HOUSE AND SENATE COMMITTEES TAKE UP LAND FINANCE LEGISLATION
|
The HBAA's legislation aimed at addressing a recent court
ruling that bars contracts for the take-down of lots in a proposed subdivision
received favorable reports from both the House County and Municipal Government
Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee. The HBAA would like to thank Senator Quinton Ross
(Montgomery) and Representative
Chris England (Tuscaloosa) for recognizing
the importance of this legislation and agreeing to be the lead sponsors. Under provisions of HB 556 and SB 412, the ability to finance proposed developments would be permitted by
clarifying that contracts for the pre-sale of lots are permissible under
Alabama law.
Currently, many financial institutions require that a
certain percentage of the lots in a proposed subdivision be under contract
prior to their agreeing to loan the development note. These contracts give the institutions some assurance that
their investment will pay off once the development is completed. The court ruling which barred these
transactions will all but eliminate traditional development financing if not
addressed by legislation.
The HBAA agreed to amend the county governments out of the
current legislation due to concerns by the Alabama Association of County
Commissioners about amending county statutes in the municipal code. Both groups have agreed to address this
issue over the coming months and craft legislation to correct the county
statutes in the 2011 session.
The HBAA is working with both Senator Ross and
Representative England to get the bills on the calendar at the earliest
possible opportunity.
|
|
SENATE DELAYS ACTION ON APPRAISAL MANAGEMENT COMPANY LEGISLATION BY ONE WEEK
|
The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee delayed voting on SB
351 (Ross, Montgomery) for one week to
allow a group of appraisers and the banking industry to work out amendments to
the bill. The bill is designed to
regulate appraisal management companies which have become more commonplace as federal
regulations have urged distance between the lender and the property
appraisers. These management
companies serve as clearinghouses for appraisers and assign appraisal work to
those individuals on their appraisal panel. Many appraisers fear that this "middle man" approach will
reduce the fees paid to appraisers.
The HBAA continues to monitor the bill and the ongoing negotiations.
|
|
HBAA'S STATEWIDE ENERGY AND BUILDING CODE:
Q&A
|
The issue that has dominated the HBAA's legislative agenda
for the past few months is now law.
Signed by the Governor, the passage of this act means Alabama will soon
have its first statewide building and energy code. There have been a number of questions and some misinformation
floating around that need to be addressed.
QUESTION: When does the Act become effective?
ANSWER: Immediately. The bill became law immediately upon signature of the
Governor on Tuesday.
QUESTION: Does that mean that the 2006 IRC and
2006 IECC are required immediately?
ANSWER: No.
This legislation should be looked at as enabling legislation. It enables the Alabama Energy and
Residential Codes Board to adopt and amend the 2006 International Residential
Code, 2006 International Energy Conservation Code, and the 90.1 ASHREA. Until the Board adopts these codes,
they are not in effect.
QUESTION: Will the Board be able to amend the
2006 IECC code?
ANSWER: Yes. Although Congress requires states that took stimulus money
to adopt and enforce the energy code, it also gave the states an opportunity to
address alternate approaches to compliance. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) accomplishes
this by stating that the state must adopt the energy code OR achieve
equivalent energy savings. The Board is empowered to determine
what these equivalent savings are and provide alternative tracks to
compliance. This could mean
alternatives to various items contained in the code such as sub-floor
insulation and R-8 ducts in the HVAC system. Those decisions will be worked out in the coming months.
QUESTION: How long will it be before the Board
adopts the various codes?
ANSWER: The Board will, most likely, take up
the building code first. The
energy code will be a more laborious task to develop. The ARRA requires that the state make
substantial annual progress toward implementing the energy code with full
enforcement in eight years. Having
adopted the framework for the ultimate adoption, it is easy to say that Alabama
has made progress for 2010. You
can expect that the process will take several months to perhaps a year to be
completed.
If you have any questions concerning the code
legislation and how it will be implemented, please call the HBAA at (800)
745-4222.
|
|
LEGISLATURE ON SPRING BREAK - NO ALERT NEXT WEEK |
|
With the Legislature adjourned for Spring Break, the HBAA will not send a Legislative Alert next week.
|
