TPCAR’s Advocacy team continues to make strides on several issues for our members, as well as track other items which may be of interest to the members and our industry. Below is a report on the past month of advocacy activities and other upcoming items we will be working on in the Fall.  Home in…

Track Office Agent Rosters in 3 Simple Steps For all TPCAR Designated Brokers, Managing Brokers, and / or Office Staff assigned primary user access, you’re able to verify that your current Office Agent roster is accurate and complete in these three easy steps. Log on to your TPCAR InfoHub account by going to www.tpcar.org and…

After several conversations and additional feedback provided by Tacoma-Pierce County Association of REALTORS, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department has made the decision to pause implementation of the septic stress test requirements which were originally effective as of July 15, 2024. This means that, for the time being, a stress test will not be required when…

RSS Repair, Replacement, and Testing Guide Starting July 15, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department will require stress tests of drainfields for property sales inspections of gravity and pump to gravity systems. This document outlines the requirements and policies for repairing or replacing septic tanks, including details with regards to testing procedures, repairs, and replacements of…

Starting in July, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department will require stress tests of drainfields for property sales inspections of gravity and pump to gravity systems. This document outlines the requirements and policies for repairing or replacing septic tanks, including details with regards to testing procedures, repairs, and replacements of defective tanks.  Requirements for Repairing Septic…

The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to temporarily lift its ban on buyers directly paying for professional real estate representation until the agency deems it necessary to engage in a formal rulemaking process, a VA official said Tuesday at a Mortgage Bankers Association conference in New York. Although not an official announcement, the comments from…

TPCAR member response to Call to Action regarding short-term rentals and rural zoning nets success At yesterday’s Pierce County Council meeting, Resolution R2024-158s, drafted to include provisions which would have restricted short-term rentals (STR) and removed bonus density provisions for rural lands within the urban growth area (UGA), was amended after successful lobbying by TPCAR.…

This past weekend, the Plaintiffs’ counsel in the Sitzer v. Burnett class action lawsuit filed a Motion for Preliminary Approval of the proposed NAR settlement agreement with the federal court in the Western District of Missouri. Today, Judge Bough granted that motion which means that, as of today, the settlement agreement is preliminarily approved. Settlement…

The below information was shared by NAR in The Hub. We strongly encourage all members to create your Hub account to track updates and information provided by NAR. The recently announced settlement raised several questions regarding access to mortgages and the ability to finance agent commissions.  In short, under the settlement, buyers still have the same…

Following up on NAR’s March 15 announcement of a proposed settlement to end the Sitzer/Burnett class-action lawsuit, Washington REALTORS® has released a video update breaking down the three aspects of the proposed settlement and what their impacts are likely to be for real estate practitioners in Washington State. At a fundamental level, the proposed rules…