Michigan Association of Realtors

Below, please find a list of legislation the MAR is monitoring that may affect the real estate industry. NOTE: To access any of these bills, please visit: www.michiganlegislature.org and type in the bill number desired. At the site, you can view the current bill status, sponsors, and any analysis on the legislation. Call the MAR Public Policy Department at 800.454.7842 for questions, comments and to learn more about MAR's position on current legislation. Learn how a bill becomes law.

Legislation introduced that would eliminate the requirement for wall licenses. Currently, the Occupational Code requires a real estate broker to display his or her broker’s license and the license of each real estate salesperson that they employ. Nowadays with technology available to us, people will rarely go into an office to verify that their agent is licensed. The MAR has been working with DELEG in keeping licensing and regulation codes up with the times. The bill only eliminates the requirement of wall licenses; brokers and agents can still continue to hang them if they would like.

 

 

Legislation introduced to prohibit “private transfer fees”. These bills are a pre-emptive strike on programs that have sprung up in other states whereby a private party collects a fee every time a property is sold, similar to a transfer tax. These fees are an excessive restraint on the transferability of property and also prey upon homebuyers.

 

 

Senate Bill 1 has been introduced to completely eliminate the Michigan Business Tax (MBT). HB 4001 was introduced to only eliminate the surcharge. These bills are expected to move quickly given the legislature’s commitment to working on restructuring the business tax system in Michigan to retain and attract job providers.

 

Legislation has been introduced calling for a property tax exemption for unoccupied, new construction builds until they are occupied. This bill aims to alleviate some of the financial burden placed on homebuilders and their inventory of vacant homes.

 

 

Legislation introduced to create the “Fair and Open Competition in Governmental Construction Act”. The act will ensure that no workers or contractors are prohibited from performing work on state and local governmental construction projects based upon union statue. This means that there can be no handouts to special interest groups and that the state will benefit from full competition, thereby helping to keep costs in line and guaranteeing that no citizen will be denied the ability to perform work on a project financed by his or her own tax dollars because of their decision to affiliate or not affiliate with a labor union.