In the December edition of the Oregon Real Estate News-Journal, the Agency presented a legislative wrap up that gave summaries on several new laws passed by the 2009 Oregon Legislature. Senate Bill 102 (Chapter 387, Oregon Laws 2009) and House Bill 3450 (Chapter Laws 591, Oregon Laws 2009) have been of particular interest to brokers, principal brokers and property mangers.

HB 3450 requires the installation of carbon monoxide alarms in specific residential applications with a carbon monoxide source. The Office of State Fire Marshal is working to develop administrative rules for minimum standards for carbon monoxide alarms in one and two family dwellings and multifamily housing.

SB 102 requires the removal of any non-certified woodstove from a home when it is sold. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality is responsible for developing the rules for this law.

Additional information is available from the respective agencies:

On January 1, 2010, House Bill 2910 (Chapter 324, Oregon Laws 2009) went into effect, eliminating the sole practitioner broker license category. Individuals who held an active or inactive sole practitioner broker license on December 31, 2009 now have principal broker licenses.

Many broker licensees submitted forms to change their license category to sole practitioner broker just before the New Year. This increase in workload at the Agency has caused delays in the processing of all forms.

Individuals affected by the new law may not receive their new paper licenses until mid-February. Additionally, changes to license category may not be visible via the "Licensee Search" function on the Agency's website until that time.

The Agency appreciates your patience.

The 2009 Oregon Legislature passed laws that affect real estate and escrow licensees: Chapter 324, Oregon Laws 2009 (HB 2910); Chapter 224, Oregon Laws 2009 (SB 140); and Chapter 174, Oregon Laws 2009 (SB 141).

The new laws required the Oregon Real Estate Agency to revise or create new administrative rules. To that end, the Agency convened rule work groups consisting of industry member and Agency staff. The resulting changes became effective January 1, 2010.

Do you:
Engage in short sales?
Perform loan modifications?
Have clients facing foreclosure or trying to modify their mortgage?

Oregon Department of Justice is hosting a free day-long symposium discussing the issues and problems associated with short sales, loan modifications and foreclosure "rescue" programs.

The Oregon Real Estate Agency has two free e-mail subscription services available. The Commissioner's Bulletin is published once a month, and contains up-to-date information from the Agency. The Administrative Rule Update service informs subscribers of pending changes to Oregon Administrative Rule chapter 863.

The current recession has reduced state revenues, and has forced the legislature to make deep cuts in agency budgets. Coping with these cuts requires us to close our office on the days listed below. Our employees will take unpaid time off on those days. We apologize for any inconvenience these closures might cause, and we look forward to restoration of a full work schedule when the economy improves.

The Oregon Real Estate Manual, known as the "blue book", has been renamed Oregon Real Estate Reference Guide.

The guide is online and will not be reproduced in hard copy. The last hard copy update to the "manual" was mailed to subscribers in August.

The Agency feels having the guide online provides the most current information to licensees in the most efficient manner and eliminates the expenses associated with printing hard copies.

A "condominium" is a special form of property ownership which is created and governed in Oregon by statute (ORS 100.005 to 100.910 and 100.990), known as the "Oregon Condominium Act."

If you are a new Oregon broker, you must take the 30-hour Advanced Real Estate Practices (AP) course before your first active license renewal.