The Federal Communications Commission amended its telemarketing rules, announcing the final changes on July 3rd, and reversing an earlier ruling by the Federal Trade Commission which would allow intrastate calls and therefore some exemptions to Realtors in more than ten states.

The speed with which the new rules were implemented stunned the NAR and angered associations which had lobbied for the intrastate exemptions.

"Many states had do-not-call legislation in place which specifically excluded Realtors from the classes of those who must comply," explains Judith Lindenau, executive vice president of the Traverse Area Association of Realtors. "In Michigan, this was the result of long, hard effort on the part of our excellent state association."

Michigan Association of Realtors CEO Bill Martin wrote to a directors newsgroup the following: "...last year, the Michigan Legislature passed and the Governor signed a Michigan Telemarketing Act. REALTORS were exempted from that legislation due to several factors: 1) what REALTORS do is not telemarketing and 2) any phone solicitation done by our members require a face to face meeting in order to do any transaction. The Congress recently passed a similar law establishing a Federal Do Not Call list but the authority given to the FTC in order to carry out this law only impacted Interstate calls. While there was some impact on our members, it was minimal. We just learned from NAR that in a separate ruling by the FCC, they have extended the Federal requirements to Intrastate calls. According to NAR, that means REALTORS, whether exempted by State law or not must now comply with the Federal law. The impact of this is obvious."

Martin goes on to say, "The impact of this is obvious. I can not believe, although I must, that we did not get a call to action regarding this nor were we even alerted that the FCC was looking to do this. I'm in contact with several other states to see what, if anything, we can do."

Joe Ventrone, now the managing director for regulatory and industry relations for the NAR, says he has received calls from some association leaders about the sudden FCC reversal, and says the timing took the NAR by surprise, too. Ventrone said it wasn't a surprise that the FCC would do this, the surprise came in how quickly the government acted.

"We did send a comment letter to the FTC action," says Ventrone, a former lobbyist, but the announcement came when "half of this town had gone on vacation." I don't know what more could have been done."

He says, "We are monitoring this thing."

But momentum may be against those who want to see exemptions for Realtors. According to FTC reports, nearly 20 million consumers have already registered, and the FTC expects 60 million.

"That's an incredible response," acknowledges Ventrone.

But don't count the NAR out. It still has plenty of moves it can still make.

"On July 3rd, the FTC posted a several hundred page document," says Ventrone, "and we are currently deciphering that. The other thing we are doing is that 10 states have a preemption where realty organizations worked with state legislatures in getting an exemption. The federal action preempts the states, but we are looking to see if the federal law was done properly and does the FCC have the right to preempt states."

Ventrone says further, "We are trying to be responsive to our members. The question we are trying to figure out is how much business our members rely on through these phone calls."

"What we are doing is meeting with the FCC and reviewing this document that was released on July 3 when half this town was on vacation, and we are trying to give our membership information," vows Ventrone, "and we have an internal working group to advise our membership weekly with updates. We are looking to make sure these regulatory agencies followed the letter of the law and acted on the will of Congress. Our lobbyists are talking to key staff on relevant committees of jurisdiction - the House and Senate Commerce Committees and small business committees."

Published: July 9, 2003

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Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. For more articles by Blanche, click here.