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Capitol Update: May 20, Spring Session Concludes | SB 36 to Governor's Desk

By Missouri REALTOR Party posted 05-20-2019 03:41 PM

  

Missouri REALTORS®,

I’d like to start by saying, it was a great ending to the First Regular Session of the 100th General Assembly.

At 4:03 p.m. on Friday, May 17, the House took up the Conference Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 36, or as it was referred to on the House floor, “the REALTORS® Immunity Bill.” The bill was Truly Agreed to and Finally passed with a vote of 136 to 6.

Assuming the Governor signs the bill, it will have an effective date of August 28, 2019. To gain the protection of the act, you must have obtained the information on the area or square footage from a third party, and you must disclose that the information came from the third party before you transmit an offer to purchase to the seller.

For additional information, please refer to the Conference Committee Substitute and an audio file of the action on the House floor.

Additional Issues:

SCS HCS HB’s 243 & 544 (Supported by Missouri REALTORS®)
These bills provide that if a person has been the victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking, and they want out of their lease, they may do so by showing evidence that one of the mentioned took place. Also, the landlord may charge a termination fee; the act only applies to residential properties.

SS SCS HCS HB 959 (Supported by Missouri REALTORS®)
The underlying bill deals with motor vehicle franchise practices. However, included in the act is House Bill 321 which provides that the City of St. Joseph may require LLC’s that own or rent property in the city to provide the name and address of a natural person who has management and control of the property.

HCS SCS SB 203 (Supported by Missouri REALTORS®)
This bill is a modification of legislation Missouri REALTORS® supported several years ago. It allows a person to take action against a neighbor who has allowed their property to decay to such an extent that it is damaging to the property value of their neighbor. This legislation applies only to the cities of Kansas City and St. Louis.

In addition, the bill includes most elements of Senate Bill 3; also supported by Missouri REALTORS®. This bill allows a person who, in good faith, believes a property to be abandoned to enter onto the property, but not enter any structure, and remove trash and debris, remove or paint over graffiti, and mow and maintain the property.

What did not happen:

SB 28, Low-Income Housing Tax Credits:
On February 21, when the Senate passed Senate Bill 28 by a vote of 31 to 0, most assumed we would be well on our way to a solution that would allow the LIHTC program to restart. Regrettably, it didn’t work out that way.

First, a proposal was introduced that would move the timeline on state credits from 10 years to 7 years. Following, a second proposal was introduced that would allow holders of the Missouri credits to sell off credits outside of the partnership.  There was significant disagreement among the various developer entities about the value of these changes, so the bill was never taken up for a vote.

What happens now? The hope is, after reflection and study, Governor Parson will allow the program to start up again. Ideally, we would follow the Senate bill and limit the amount of Missouri credits to 72.5% of the federal credits. This idea, coupled with a rule developed by the Missouri Housing Development Commission, would spell out the criteria for awarding credits in a very open and transparent manner should be a reasonable starting point to reopen the program.

HB 564, Fresh Start Act of 2019:
Regarding House Bill 564; the underlying philosophy of the proposal is good. It ensures an individual is not permanently blocked from a professional license because of a prior mistake.

However, there were problems with the proposal and a lot of back and forth discussion on changes took place. Some of which were included in the bill that was taken up on the last day of the session. It came up late and ran out of time, but the issue will be back.

Legislative Acronyms
SS: Senate Substitute
SCS: Senate Committee Substitute
HCS: House Committee Substitute
SB: Senate Bill
HB: House Bill

Sam Licklider
Chief Lobbyist, Missouri REALTORS®

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