NAR seeks to keep national banks out of real estate

|tab|

The National Association of Realtors has asked the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to adopt a regulation to prevent federally chartered banks from entering real estate brokerage and property management if the OCC won't rescind a recent regulation that allows national banks to ignore state licensing and banking laws.|ret||ret||tab|

According to an NAR news release, the OCC adopted a regulation Feb. 12 that preempts state banking laws and exempts national banks from having to comply with state banking laws, including those protecting consumers from predatory lending and other abusive banking practices. |ret||ret||tab|

Thousands of Realtors filed formal comments opposing the OCC preemption regulation. |ret||ret||tab|

State banking officials, state attorneys general, consumer groups and other real estate industry organizations also oppose the rule, which was the subject of congressional hearings in January. NAR would support legislation in Congress to rescind it. |ret||ret||tab|

Until at least Oct. 1, the Treasury Department is precluded by law from enacting another regulation promulgated by the Federal Reserve Board and Treasury that would allow federally chartered banks to enter real estate brokerage and property management. |ret||ret||tab|

The Federal Reserve/Treasury rule first was published in January 2001. If national banks eventually gain the power to broker real estate, the OCC could easily exempt them from state real estate licensing laws as well. Should that happen, real estate brokers and agents employed by bank-owned brokerages might not be required to obtain state real estate licenses.|ret||ret||tab|

In a letter to Comptroller John Hawke, NAR Senior Vice President and Chief Economist David Lereah asked the OCC to enact a regulation that would prohibit national banks that are exempt from state control to enter real estate brokerage and property management. In his Feb. 13 letter, Lereah said such a rule "would provide the real estate industry with the assurance it needs that the issue of banks' involvement in real estate brokerage activities will not be decided unilaterally by administrative fiat."|ret||ret||tab|

NAR President Walt McDonald said: "Taken together, these two regulations could create the real estate industry's worst nightmare. The largest banks in the nation could control large segments of the real estate industry, both brokerage and finance, with no state regulation. The OCC rule gives a competitive advantage to those who need it least, the big banking conglomerates. The result will be less competition, less service, more consolidation and higher prices in real estate transactions. If the regulatory agencies choose to side with the big banks rather than with homeowners and home buyers, we will have no choice but to seek support in Congress to stop this rule." |ret||ret||tab|

[[In-content Ad]]