Quoted from Florida Realtors News:

"WASHINGTON – July 15, 2011 – In a move the National Association of Realtors® calls “a substantial victory for Realtors,” the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it will not enforce most of the provisions of the Mortgage Assistance Relief Services (MARS) rule against real estate licensees

As a result of the stay on enforcement, real estate licensees who provide short sale services will not have to make the disclosures required by MARS as far as the FTC is concerned. However, the FTC announcement also gave Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi the ability to overrule the FTC within the State of Florida.

Florida Realtors has contacted Bondi’s office, but an official answer isn’t expected before next week at the earliest. In the meantime, Florida Realtors Law and Policy department recommends that Realtors continue to use the MARS disclosures until further notice."

Let's hope Ms. Bondi agrees with the FTC.

Comments welcome.

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Great find Wendy.

What's funny is that for a large segment of Realtors, they probably still haven't heard of MARS!

Jim - Not only funny - scary!
Does this mean that Realtors outside of Florida can charge an upfront fee?
Abraham - Some states have laws that don't allow it.
This is a wonderful thing!
I second that. I ask for MARS docs and I get looks like I'm in MARS!! lol
That headline used is totally wrong.  Advance fees are unlawful - period.  The FTC/MARS only involved a disclosure requirement.  FL s.494 and the Federal SAFE Act are the laws that prohibit charging any advance fee.  Furthermore, both laws further prohibit any fees being collected relating specifically to the short sale processing itself unless licensed under FL s.494 as a mortgage loan originator (f/k/a mortgage broker).
mars was a paign but after you were setup it wasn't bad... however the disclosure requirement in advertising for made it virtually impossible to use certain mediums...
No charging up-front fees in California !
What about if someone is attempting a short sale on their own and they wish to pay a broker a flat fee to put their home in an MLS so they can get it the advertising exposure of realtor.com, etc?  Do the laws apply in these types of transactions as well?
Interesting concept.  However, I don't know why any Seller would do that considering the short sale lender pays the broker's commission.  It doesn't save the Seller any money.  In the case of that type of listing the Seller is really simply requesting it to be advertised by the broker.  In Florida, the legal definition is typically No Brokerage Relationship.
Yes, won't this be great if we can put an end to this. Anxiously awaiting Florida's response!

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