Legislation has been introduced that would place REALTORS® in the direct path of frivolous lawsuits.
House Bill 4915, introduced by Representative Robert Jones (D-Kalamazoo) seeks to expand the Michigan Consumer Protection Act (MCPA) to include licensed professionals. Michigan REALTORS® are currently exempt from the MCPA. This exemption has been upheld in the courts on various levels, and the MAR Legal Action Committee has fought to reinforce this position throughout the years.
It is expected that House Bill 4915 will be voted out of the House Judiciary committee this week and sent to the House floor. The MAR, along with many other business groups and associations have joined forces in strong opposition to this bill, as it imposes layers of needless regulations and costs to businesses already regulated by state and federal laws. The MAR is preparing to send out an association-wide “Call to Action” with additional information and bullet points for members to contact their lawmakers and urge them to oppose this legislation. Watch your inbox in the coming days for further updates on this issue.
MAR is excited to introduce a new and free of charge member benefit, MongoFax. MongoFax can help members close deals faster by instantly faxing paper-based documents (disclosure packages, signed contracts, etc.) for FREE directly to ANY email address in the world. All MAR members, and local association employees, receive Unlimited FREE access to MongoFAX. The MAR dedicated
MongoFax Cover Page empowers you to No Sign Ups, Registrations or Passwords required. It’s instant and it’s COMPLETELY FREE!
MAR encourages all local association staff to try MongoFax, to familiarize yourself with the service, and to spread the word to members. Below you will find images to include on your Web site, and in E-communications, which will link back to the MongoFax benefit on the
MAR Web site. Also, download the
MongoFax Cover Page to your files today, for easy access.
Mark your calendar today to attend Achieve & Achieve After Dark 2010. The leadership event will take place January 21-22 at the Westin Book Cadillac, Detroit. Marcus Wally, Chris Newman, Greg McClelland and Gail Anderson are already on the impressive lineup of speakers, to host knowledge sessions at this year’s event.
Achieve is MAR's premier event created specifically for current and upcoming association leaders. The two-day conference provides an excellent speaker lineup and networking events, capped by Achieve After Dark. At Achieve, we also honor the RPAC achievements of our local associations at a festive awards lunch. You'll not want to miss this chance to mingle with the best of the best in Michigan's real estate industry.
The Achieve After Dark Event is new to Achieve this year. This reception to honor the MAR President and the 2010 leadership team, replaces the Inauguration Gala. The MAR Officers were installed at a lovely ceremony held in conjunction with the Annual Past President's dinner at the MAR Annual Convention. Our 2010 Directors will be installed, as many local Directors are, during the December Board Meeting and Orientation program. These changes were made under the direction of the Leadership team and the Past Presidents based on an assessment of our annual installation programs, a comparison to like structured state organizations, an analysis of the program costs and a strong desire to update and change the "look and feel" of Achieve.
We look forward to this newly formatted celebration of leadership.
Additional information will be coming soon at the MAR
Web site.
NAR is in the stages of planning to add a couple of HTML reports to the NRDS Administration menu within the next couple of years that would allow POEs to access the list of their active members with the COE Education record and a list of their active members without a COE Education record, by cycle. NAR is looking to gather information from the POEs to see how many associations are using the Education records and how many are not.
POEs are asked to please take a few moments to fill out a survey by clicking on the link below.
The survey will be open through Tuesday, November 3rd.
Take the Survey! For more information about COE Courses and NRDS,
click here.
MAR appreciates the promotion of MAR events using your web site and or Facebook pages. We know from our convention evaluations that members get much of their information through e-communications and your support is crucial. MAR has a new resource for you to use in relation with your Facebook pages. It is the
MAR Events Fan Page. You can do a search for MAR Events to find the site and become a fan. MAR will be posting updates to the fan page often before they are posted in other e-communications so become a fan to always be in the know. When promoting MAR events please feel free to utilize MAR resources such as
MAR Events Fan Page on Facebook and
Mirealtors.com. You can always use the event promotions that are sent to you in the event media kits as well.
Aflac offers a distinct type of protection. Unlike traditional health insurance, Aflac pays you (unless otherwise assigned) not the doctor or hospital. You control the cash benefits and spend them as you like to help with financial challenges an accident or illness could haveon your standard of living.
Over 40 million people worldwide have chosen Aflac because of the commitment to providing customers with the confidence that comes from knowing they have assistance in being prepared for whatever life may bring.
These Aflac insurance policies are offered to members of Michigan Association of REALTORS®.
Click here to learn more about policies for association members.æIf you have any questions contact your Aflac agent Kenneth Bordua at 616.935.3560.