With the 2022 Virginia General Assembly convening in session on Wednesday, January 12, please take a look at your 2022 Realtors® State Legislative Agenda!

REALTOR^® Group Health Plan

Virginia law already allows certain business and trade groups to pool together in a fully insured large group health plan to offer their members another choice for affordable, quality health insurance. Because of the self-employed status of our members, thousands of Virginia Realtors® are prohibited from accessing affordable coverage through these group health plans. We are seeking a narrowly tailored law that will specifically allow our association to pursue this group health plan option.

Death or Disability of a Real Estate Broker

Currently, the Virginia Real Estate Board must petition the court to appoint someone to close out a real estate business within 180 days in the event of the death or disability of a broker. To expedite the process, the legislation will require a broker to designate another broker to close out the business. If the designated broker is not able or willing to perform the duties, it gives the Virginia Real Estate Board the flexibility to appoint an appropriate person to close out the business.

Escrow

Working with the Virginia Real Estate Board, this legislation would clarify that a broker shall ensure an earnest money deposit is delivered to the escrow agent named in the contract by the end of the fifth business banking day following receipt, unless otherwise agreed to in writing by the principals to the transaction.  This helps protects brokers from escrow violations when a third party is delivering and/or hold escrow monies.

Title Insurance

Legislation to clarify a buyer is entitled to obtain owner’s title insurance that meets the standard of the American Land Title Association. Also, the legislation will create a narrowly-tailored mandatory seller disclosure if the seller has actual knowledge of pending litigation that potentially affects ownership of the property.

Common Interest Communities

Amend the Property Owners and Condo Owners associations acts to:

• Require that CICs recognize a real estate licensee’s right to represent a client for certain association matters with written consent.
• Clarify that a third-party vendor delivering CIC packets for an association are under the same 14-day packet delivery laws as the association itself.

Playing Defense and Reviewing ALL Legislation

Beyond the above issues, your NVAR and VAR Public Policy Committees and Government Affairs teams will be reading thousands of bills and examining these for impacts to the real estate industry.  Many of these proposals may be supported or simply monitored throughout the General Assembly Session.  Others, with adverse impacts on your profession, will be opposed by the Realtors® and either amended or killed in the General Assembly—We Are Looking Out For You!

More information on the legislative agenda, including bill numbers, text and status updates, along with and other bills of interest will be posted here as we move through the 2022 General Assembly Session.