Commercial PropertyTexas, Oklahoma Legislators Defy DOJ Warnings to Pass Bills Establishing Minimum Service Levels To Consumers
In spite of warnings by the Department of Justice, the Texas House and Oklahoma Senate moved forward on the same day to pass bills which are intended to support statutes that require minimum levels of real estate brokerage services to consumers.
The Texas House of Representatives passed a Senate bill, SB810, with a late-arriving amendment that would assure a minimum level of service to consumers. The amendment received a unanimous vote from the House.
Rep. Joe C. Pickett, D-El Paso, wrote the amendment which requires all agents who list homes for sale to present offers from buyers to the sellers and to be available to answer clients" questions. This action took the heat off of the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC), which was considering rules to do the same.
Explains Loretta DeHay, general counsel for TREC, "The amendments to SB810 were floor amendments that were added on the second and third reading on the house floor by Representative Joe Pickett. The bill will now need to go to the Senate for concurrence on the changes made in the House. I have no information on when the Senate will take action on the bill."
When TREC received a stern letter from the DOJ, it appeared the TREC"s regulations would be compromised, but if the legislation passes in the Senate as well, it will be more challenging for federal regulators to intervene with a statute.
In similar news, OK-SB673 was passed by a vote of 40 to 4 by the Oklahoma Senate and is being sent to the House for its vote. The bill was sponsored by Senator Jay Paul Gumm, D-Durant, a former Realtor.
The Oklahoma bill requires all transactional and single-party brokers to "comply with all requirements of the Oklahoma Real Estate License Code and all applicable statutes and rules be available to receive all written offers, counteroffers or other communications concerning a transaction, and reduce offers or counteroffers to a written form upon request of any party to a transaction; and to exercise reasonable skill and care including: a. present timely presentation of all written offers and counteroffers..."
Charla Slabotsky, spokesperson for the Oklahoma Association of Realtors said, "You might remember that OAR was surprised when the DOJ, in an unexpected and unusual move, issued a letter urging the members of the Oklahoma legislature to oppose SB673. The letter was issued without the DOJ contacting the Association or either legislative sponsor of SB673, Senator Jay Paul Gumm, D-Durant, and Representative Doug Miller, R-Norman. Since that time, both legislative authors and Association staff have discussed SB673 with DOJ attorneys in the anti-trust division."
"Taking the bill to a Conference Committee," she continues, "will allow OAR more time to work with those concerned with certain aspects of the bill. While we are hopeful that a consensus will be reached, we continue to support the original intent of the bill and aim to move forward with our goal of protecting consumers while upholding the original legislative intent of Oklahoma"s Broker Relationships Law."
"We are confident SB673 will move forward as the legislative session continues," says Slabotsky.