{"id":23360,"date":"2025-07-02T16:35:45","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T16:35:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/?p=23360"},"modified":"2025-07-02T16:37:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T16:37:10","slug":"santa-fe-realtors-promote-diverse-housing-options-in-housing-strapped-region-2-3-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-3-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-4-2-4-2-2-3-2-4-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-3-3-2-2-3-2-2-2-3-2-3-2-2-2-2-3-3-2-2-2-3-2-2-42","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/homepage\/success-story\/glvr-landuse0725","title":{"rendered":"With Land Use Initiative Analysis in Hand, Greater Lehigh Valley REALTORS\u00ae Converts Problematic Ordinance to a Win-Win"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The best defense, as they say, is a good offense. Such was the case this past winter, when a draft ordinance requiring mandatory annual training for landlords and property owners with rental units was proposed by the City of Easton, Pennsylvania. It raised a number of red flags for the Greater Lehigh Valley REALTORS\u00ae (GLVR), who submitted the draft for review by the REALTOR\u00ae Party\u2019s Land Use Initiative. Not only were the REALTORS\u00ae\u2019 concerns confirmed, but the analysis cast doubt on the legality of the proposed mandate. The REALTORS\u00ae stepped up to offer resources and support for a compromise ordinance that would encourage voluntary training, instead.<\/p>\n

GLVR Government Affairs Director Asher Schiavone spoke in opposition to the so-called \u2018Landlord Engagement Program,\u201d at a February 25 council meeting, noting the numerous objections the REALTORS\u00ae had spotted. These included the mandatory and annual basis of the training; the lack of an exemption for licensed real estate professionals; the lack of information about the program; and the penalty for non-compliance, which would be revocation of a license to operate a rental property. GLVR was also concerned that the training requirement would become a copy-cat model for neighboring municipalities. \u201cWe suggested that the city could focus on going after bad actors instead of imposing mandatory training on all landlords. We would have been happy with that \u2013 but the city cited legal concerns\u201d says Schiavone.<\/p>\n

His next move was a phone call to the REALTOR\u00ae Party to secure a review by its Land Use Initiative program, which retains the services of Robinson & Cole, LLC to analyze zoning ordinances and legislation for state and local associations. \u201cWithin a day of our request, I was speaking with an attorney,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was incredible how responsive they were, and quick to understand our circumstances; the level of professionalism was off the charts.\u201d The resulting memo confirmed and provided talking points in support of the REALTORS\u00ae\u2019 concerns about the draft ordinance. It also noted that the City Council lacked the authority to impose the mandatory training requirement on private property owners, something which GLVR\u2019s legal counsel found violated existing State laws. \u201cWhile we had been opposed to the burden the ordinance would place on landlords, many of whom are our members,\u201d says Schiavone, \u201cit turns out it would not have been legal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Presented with this challenge, the council withdrew it from the planned March 12th agenda, replacing it with a version in which the landlord training would be voluntary.<\/p>\n

GLVR responded with a letter endorsing the revised proposal, offering to lend resources and staff support for a voluntary landlord training program; it also plans to encourage its members to take the training in order to receive the $25 discount, from the city, off of their rental business license fee.<\/p>\n

Members are very pleased with the outcome, reports Schiavone, who notes that not only will the revised ordinance lessen red tape and relieve landlords of the burden of annual training, but it will also maintain a more attractive real estate climate in the City of Easton.<\/p>\n

Schiavone can\u2019t say enough good things about the LUI program. \u201cI had been involved in politics for years, but being new to the role of Government Affairs Director, there were of aspects of government issues I hadn\u2019t thought of; this program has helped me get my bearings and understand the nuances. The Land Use Memo Database on REALTORParty.com is also a great resource,\u201d he adds. \u201cI check there first, in case someone else has already had an analysis done of a similar situation, allowing me to benefit from that experience without re-inventing the wheel. The whole program has certainly flattened the learning curve for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schiavone asserts that effective lobbying is all about providing lawmakers with information. \u201cThey have a million things going on, and we, as the voice of real estate, have the opportunity to be helpful to them. Whatever they feel about the information itself, they can\u2019t have a negative response to our providing it. And then the door is open for us to suggest, \u2018Look, have you considered –?\u2019 In that light, on top of its intrinsic value, the research is so important and we are lucky to have the resources of NAR behind us.\u201d<\/p>\n

To learn more about how Greater Lehigh Valley REALTORS\u00ae is working to protect the rights of private property owners and the business environment of local municipalities, contact Asher Schiavone, GAD, at asher@glvr.org<\/a> or 484.821.0512.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When the City of Easton, Pennsylvania proposed an ordinance requiring mandatory annual landlord training, the local REALTOR\u00ae association sought legislative analysis from the REALTOR\u00ae Party\u2019s Land Use Initiative program. The assessment enabled them to reason with the lawmakers, resulting in a revised ordinance that strengthens the REALTORS\u00ae\u2019 relationship with City Hall.","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":23364,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,33,296],"tags":[501,1861,418],"class_list":["post-23360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-about-us","category-success-stories","category-success-story","tag-land-use-initiative","tag-lehigh","tag-pennsylvania"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23360"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23360\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23366,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23360\/revisions\/23366"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}