Advocacy
RAPAC
RAPAC is the acronym of the the REALTORS® of Arizona Political Action Committee (RAPAC), a member-sponsored effort organized to financially support candidates running for local, state and federal office whose position on real estate regulation and a free-market business environment most closely represents the initiatives of the Arizona REALTORS®. RAPAC contributes to and channels resources into races that will have the most impact on the real estate industry. RAPAC is a voluntary, non-profit political action committee and operates independently of any political party.
RAPAC is a vital part of the Arizona REALTORS® Government Affairs program — a program that includes professional lobbying, legislative analysis, grassroots contacts, and long-term political relationships. RAPAC, through efforts of the state and local associations and council strives to educate city council members, legislators and members of congress about our industry and guarantees that no decision is made that will affect our industry, good or bad, until the REALTOR® voice is heard.
RPAC, is the acronym for REALTORS® Political Action Committee and is a voluntary program that provides the “hard” dollars the association uses to make direct contributions to national, state and local candidates.
Launched in 1969 as the Real Estate Political Education Committee (REPEC), RPAC supports candidates of any party who understand and champion real estate issues. It is the most bipartisan major PAC in the country. Political expenditures are divided nearly evenly among Republicans and Democrats based on their support of real estate issues. In 1974, NAR changed REPEC’s name to RPAC.
In 2015, NAR created the Corporate Ally Program to provide our extended real estate family—namely Multiple Listing Services and their business partners and advisors, real estate brokerages, NAR business affiliates and vendors and Institutes, Societies and Councils—with the flexibility of investing their corporate dollars to support the REALTOR® Party issues and/or candidate programs.
Fair Housing
Stay in Compliance
All REALTOR® members are required to complete ethics training once every three years. New SVVAR REALTOR® members must complete the National Association of REALTORS® New Member Code of Ethics course within 60 days of joining.
How to Take the Online Course
To register:
- Go to nar.realtor
- Click on Education, then on Code of Ethics training
- Once on this page, click on Code of Ethics Course for New Members and either enter your first and last name or your NRDS ID.
- If you are an existing member and need to complete your Code of Ethics Course, click on Code of Ethics Course for Existing Members.
This course is free through NAR, available 24/7 and will take approximately 2 to 2.5 hours to complete. There is a Pass/Fail test at the end of the course.
Once completed, please email your certificate to info@svvar.com.
Code of Ethics Training Cycles
Training must be completed at anytime during these established cycles. Cycle 7 is January 1, 2022 – December 31, 2024. Cycle 8 will be January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2027.
Goverment Affairs
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Dear SVVAR members,
It has come to our attention that the City of Sedona has recently updated their website to include the names and personal contact information of the “Emergency Contacts” associated with the properties that have Short Term Rental Licenses within the city’s limits. We want to make you aware of this information as we feel that this is a violation of state statute and jeopardizes the safety and security of our REALTOR® members.
As required by AZ Statute (9-500.39 § 4), all STR licensees are required to provide Emergency Contact information to their respective cities. However, there is no requirement in statute that this information exists in an unregulated open format.
9-500.39 § 4 To require the owner of a vacation rental or short-term rental to provide the city or town an emergency point of contact information for the owner or the owner’s designee who is responsible for responding to complaints or emergencies in a timely manner in person if required by public safety personnel, over the phone or by email at any time of day before offering for rent or renting the vacation rental or short-term rental.
It is the opinion of the SVVAR Board of Directors and Government Affairs Committee that the cities actions, placing this information in an unregulated public domain, jeopardizes the security and safety for these properties, their owners, and our REALTOR members.
“While we share in the concerns for residents for their own security and safety with visitors staying in neighboring homes. Placing this information in an unregulated forum will open our REALTOR members to harassment and stigmatize upstanding members of our community. It is the opinion of SVVAR that the City of Sedona has violated the public’s trust in interpreting state statute in this way.” 2024 SVVAR President Wyndie Whitney
While we work to resolve this issue we strongly encourage anyone with concerns regarding this information to reach out directly to City of Sedona Mayor Scott Jablow and Attorney Kurt Christensen to share your concerns.
Thank you for your time and attention regarding this matter and please share any feedback you receive with SVVAR CEO Lauren DePoe and our Government Affairs Director Jack Greacen.
Sincerely,
2024 SVVAR Board of Directors |
Deed Fraud
Attempts to commit deed fraud are becoming more pervasive in Arizona. More specifically, there has been a recent surge in fraudsters impersonating owners of vacant land and contacting real estate licensees to put the land on the market to sell. Typically, in this scenario, fraudsters are well versed in their knowledge of the property as the internet and public records provide a fair amount of detail. And, because online transactions are not abnormal these days, an agent may not think twice about being contacted by a purported seller who does not live in the local area. However, because real estate licensees are the first line of defense to this type of fraud, it’s helpful for agents to be aware of this scheme so that they may adopt preventative practices.
Red Flags:
- Unencumbered, vacant land;
- Vacant parcels owned by the same owner for several years;
- Non-local owners;
- Low sales price;
- The seller claims to be out of the country for an urgent but believable reason (usually something dealing with family);
- The seller needs to sell fast – the story may pull at the heart strings;
- The seller cannot meet the agent in person or connect with the agent via video conferencing;
- The seller will only communicate via email and will not provide a mailing address; and
- The seller uses a power of attorney, or has documents purportedly acknowledged in the state or country they live in.
Preventative practices:
- Be extremely careful with emails from out-of-country sellers rushing to close the transaction;
- Ask the seller who referred them or how they found you;
- Ask to speak with the seller via Zoom, Skype or another video conferencing platform;
- Ask the seller questions about the property such as when and how they came to acquire it, and what their plans were for the vacant parcel to see if the seller knows the property’s history;
- Request a copy of the seller’s identification;
- Check the county assessor’s website for the current owner’s address, and consider performing an internet search to compare information provided to you by the purported owner against what you discover online;
- Check the treasurer’s website, and review the history of tax payments to see if you can determine who the payor has been, and their mailing address;
8.Perform a notary search and contact the Embassy or Consulate, if applicable, to confirm whether the notary works there; and
9. Listen to your gut.
Author: Nikki Salgat