|
FOR RELEASE May 25, 2007
For more information contact Bruce Hahn, 571-214-1013
|
Consumers Urge Veto of Antirebate Bill
|
The Honorable Phil Bredesen
Governor of Tennessee
Tennessee State Capitol
Nashville, TN 37243-0001
by mail, email: phil.bredesen@state.tn.us , and fax: 615.532.9711
Dear Governor Bredesen:
We are writing you on behalf of Tennessee homeowners to urge you to veto
HB 2095/SB 1160, which would prohibit Tennessee home buyers from
receiving real estate commission rebates. Commission rebates of up to 2%
of a homes selling price are increasingly popular with homeowners across
the country. Commission rebates are working well-consumers using them
have not experienced problems. They are enabling more consumers to
become homeowners and are helping offset declining or stagnant home
values in many parts of the country.
With the average U.S. home selling price now more than $200,000, denying
a commission rebate of up to 2% will cost Tennessee home buyers who want
to take advantage of that opportunity more than $4,000 in many cases. In
effect the law would serve as an equity stripping tool benefiting
traditional real estate brokers at the expense of your constituents.
A May 13 CBS 60 minutes segment on real estate competition documented
the potential savings for consumers through real estate commission
rebates as well as efforts by traditional real estate brokers to
prohibit their competitors from offering rebates in order to protect
their commission revenues. The transcript of the segment is at
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/11/60minutes/main2790865_page2.shtml
The video is at
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=2796105n
The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), the Federal Trade Commission
(FTC), the Consumer Federation of America and my own organization
support allowing real estate brokers to provide commission rebates to
home buyers. Even the conservative pro-business publication Wall Street
Journal publication strongly condemned the anticompetitive efforts of
the real estate trade associations. We understand that DoJ identified
the problems with this legislation in the Department's May 12, 2007,
letter to House Speaker Naifeh.
On behalf of our Tennessee members, we urge you to put the best
interests of your constituents first and veto HB 2095/SB 1160.
Thanks for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Bruce N. Hahn
Stephen Brobeck
President
Executive Director
American Homeowners Grassroots Alliance
Consumer Federation of America
|