Government Policy, Real Estate and You! with Liz Recchia

Let’s start with the general geography. WeSERV is under the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) umbrella. Under the NAR model there is one national association, several state and territorial associations (one for each state/territory), and local associations. There is the National Association of REATORS®, the Arizona Association of REALTORS® (AR – also known as Arizona REALTORS®), and WeSERV A...

As many of you might remember, Waters of the U.S. were the words contained in the Clean Water Act referring to navigable waters the EPA could regulate. Over time the meaning of “navigable waters” has changed from being waters that were actually navigable (1871) to broadening in the 1972 passage of the Clean Water Act with the Army Corp of Engineers adoption of a broader definition. The Corp’s broa...

WeSERV provided a rental survey with market context to Luke AFB as they requested increased BAH rates for 2022. Find a complete list of WeSERV GAD meetings events at www.weservgad.org. Click on Upcoming Events. The Arizona Redistricting Commission released the final redistricting maps in December. You can find the maps links at www.weservgad.org. The WeSERV study conducted by Rounds Consulting is...

www.weservgad.org has interactive economic development maps from several of our cities and towns. Click on "Maps" to find a map. GAD Events: October 27th from 9am to 1130am - City of Avondale Economic Development Bus Tour with the Mayor and Economic Development Director. This is a free event, but you must register to attend. Nov. 2nd is the Casa Grande Economic Development Bus Tour from 1030am to...

Arizona’s redistricting for Legislative and Congressional voting districts began earlier this year with the appointment of a 5 person independent commission, the IRC. The Commission was tasked with starting from scratch to draw all new districts, not re-draw existing districts. Now, that commission has released the first grid maps for consideration and comment by the public. The next public meetin...

“Our system does not permit agencies to act unlawfully even in pursuit of desirable outcomes”            United State Supreme Court – August 26, 2021 Alabama Association of REALTORS® v Department of Health and Human Services The CDC Rental Eviction Moratorium has undergone changes and from the beginning there was concern from many that an agency, with unelected bureaucrats, could suddenly for thei...

Eviction Moratoria: Emergency Rental Assistance - Arizona Programs Emergency Rental Assistance - Treasury Department ERA FAQ May 2021 ERA FAQ June 2021 AZ Dept. of Housing Biden Administration Encourages Extension of Rental Eviction Moratoria Song Credits: WEPA Song Credits: "Wepa" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License, http://creativecommons....

Access the updated I-11 proposed route map and the Tier 1 study at www.weservgad.org. Read the blogposts on new laws in Az from March 2021 and July 2021. GAD Events: Arizona REALTORS® Caucus Registration Apache Junction, Queen Creek and Mesa - Imagine the Future Registration Song Credits: WEPA Song Credits: "Wepa" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0...

The Az Legislature adjourned Sine Die on June 30,2021. One of the last pieces of legislation discussed was SB 1828. You can read the March update of New Laws in Arizona and the July 2021 update at weservgad.org. The three Declaration of Independence blog posts can be found at www.weservgad.org. Cochise County updated ALQ ordinance Tempe Parks & Recreation Master Plan Apache Junction LDO Mesa Histo...

On May 6, 2021, the Arizona Department of Water Resources published the April 29th Joint Colorado River Shortage Preparedness Briefing. The briefing outlined the water shortage issues along with what declaring a Tier 1 shortage will mean for Arizona. CAP and ADWR authored a Colorado River Shortage Fact Sheet you can read for more information. You can read the DCP on how Arizona will share resource...

How much money is your City or Town getting from the recently passed American Rescue Plan, and how will they spend it?  You can read the bill at www.weservgad.org. Now we are seeing estimates of how much money cities and towns will receive as direct funding. There are other funds in various portions of the bill, but the direct funding to cities and towns has Arizona’s total estimated at over $1bil...

The Arizona State Legislature is a bit more than 70 days into the legislative session and currently there are 89 new laws passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor. New laws take effect 90 days after the legislative session, unless the bill stipulates a different effective date. I highlight a few of the new laws I think you should be interested in knowing. You can read the full descript...

The City Plan and the Code of Ordinances are two sources and they can always ask the Economic Development Department since frequently the City Plan and Code of Ordinances are amended in order to accommodate current economic needs of the City. City General Plans and their impact on ordinances and development The modes of transportation available to those businesses and residents are being decided t...

Vaccines – If you are trying to locate a Covid vaccine site in your County, go to www.weservgad.org. Click on the Corona Virus category and scroll down to the February 3rd blogpost “COVID-19 Vaccines in Arizona”. There you will find links to the County and State of Arizona vaccine information as well as an interactive map showing vaccine locations and reservation information. Opportunity Zones – T...

The WeSERV Water Issues Task Force subgroup has released its first information flyer named Water in Arizona – Is My Property in an AMA or INA? Here you will find links to primary sources of information and a short description of key water terms. Most important this document is full of links to primary sources so you can be the “source of the source” to your clients. This is the first in a series o...

Forbearance and distressed property owners:  While the Governor’s residential eviction moratorium order expired on Oct. 31st and his commercial order expired May 31st, the CDC order is still in effect for residential property owners to Dec. 31st. You can listen to my interview with Judge Wismer on this topic at www.weservgad.org. Click on GAD Podcasts.  Some of that investor class soaking up poten...

Election Day is over, but as counting continues you may wish to check the results for Arizona for yourself. Go to www.weservgad.org, click on the “Election Results” blog under Candidates and Elections where you can find links to the Arizona Secretary of State website and the results for Arizona’s statewide races. In the same blogpost you will find links to the election results website for Maricopa...

Last week WeSERV announced its endorsements for local elections on the November 3rd ballot. Arizona REALTORS® released its endorsements earlier this month, and NAR has made its recommendations. WeSERV, AR, and NAR all have similar processes for candidate endorsement decisions. I can speak to WeSERV’s process since that is the process I am involved with. If you would like more information on the AR...

The WeSERV Government Affairs Department has produced an easy to read infographic with key dates for the November 3rd General Election. You can download a copy of the infographic and access links to the Cochise County, Maricopa County, and Pinal County Elections websites. Check the Arizona Secretary of State’s election website to find the most current information. Judges and Other Candidates are o...

“What is the Association Doing About This?”  blog post I wrote a blog post linking you to the podcast interview with Judge Wismer so property owners and property managers can learn more about how the court system is adjudicating tenant evictions under the current COVID-19 eviction moratoriums from both the Governor and the CDC. You can find a list of WeSERV and AR endorsements at www.weservgad.org...

Property Managers and property owners are under a lot of stress, both financial and emotional. Trying to derive an income while renting property to others has become very complicated under COVID-19 with an increasing number of rules emanating from a number of sources, all designed to protect the tenant’s ability to stay in a rental house while deferring the rent. While the rules that allow deferra...

Now there are grant programs at the local level to help small business owners survive. Here is a list of programs with links in the show notes. This is not an exhaustive list of all programs and resources, but I hope it is a starting point for those who need help. You can access the list at www.weservgad.org. Local First Arizona program update: August 17th Governor Ducey announced Local First Ariz...

Arizona Association of REALTORS 2020 Caucus – AAR has opened registration for the 2020 REALTOR Caucus on September 3rd. This year the event will be virtual, so register soon. Rental Property Owner Preservation Fund – On August 4th Governor Ducey established the Rental Property Owner Preservation Fund (RPOPF), the $5 million fund promised in his July 16th Executive Order extending the tenant evicti...

The CFPB – For several years the question of whether the CFPB, also known as the consumer financial protection bureau, was constitutional as created by the Dodd/Frank Act. At question was the structure of the agency and its status as an Independent Agency, unanswerable to the President or any elected official, thus making it its own branch of government. On June 29th, the U.S. Supreme Court handed...

PUA - Independent Contractors and Self Employed may apply for unemployment insurance benefits under this temporary program. The program is available to those who are unemployed during the period of Feb. 2nd to Dec. 26th, 2020. The additional weekly $600 payment is for the period of March 29th to July 25th 2020. DES handbook and infographic. City of Buckeye is holding a public meeting on Building a...