Kanti N. Patel. ASARP Directors include: T. Paul Chawala, Al-Haroon Hussain, Babubhai Patel, Marsha Collins, Swati Saxena, Suchi Bhagat,Victoria Sampah,Vikram Sarda, Bimal Pandhi, Raj Patel and Nat Zala.

Public Policy Meeting Highlights Illinois REALTORS® held the annual Public Policy Meetings in East Peoria, Jan. 18-21. The meetings give REALTORS® a voice in local, state and federal public policy issues and legislative battles that affect their business.

Read more at www. illinoisrealtor.org/ PublicPolicy

Watch for #MemberMondays

REALTOR® Ed Neaves has been honored with the association’s 2015 Political Involvement Award.

Neaves is the managing broker of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Snyder Real Estate in Bloomington. The award is given to individuals for outstanding political and legislative service to the REALTOR® organization. Neaves chairs the association’s Major Investor Working Group and in 2015, chaired the REALTORS® Political Involvement Committee.

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As the association celebrates 100 years, we are showcasing some of the members who make the association strong with #MemberMonday features on the IARbuzz blog.

We’re profiling members who make a difference by giving back to their communities.

If you, or someone you know, would make a good story, email bkozar@iar.org

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