March 21, 2011 — Austin
The Texas REALTORS® (TAR) today acknowledged leaders throughout the Texas Capitol for advancing a measure that would protect homeowners from hidden fees when buying and selling a home.
The legislation, included within House Bill 8 and Senate Bill 1459, would prohibit private transfer fees on real estate. These fees require a buyer to pay a percentage of the sales price of the home to a private entity each time the property is sold for a designated period of time, frequently 99 years.
The Texas REALTORS® has actively supported this legislation. Chairman Dwight Hale explained, “Private transfer fees are simply a scam. They serve no public purpose and provide no benefit to buyers or communities while decreasing housing affordability. Private transfer fees have no place in Texas real estate, and I applaud Representative Darby and Senator Harris for their leadership in eliminating them.”
The legislation addressing these private transfer fees was authored by Representative Drew Darby (R – San Angelo) in the House and Senator Chris Harris (R – Arlington) in the Senate. Today, the House Business and Industry Committee, led by Chairman Joe Deshotel (D – Beaumont), heard House Bill 8.
Private transfer fees on real estate are a growing problem in Texas. They’re often not discovered until a real estate transaction closes, and they can cloud a property’s title, making it difficult to sell. The proposed legislation addresses this problem by implementing disclosure and transparency requirements on existing private transfer fees and prohibiting future fees, with limited exceptions, such as homeowners associations.
To learn more about this topic or other ways in which Texas REALTORS® advocate for homeowners, please visit www.TexasRealEstate.com.