CCARToday - Contra Costa Association of REALTORS

Moves You Forward.

Complete Sexual Harassment Prevention Training by Jan 1st — It’s the Law!

by

Harassment, Conduct text graphic

Legal REQUIREMENT

CA law requires sexual harassment prevention training in the workplace by Jan 1, 2021

Online supervisor training $55, Employee training $25

Deadline for training is right around the corner! California Association of Realtors online course for supervisors and employees meets all state requirements. These are non-credit courses (not for license renewal). Courses are compliant with CA Senate Bill 292.

Click on the C.A.R. Online Ed link (right) to see if you are required to complete training.

CONTACT:

C.A.R. ONLINE ED >

Expanded MLS Access Coming January 20th

by

Expanded MLS Data Access Coming in January

Seven regional MLSs form NorCal MLS Alliance, enabling one-stop-access to thousands of listings throughout 22 Northern California counties.

With one login, MLS Participants and Subscibers will have access to thousands of listings spanning from the Greater Bay Area and Silicon Valley to the Monterey Coastline, up through the Central Valley to Sacramento and the Sierra foothills. What this means for homebuyers and sellers is expanded property listing search options and more marketing exposure.

The NorCal MLS Alliance grew from the existing reciprocal access model and will continue to evolve as technology improves and additional regional MLSs sign on to provide members and subscribers with greater access to MLS data. When fully implemented, this seven-member-alliance will benefit more than 55,000 brokers and agents.

Users will experience significant benefits from the new expanded data system while continuing to use familiar technologies from their home MLS systems. Additionally, they will reduce the number of data feeds necessary to run their businesses and eliminate the need for dual/multiple entry of listings into various regional MLS systems, saving time and money.

EXPANDED LISTING DISTRIBUTION

Maximum exposure – Simultaneously input listings into 4 MLS platforms

Input a listing into the Paragon system and that will automatically post that listing in all seven participating MLSs which include CCAR, Bay East, bridgeMLS, BAREIS, Metrolist, MLSListings and SFAR. A single-sourced IDX feed will be available soon.

expanded access to tours

Maximum access – One search for Broker Tours/Open Houses in 22 counties

With this new system, Participants and Subscribers will be able to search Broker Tours and Open Houses for all on-market listings in all 7 regional MLS jurisdictions.

UPON LAUNCH...

CCAR Participants and Subscribers will access Metrolist, BARIES and SFAR platforms from one (Paragon) home platform, eliminating the need to login to those systems separately. 

for more information:

Saved Searches – If you have saved searches in the BAREIS, Metrolist and/or SFAR MLS platforms, you must document the search criteria from each and replicate in Paragon. 

Contacts – Upon launch, users must export contact data from BAREIS, Metrolist and/or SFAR MLS and import into Paragon.

CMAs – If you have created CMAs in the BAREIS, Metrolist and/or SFAR MLS platforms you must save a copy to your files to maintain continued access. 

On Market Listings from BAREIS, Metrolist and/or SFAR MLS platforms must be transferred to the Paragon system or cancelled. 

www.norcalmlsalliance.com >

Join on Facebook >

Join on Instagram >

CCAR will make every effort to enable a seamless transition to the new system and technical staff will be available for ongoing support.

baries mls logo
bay east logo

Help Educate Clients About the Value of the MLS

by

(MLS) In The Know logo

Consumers don’t understand the MLS

Research shows that only 24% of consumers have even a vague idea of what the MLS is, let alone how it benefits them. But as an industry, we rely on the MLS every day. It’s how we monitor what’s happening across the market, how we cooperate to get sales done, how we offer compensation. We know the value of the MLS, even if we take it for granted.

Help educate your clients

We need to educate consumers about how the MLS benefits them, and now there’s a new resource at your fingertips to do just that! CMLS has created a consumer marketing campaign to help you tell the MLS story in a way that enhances your value as a broker, agent or an MLS leader. Click here to access a variety of campaign materials that will help you help consumers understand the value of the MLS.

www.cmlsintheknow.org

Legislative Corner

by

Capitol building with cherry blossoms, Washington DC

LEGISLATIVE CORNER

November elections yield positive results for property owners

C.A.R. Proposition 19 Initiative passes by narrow margin; additional real estate related State ballot measures reflect negative public sentiment towards rent control and increased business property taxes; voters approve County and local sales and business taxes. City Council representation results mixed.

2020 STATE BALLOT MEASURES:

PROP 15 FAILS

No: 52%  |  Yes: 48%

Voters reject Split Roll Tax Measure to increase taxes on small businesses  and commercial property owners

Proposition 15 would have provide $6.5B to $11.5B in new funding for public schools, community colleges and local government services by creating a “split roll” system that increases taxes on large commercial properties by assessing them at market value without changing property taxes for small business owners or renters. The measure failed by a small margin of about four percentage points.

PROP 19 Passes

Yes: 51.5%  |  No: 48.9%

Voters approve C.A.R. Initiative for property tax transfers, exemptions and revenue for wildfire agencies 1

Proposition 19 passed with just over 51% of the vote. As passed, the proposition would increase property tax burden on owners of inherited property in favor of providing expanded property tax benefits to homeowners ages 55 years and older, disabled homeowners and victims of wildfires and natural disasters.

| PROP 19 LEGAL Q&A >

| PROP 19 QUICK GUIDE >

prop 21 FAILS

No: 59.8%  |  Yes: 40.3%

Prohibits local governments from imposing rent control on variety of housing units2

If approved, Proposition 21 would have allowed local governments to establish rent control on residential properties that have been occupied for over 15 years and allow landlords who own no more than two homes to exempt themselves from such policies. This would have essentially repealed some of the provisions in the ’95 Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act. Prop 21 was rejected by 60% of California voters.

COUNTY | CITY BALLOT MEASURES:

CONTRA COSTA MEASURE X PASSES: 58.45% | 41.55%

Measure X will levy a 1/2-cent sales tax to help fund the County General Fund. Stated use of funds include hospitals and community health centers, fire and emergency response, early childhood and essential county services. 

CONCORD MEASURE V PASSES: 50.47% | 49.53%

Measure V extends and increases voter-approved sales tax from 0.5% to 1% to help bolster Concord’s General Fund. Funds designated for emergency/disaster response and preparedness, supporting local businesses through recovery, street repair, crime prevention, homelessness and other City services. 

ORINDA MEASURE R PASSES: 58.74% | 41.29%

Measure R will extend/increase voter-approved sales tax from 0.25% to 0.5% to boost City’s General Fund. Funds will be used for street maintenance, storm drain repair, and emergency/disaster preparedness. 

RICHMOND MEASURE U PASSES: 72.53% | 27.47%

Measure U will restructure the City’s Business License Tax calculation method from a per employee tax to a gross receipts tax. 

SAN PABLO MEASURE S PASSES: 79.19% | 20.81%

Measure S will extend a voter-approved sales tax that passed in 2012 known as Measure Q which will revert a temporary sales tax back to a 1/2-cent (total rate of 8.75%) for five years, then be reduced by 1/4-cent (8.5%) for the next five years, then terminated after 10 years. It will not increase local taxes beyond what was originally approved as Measure Q.

RAF-O-METER

RAF contributions

Help us reach our CCAR goal: 21%.
Contributions can be as little as $20. Your return on investment will be priceless.
| CONTRIBUTE TODAY  >

LOCAL REPRESENTATION SUMMARY

| FOR DETAILS CLICK HERE >

CONTRA COSTA

Federal Glover, Incumbent

Supervisor, District 5

CLAYTON

City Council (3 seats):

Jim Diaz, Incumbent

Peter Cloven

Leticia ‘Holly’ Tillman

CONCORD

City Council:

Dist 2: Carlyn Obringer,

Incumbent

Dist 4: Ed Birsan

Incumbent (unapposed)

DANVILLE

Town Council:

Newell Arnerich, Incumbent

Renee Morgan, Incumbent

Dave Fong

EL CERRITO

City Council (3 seats):

Lisa Motoyama

Paul Fadeli, Incumbent

Tessa Rudnick

HERCULES

City Council (3 seats):

Alexander Walker-Griffin

Dan Romero, Incumbent

Tiffany Grimsley

LAFAYETTE

City Council (3 seats):

Cameron Burks, Incumbent

Carl Anduri

Gina Dawson

MARTINEZ

City Council:

Dist 2: Mark Ross,

Incumbent

Dist 3: Brianne Zorn

MORAGA

Town Council:

Renata Sos, Incumbent

David Stromberg

Teresa Onoda

ORINDA

City Council (2 seats):

Darlene Gee, Incumbent

Inga Miller, Incumbent

PINOLE

City Council (2 seats):

Devin Murphy

Maureen Toms

RICHMOND

City Council:

Dist 1: Melvin Wills,

Incumbent

Dist 5: Gayle McLaughlin

Dist 6: Claudia Jimenez

SAN PABLO

City Council (3 seats):

Patricia Ponce

Arturo Cruz, Incumbent

Abel Pineda, Incumbent

SAN RAMON

City Council:

Mayor: David Hudson

Dist 1: Scott Perkins

Dist 3: Sridhar Verose

WALNUT CREEK

City Council (3 seats):

Kevin Wilk, Incumbent

Cindy Darling

Loella Haskew, Incumbent

| govt. affairs ARCHIVE

CONTACT:

OCT 2020 | With election season comes a race for space to post signage. Be sure to familiarize yourself with local laws pertaining to sign placement, which may differ in every city. Illegal sign placement may result in onerous legislation that could severely restrict all signage privileges. | REVIEW CITY SIGN ORDINANCES >

PROTECTING PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS  |  One of the most important services organized real estate provides members and consumers is representation in the halls of government. The REALTOR Action Fund (RAF), supported solely by REALTOR contributions, raises money to advance the goals of political action committees (PACs) supporting real estate at the local, state and federal levels of government.  | LEARN MORE >

Heather Schiffman photo

HEATHER SCHIFFMAN

Director, Government Affairs

[email protected]

2020 lgr committee:

Debi Mackey, Chair

Henry Giovannetti

Leslie Manzone

Greg Souza

Tyra Wright

Floor Plans Subject to Copyright + Ad Restrictions

by

Architectural drawing

Legal alert

Floorplans posted with MLS listings are subject to copyright restrictions and truth in advertising guidelines

Adding floorplans to listing data has become popular among MLS Participants and Subscribers. But before you post, make sure they are accurate and that you get adequate permissions to copy and publish.   

Just as there are copyright restrictions limiting use of photos in the MLS, so too are there similar legal and ethical ramifications for posting floorplans. Best Rule of Thumb: 

– Be sure to get permission to use floorplan images from architects/image copyright owners.

–  Be sure the floorplans reflect a current and accurate representation of actual property, dimensions and layout.

For virtual floorplans, also  be sure to include a legend (notation of square footage/

measurement source) and precision disclaimer similar to the following:

“Disclaimer: This image is a computer generated rendering based on square footage as reported via_____________ (preferably a third-party source such as public records). As such, this floorplan may not completely and accurately depict the true measurements and scale of the property and neither seller nor listing broker has/will investigate or verify the accuracy of the measurements nor the relative scale of space rendered. If exact acreage or square footage is required the property should be measured by an independent third-party.”

CONTACT:

Membership Services

(925) 295-1270

[email protected]