Urban Legend Hits the Real Estate World
Be forewarned — no, this is not about kidney harvesting, Nigerian Lottery winnings, or Bill Gates giving everyone lots of money for forwarding an email — there is an email making the rounds titled “HR 2454: CAP AND TRADE ENERGY BILL”, which purports that new legislation will require all homes to retroactively pass new energy standards before they are sold.
Some even say that all homes will now be required to get a “label” for your house every year, proving that your home meets new energy standards.
This is all patently and unequivocally FALSE. (and you can even check Snopes.com here to doublecheck)
Firstly, whoever started this email has a serious conspiracy theory complex. They also probably fall into the category of “birther”, “teabagger party member”, or “Glenn Beck-lover”.
Bottom line, our gub’mint is not going to do anything -
ANYTHING – that will adversely affect the real estate market, which is
absolutely one of the key elements in our ongoing, slow economic recovery. Why
do you think they recently overwhelmingly voted to extend the first time buyer
$8K tax credit bill, as well as extend the $729K conforming loan limit? They
want to encourage people to have more confidence in home ownership.
Anyway, I also consulted our National Association of
Realtors (NAR) position on this, and below is what it said. The most revealing
statement, which contradicts this email is that this bill
“Does not create
a federal energy audit requirement for real property”
“The U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R. 2454, the
American Clean Energy and Security Act by Reps. Waxman (D‐CA) and Markey (D‐MA). Following NAR’s long‐standing policy to only
take a position on legislation, or provisions within legislation that have a
direct affect on real estate, NAR worked with our Congressional allies to strip
the Energy Bill of provisions that would have adversely affected our industry.
After multiple
consultations with the NAR Climate Presidential Advisory Group, the NAR Land
Use, Property Rights and Environment Committee, and state associations who had
dealt with energy audit legislation at the state level, the Land Use, Property
Rights and Environment Committee directed NAR staff to concentrate on the real
estate provisions in the bill. As a result, NAR issued calls for action
and made this a talking point for Capitol Hill visits during its recent Midyear
meeting.
Overall, REALTORS®
succeeded in making a number of positive changes affecting the real estate
provisions of the bill. The House‐approved
bill:
·
Does not create a
federal energy audit requirement for real property;
·
Exempts
existing homes and buildings from any federal guidelines for new construction
energy efficiency information labels.
·
Prohibits
the implementation of any labeling during a sales transaction.
·
Leaves
the decision to states as to whether to require energy audits, disclosures,
etc.
·
Provides
property owners with significant financial incentives, matching grants and
tools to make property improvements and reduce their energy bills;
·
Prohibits
the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating residential and commercial
buildings under the Clean Air Act;
·
Eliminated
an early proposal to allow citizens to sue over minor climate risks under the
Clean Air Act; and Establishes green building incentives for HUD housing, including a loan
program for renewable energy, block grants and credit for upgrades in mortgage
underwriting.”
Realtor, Marathon Man, "Man of a Thousand Voices".
