03/14/2013 Florida Realtors News

TODAY'S TOP STORIES IDX listing sparks fair housing complaint TAMPA, Fla. – March 14, 2013 – A Tampa, Fla., real estate professional has been dismissed from a complaint filed by a fair housing tester in November 2012, says National Association of Realtors® General Counsel Laurie Janik. His case generated attention online and off this week after he posted an account of the resulting legal and financial complications on real estate social media site ActiveRain. “What started out as blog post that I thought would get maybe 20 replies ended up blowing up and going viral,” says Jeff Launiere, the practitioner originally named as the defendant in the lawsuit. According to the complaint, the plaintiff – an independent real estate tester – found language within a listing on realtor.com that she believed violated the Federal Fair Housing Act, Janik says. Specifically, the property description said it was “adults only… no children under 16,” but it wasn’t in a designated 55-plus community. The tester then did some additional research on the Internet, which led to her finding Launiere’s website. The listing, allegedly in violation of the Federal Fair Housing Act, was not Launiere’s but rather another practitioner in the same brokerage. It showed up on his site because of the IDX feed from his MLS. The tester believed that the presence of that property ad on his site meant he was the listing agent and named him in her suit. “This whole situation is really indicative of how confusing things can be on a website,” says Nobu Hata, director of digital engagement at the National Association of Realtors (NAR). He adds that situations like these are not particularly common. “Most fair housing testers are well trained in MLS issues. The ones I’ve met will call and do due diligence. But a few may be new or misinformed.” Matt Cohen, chief technologist for real estate technology consultancy Clareity, agrees with Hata’s assessment. “Everything we do has some level of risk in it,” he says. “He happened to catch the attention of someone who caused him problems. Obviously, he didn’t craft the ad.” Cohen says the situation is very rare. “Many MLS organizations provide extensive compliance checking for listings with regard to fair housing. Some don’t, but many do. Realtors are also generally good for watching out for each other and notifying MLS staff when these problems arise. When these issues happen, they’re often handled before anyone external to the MLS can take notice.” But after his ordeal, Launiere is not so sure this is a rare occurrence. He says he received approximately 1,500 e-mails on Monday alone because of his online post, many of them coming from local and state association staff who described similar lawsuits filed against them and their members. “I believe this is just the tip of the iceberg,” he says. “I think because everyone’s settling out of court, no one really understands the extent of what’s going on with this.” He expressed gratitude for the support shown to him by fellow Realtors during this difficult time. “I could not believe how many Realtors and brokers and associations reached out,” says Launiere, who says one group even collected money for a legal defense fund. “It really lifted me.” He added that the experience has encouraged him to get more aware of and involved in his association’s approach to technology issues. And on that, he and Cohen agree. “The one thing [Launiere] could have done is worked with the association and MLS faster,” Cohen says. “You have a valuable trade association to help you in situations like this when you’ve acted within the rules.” NAR’s Janik further explains the problem and possible solutions going forward in a podcast posted on realtor.org (password required). “Laurie Janik’s podcast explains a defense available for website providers under the Communications Decency Act,” says Florida Realtors Vice President and General Counsel Margy Grant. “This defense refers to content posted on a website that has been auto-uploaded after being created by someone else. It has been successful in litigation against Craigslist (7th Circuit) and Roommate.com (9th Circuit), but it has never been litigated in the context of an IDX display on an agent’s site. Should additional suits be filed against IDX sites, however, this is a defense that can be raised.” Source: Brian Summerfield, Realtor Magazine Fla. has top foreclosure rate for sixth month WASHINGTON – March 14, 2013 – Florida posted the nation’s highest state foreclosure rate for the sixth consecutive month in February, according to RealtyTrac’s Foreclosure Market Report for February 2013: One in every 282 housing units with a mortgage had a foreclosure filing during the month – more than three times the national average. A total of 31,726 Florida properties had a foreclosure filing during February, up 6 percent from the previous month and up 20 percent year-to-year, reaching a 16-month high. Foreclosure filings include default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions. Florida cities (population of 200,000 or more) also accounted for seven of the nation’s 10 highest metro foreclosure rates in February; Miami’s metro area posted the highest rate in the nation (one in every 219 housing units). Other Florida MSAs in RealtyTrac’s top 10 include: Orlando at No. 2 (one in 225 housing units with a foreclosure filing); Ocala No. 3 (one in 243); Tampa No. 4 (one in 253); Palm Bay No. 5 (one in 260); Jacksonville No. 8 (one in 302); and Naples No. 9 (one in 318). Foreclosure activity increased from a year ago in all seven Florida cities with top 10 metro foreclosure rates. Dr. Sean Snaith, head of the Institute for Economic Competitiveness at the University of Central Florida, told the Bradenton Herald that the RealtyTrac data “reflects the length of time it takes for foreclosures to get through the judicial system” in Florida. In California and other states where foreclosures don’t go through the courts, they have been able to resolve foreclosures more quickly, he said. Nationally, RealtyTrac reports 154,281 U.S. foreclosure filings in February, an increase of 2 percent from the previous month but down 25 percent from February 2012. One in every 849 U.S. housing units saw a foreclosure filing during the month. “At a high level the U.S. foreclosure inferno has been effectively contained and should be reduced to a slow burn in the next two years,” says Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. “But dangerous foreclosure flare-ups are still popping up in states where foreclosures have been delayed by a lengthy court process or by new legislation making it more difficult to foreclose outside the court system. Foreclosure starts have been steadily building in those states over the last several months and likely will end up as bank repossessions or short sales later this year.” High-level findings • U.S. foreclosure starts increased 10 percent from the previous month after three consecutive monthly decreases, but they were still down 25 percent from February 2012. • U.S. bank repossessions (REOs) decreased 11 percent from the previous month and were down 29 percent from February 2012 to the lowest level since September 2007 – a 65-month low. © 2013 Florida Realtors® Court upholds Fla. position on sinkhole coverage TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – March 14, 2013 – A Florida court has upheld a decision by state insurance regulators that property insurers must offer sinkhole loss coverage in an amount equal to the dwelling coverage limit. Farm Bureau asked the Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) to approve an amendment to its endorsement form that would limit sinkhole loss coverage to 25 percent of the overall coverage amount. When OIR rejected the Farm Bureau request, the insurer turned to the courts. The 1st District Court of Appeal said Wednesday that deductibles are tied to casualty coverage limits in the base policy, concluding the amount of sinkhole loss coverage is intended to be the same as the amount of coverage provided in that policy. Florida property insurers are required to provide catastrophic ground cover collapse in addition to optional sinkhole coverage.  Copyright © 2013 The Associated Press. Can real estate investment trusts be trusted? NEW YORK – March 14, 2013 – Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are an excellent addition for investors looking to diversify their portfolios. REITs have many features making them attractive to most investors. Their large relative dividend yields attract the most attention. Currently, the Vanguard REIT Index exchange traded fund yields 3.4 percent, well above the 2.0 percent yield of the Standard & Poor’s 500. But REITs are also attractive in that they have better average long-term returns than the market. The IFA Real Estate Securities index has generated a long-term 11 percent average annual return. That’s a solid return, especially since REIT price movements are not directly tied to moves of the stock market. The popularity of REITs has generated an array of choices for investors. Vanguard’s ETF is particularly low-cost, with a 0.1 percent annual expense ratio. But the iShares Cohen & Steers REIT ETF is competitive, too, at a 0.35 percent expense ratio. There are risks to consider. REITs were hit hard when the debt-bubble crisis hit in 2008 and 2009. Most REITs are also leveraged, exposing them to risk during a credit crunch. And it can be tricky to calculate taxes due on REITs’ dividends. Copyright © USA TODAY 2013 Hard-hit Sun Belt starting to bounce back ORLANDO, Fla. – March 14, 2013 – After years of record foreclosures and job losses, the Sun Belt is recovering some of its lost appeal as the population begins to grow again in counties from Florida to Arizona. At the same time, new ways to tap the nation’s rich supply of natural resources – from oil to gold – continue to create boom towns in some remote Western counties and parts of the Great Plains that have suffered decades of population declines. Census county population estimates out today for July 1, 2012, show a nation in flux after a grueling economic downturn. Counties such as Arizona’s Maricopa (Phoenix), Nevada’s Clark (Las Vegas) and Florida’s Orange (Orlando) all show population gains that are once again outpacing national growth. “Even the deepest recession since the Great Depression cannot permanently disrupt the decades-long trend of growth in the South and West,” says Robert Lang, professor of urban affairs at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. “Now that we’re several years past the recession, things are slowly getting back to where they were.” Some of the fastest recent gains are in or near the Great Plains and Texas – regions benefiting from oil and gas drilling and processing. Texas had 11 of the 50 fastest-growing counties. In Elko, Nev., one of the fastest-growing small urban areas, gold mining is the lure. Williams, N.D., was the fastest growing among counties with more than 10,000 people. Williston, its main city, and surrounding areas gained 9.3 percent in one year. “Parts of the country that were given up for dead end up producing new life,” Lang says. “Technology keeps changing, so our ability to access resources changes. America’s mineral and energy abundance is the gift that keeps on giving.” Despite glimmers of growth and rebound, the recession’s impact on birthrates is being felt in more corners of the country. Natural decrease (when deaths outnumber births) occurred in a record 1,135 counties, or more than a third, according to Kenneth Johnson, senior demographer at the University of New Hampshire’s Carsey Institute. For the first time, two states had more deaths than births: Maine and West Virginia. As recently as 2009, this scenario happened in just 880 counties. Natural decreases are happening more often because there are fewer births, Johnson’s analysis shows – 4 million last year nationwide compared with a record 4.3 million before the recession. “It is no longer an isolated phenomenon,” Johnson says. “Once natural decrease begins in a county, it is likely to recur. … With few young adults and a growing older population, the future viability of many natural decrease areas is not encouraging.” Florida, one of the states hardest hit by foreclosures, is making a comeback. “We’ve become more affordable and people are coming back,” says Lesley Deutch, senior vice president at John Burns Real Estate Consulting in Boca Raton. The lure of striking it rich quickly is fueling much of the growth in the Great Plains, and that doesn’t necessarily portend a bright future, retired RAND demographer Peter Morrison says. “Like their 1970s predecessors, today’s energy boom towns will find that newcomers who make instant cities don’t always make instant citizens,” he says. Copyright © USA TODAY 2013 NOW YOU KNOW Study shows home preferences of Millennials NEW YORK – March 14, 2013 – The Millennial generation is showing a preference for fixer-upper houses over the “cookie cutter” luxury homes their parents’ generation tended to desire, according to a national survey by Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate. About one in three 18-to-35 year olds recently surveyed say they prefer a “fixer-upper” home with minimal repairs needed. Forty-seven percent say they would be more likely to handle home maintenance jobs themselves over calling in a professional for help. What’s more, 72 percent of Millennials consider themselves handy, earning the nickname the “Fix-It Generation,” according to the survey. They also aren’t looking for big, luxury homes like their parents, and they don’t mind if a home is smaller, as long as it’s unique, the survey showed. Forty-three percent say they want a home that is more customized and different – less “cookie cutter.” They expect each room in the house to fit their lifestyle. Also, 56 percent say that home technology capabilities are more important than a house with great curb appeal. Sixty-four percent of Millennials said they wouldn’t even consider living in a home that doesn’t have the latest tech capabilities. Eighty-four percent say that technology is essential for their new home, with the most sought-after tech in the home being an energy-efficient washer and dryer, a security system and a smart thermostat. “It’s critical that real estate professionals understand what embodies a quintessential home for the millennial generation, which vastly differs from the traditional norms of generations before them,” says Sherry Chris, president and CEO of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC. “Understanding technologies to communicate with this generation is now only one piece of the puzzle for agents; ‘smart’ technological capabilities must now be ingrained into the home itself.” Source: Realogy © Copyright 2013 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD (301) 215-4688 AROUND FLORIDA Ocean Ridge: Commercial strip wins reprieve Panama City Beach: Casto begins work on retail center Wellington: Equestrian estate sells for $6.8M Manatee, Sarasota: Foreclosures spike