Comité Regulated Industries de la Cámara de Representantes, 16 de marzo de 2026

Transcripción

424 turnos. Seleccione un tiempo para reproducir ese momento del video.

1. 0:22:30

   Good afternoon. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

2. 0:22:37

   Andrew, can I get a copy?

3. 0:22:39

   Yeah.

4. 0:22:39

   I'm sorry.

5. 0:22:40

   No worries. Thank you.

6. 0:22:44

   All right. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the, uh, the first of two full committee meetings today and tomorrow for regulated industries. We've got a couple of bills we'll be doing to- tomorrow also. Uh, but we've got these, and as most of you seasoned professionals know, this is that time of the year that bills that didn't make it to one side or another, that, uh, there'll be other subject matters that'll be added into. So that being said, uh, first up, Senate Bill 485.

7. 0:23:15

   Uh, Senator Payne.

8. 0:23:20

   Where do you want me?

9. 0:23:21

   Wherever you feel comfortable, Senator.

10. 0:23:23

    I said from the top, I'm not...

11. 0:23:29

    No.

12. 0:23:29

    Get a prize.

13. 0:23:33

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and, uh, it's an honor to be here today with y'all. Um, today I'm bringing, uh, Senate Bill 485, and this, uh, passed overwhelmingly in the Senate, but it, with the cry for today for needing more mental health, um, and more mental health providers across our state, uh, this was an idea that come to us, that brought to me to allow students in their final semester of a Master of Social Work program to sit for their licensure exam before graduation.

14. 0:24:05

    So in their final semester, 'cause they only give that, that exam periodic times of the year, it would allow them just to go ahead and take their licensure exam, so that way as soon as they graduate, they can hit the ground running. And, and, uh, we already have that, uh, licensed professional counselors and marriage and family therapist in Georgia already are permitted to sit for the licensure exam before graduation. This just also adds them to that statute. And I'll be glad to answer any questions.

15. 0:24:32

    All right. Very good. Now I will talk a little bit about it in sections one, two, three. Uh, this is, uh, some product that we were asked from, from other sources, uh, so that the nail techs by,

16. 0:24:51

    that by July 1st of '28, that the holder of a certificate for the nail tech or the shops, they would have a photographic ID, uh, on their license. And that's quite frankly what that part does. All right.

17. 0:25:07

    And then I'm, I, I also believe that, uh, Mr. Clifton, uh, s- added an, an amendment, that part of the amendment has, uh, language in section two, "Further clarifies the legislative intent from, of the original bill passage in 220- 2021 in an effort to enh- enhance public safety."

18. 0:25:24

    All right. Very good. Any questions from the committee members?

19. 0:25:31

    Number 24, that would be you, Mr. McCollum.

20. 0:25:37

    At the proper time.

21. 0:25:40

    Any other questions from any of the committee members? If not, this would be the proper... Ms. Draper.

22. 0:25:46

    Thank you, Chairman. Sorry, I may have missed it. You said section two is about promoting public safety? Can you-

23. 0:25:51

    I think that that's the part he was referring to

24. 0:25:53

    ... nail techs

25. 0:25:54

    ... that have been added to this

26. 0:25:55

    ... the nail tech owners by 20 July 1st of '28, that nail techs and salon owners, that on their state ID, it'll have their photograph on there.

27. 0:26:06

    And that's a public... Sorry, I just maybe don't understand why it's a public safety issue.

28. 0:26:09

    It, it would be a... Well, the person who brought this to us, it was, it would be a public safety issue for those people coming in, in and out of these nail salons, to be sure that they're identified.

29. 0:26:20

    Okay.

30. 0:26:21

    Yeah.

31. 0:26:21

    Thank you.

32. 0:26:23

    All right. Any further questions? If not, this would be the proper time, Mr. McCollum.

33. 0:26:29

    Make a motion to pass.

34. 0:26:30

    We have a motion.

35. 0:26:31

    Second.

36. 0:26:32

    We have a second. Any further discussion? Any comments? If not, all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Then the ayes have it. Thank you, Senator.

37. 0:26:41

    Thank you. Thank you all.

38. 0:26:42

    All right.

39. 0:26:45

    Do we have Mr. Crowe here, or Mr....

40. 0:26:49

    Goodson. Senator Goodson.

41. 0:26:53

    Hmm?

42. 0:26:53

    Goodson. Goodson.

43. 0:26:53

    Senator Goodlet. Oh, you're sitting down low back there. Come on up here, Senator.

44. 0:26:58

    Good job,

45. 0:27:02

    Dennis.

46. 0:27:02

    Let's see.

47. 0:27:03

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If y- if you don't mind, I'd like to have, uh, Jeff Ledford from the Realtors come up here with me, 'cause I know there's-

48. 0:27:09

    You have brought some excellent, you brought some excellent help with you

49. 0:27:12

    ... Yes, sir. That's exactly right. There's a, a portion of this bill that I know that he and I believe you and Representative Crowe worked on, and if you don't mind, I'd like to have him, uh, talk about that portion of the bill. But this, this legislation came about, uh, back, uh, late summer I guess or into the fall. Um, my local South Georgia Home Builders Association and my South Georgia Realtors Association asked for me to, uh, meet with them there in Valdosta, and, um, they wanted to, uh, try to put together some, some core competency, uh, requirements for our home inspectors.

50. 0:27:49

    Currently, there are 42 or 43 states that require, you know, a home inspector's license or some form of a cer- of a certificate, and Georgia currently does not. And so, um, you know, my 18-year-old son or 21-year-old son could conceivably, even though they don't know anything about building, they could go out there and hang a shingle and try to pass themselves off as home inspectors. Um, worked with the governor's office on this. Uh, the, my folks back home wanted to create a home inspecting licensing board. The governor didn't wanna create a board, and so we were able to work with them and work with our Pro Tem's office and our caucus members that we will put it under the, um, general contractor's, um, board under the residential division.

51. 0:28:26

    And all we're simply trying to do is just, uh, create some, some core competency. Uh, we know that people's homes by and large are their largest asset, um- And you can find it on section, I believe it's ... Let me get back here. It is, the portion of my bill starts, uh, in section nine. But, uh, that's what it does. You mean, you'll have to pass the test and, um, you'll, you'll pass a background check. And, um, one of the things that, uh, uh, Jeff, uh, from his years of being the real estate commissioner, um, had us put in the bill, which I think was a good idea, that it renews, um, every four years by bi- birth month.

52. 0:29:07

    That way they don't all come due at the same time. And it also requires, uh, that our home inspectors have some liability insurance. And, um, if you don't mind, Mr. Chairman, uh, I'd like to ask, uh, Jeff to speak to the portion of the bill that he and you and Representative Crowe worked on.

53. 0:29:22

    Tell you what, keep this non-complicated. Let's finish up on your section of the bill first.

54. 0:29:27

    Yes, sir.

55. 0:29:27

    And I want to thank you for bringing this. Those of us that are in the real estate business, we know that, you know, we have, uh, home inspectors, but none of them are licensed. None of them have the quote, "professional standards" unless they have taken so on their own.

56. 0:29:42

    Mm-hmm.

57. 0:29:42

    And a lot of times those of us that, uh, sell real estate, you know, if it wasn't for the ones that we know that do a reputable job. So this is something that's been sorely needed. I appreciate you bringing this up.

58. 0:29:55

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

59. 0:29:56

    For those of the committee, let's discuss this part before we move into the real estate part of that, which would be the first section of the bill. Do we have any questions on the home builder inspection part? Does not create a board. Uh, it puts them over at the, uh, the building of, uh, the board, home builders board.

60. 0:30:18

    Ms. Ehrhart.

61. 0:30:20

    Okay. And thank you, Senator, for bringing the bill, and forgive my ignorance on this issue. I'm curious as to how home inspectors are trained. How do they learn to do what they do? I understand the need for the test and the licensing, but how do you get to that point?

62. 0:30:33

    Well, you want to speak to that, Jeff? I mean, by and large, you know, I would imagine that most of them are trained from having some experience in the building industry. I know where I live at, we have some older... And that's one of the reasons, you know, when we first had the bill in the Senate, we, um, you know, we had it in there that, uh, you had to have a, uh, a high school diploma or equivalent, right? And so, um, my local school superintendent, her dad didn't finish high school, but he was one of the most successful builders in South Georgia, right?

63. 0:31:04

    And so, um, we, you know, that's one of the reasons we took that bill, that part of the bill out. But, um, Jeff, would you want to speak to, to that?

64. 0:31:11

    Sure. And, and generally with licensing, you know, there are gonna be courses that you take. There's also gonna be hands-on training, experiential learning, uh, in any profession. And, and I think you're gonna find the same is true that there are a number of courses, uh, and a number of trade associations that do a wonderful job of, um, educating people and, and, and training them, you know. And a, and a lot of this does get into, uh, perhaps you might call it apprenticeships or, you know, working with someone else, too. You can have different pathways to get there.

65. 0:31:44

    The core of this, though, is it is measuring... You know, every, any time you look at licensure, you're only looking at the minimal threshold. So, um, I always equate it, uh, and I came out of a licensing background. If you, if you have a teenager that just got their license, they have the core competency to be able to drive that car on public streets, just like in real estate. You have the core competency to help someone with transacting a, uh, a real property transaction.

66. 0:32:16

    The, um, that threshold is all you're measuring. And so again, they may, you might take some classes. You could do whatever you need to get there. Being able to pass that test is your initial de- uh, demonstration of a core competency.

67. 0:32:30

    Mm-hmm.

68. 0:32:30

    Getting better from there and expertise and gaining in your professionalism is where the trade associations, uh, can really, you know, step in. So that's where, you know.

69. 0:32:42

    Understood. So if you did not have, uh, let's say you were not come up-

70. 0:32:45

    Yeah

71. 0:32:45

    ... you did not come up through the building industry or have experience in that, there are mechanisms, there are paths in place to prepare-

72. 0:32:51

    Absolutely

73. 0:32:52

    ... for the, the licensure test.

74. 0:32:53

    Yeah.

75. 0:32:53

    Okay. Thank you.

76. 0:32:59

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So to add on, so you can take... I'm trying to see on here. So the, you can take courses. I see it says, "Possess a high school diploma or its equivalent or 10 years experience." So you can take courses and then get licensed through the, the building inspection that's, I mean, like the, um, the, um, residential contractors now. Is that how it works? I'm just trying to figure out-

77. 0:33:28

    That's, there is n-

78. 0:33:29

    I'm sorry.

79. 0:33:29

    If the bill passes, that's the way it works.

80. 0:33:31

    Yeah.

81. 0:33:31

    But as of right now, there's nothing in law that would stop somebody that really doesn't know anything. But there's nothing to stop my 18-year-old son from printing business cards and calling himself a home inspector.

82. 0:33:43

    Right, which I 100% agree, I 100% agree with that. I'm just asking what the mechanism is to, i- if you get a high school diploma and then are there, are there class- there are gonna be classes that they can take for home builders inspection and then, then go into it without having the 10 years experience, correct?

83. 0:34:01

    Right. The, the 10 years experience, I believe, is if you don't have a high school diploma or equivalent, you could have 10 years of experience in the industry.

84. 0:34:09

    Oh, I, I'm with you now.

85. 0:34:10

    That gets at the people that might have come as an apprentice, let's say, you know, working for someone else, uh, learning under them. Um, there are plenty of classes, and there are wonderful trade associations out there, uh, and probably a number of schools that may offer some training in this area.

86. 0:34:28

    So, uh, I guess, so the, potentially we could get, they would get a diploma in home building inspection b- uh, like in the trade school eventually, um, and then that would be one avenue. And then without high to- high school diploma, you could have just 10 years experience-

87. 0:34:44

    Right

88. 0:34:44

    ... in the building industry. Is that correct?

89. 0:34:46

    And the, the, the key in this legislation is you have to be able to go pass the test. So like, um, you know- I'm a certified commercial pesticide applicator. In the state of Georgia, I have to go take a test. And it's not an easy test. You have to study for it, you know? But, um, it- what that does is it just shows that I have some core competency about handling pesticides, right? Um, and that's, that, that's kind of what the, the idea behind this test will be. Just like I have to pass that pesticide applicator's license test, you know, it, it, it's just showing that there is some level of core competency in the field of work that you endeavor to be working in.

90. 0:35:22

    Okay. Great. Thank you.

91. 0:35:25

    All right. Any other committee members have a question on this section of the bill? If not, we'll move to the next section, which would be, um, they should start on, uh, section one and should go all the way to page four, uh-

92. 0:35:45

    Mm-hmm

93. 0:35:45

    ... section through section seven.

94. 0:35:48

    Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, um, Jeff Ledford. I'm with the Georgia Realtors. Um, so this, to be clear, this, uh, this section is not about home inspectors. This is about real estate brokers and licensure. Um, there, the first section that you see is dealing with wholesalers, and actually, it, it appears about three times in here. Wholesalers are individuals who are not licensed, um, in the state of Georgia to sell real estate. They, um, approach someone offering to purchase that property, uh, but use typically an assignable contract, and then they go out and find someone else to buy the property.

95. 0:36:33

    Now, at the core of it, there's nothing really wrong with that if you know what's going on. If you're the owner and you know that I am purchasing an option to buy your property, or we're entering an assignable contract, um, then you know I'm going to be marketing the property for someone else to buy. Currently, the law exempts a prospective purchaser from having to have a license. However, we've seen in recent years a rise in this being used as a predatory practice. Um, what's happening is someone is approaching someone stating that they are an investor and they wish to buy that property.

96. 0:37:08

    They use an assignable contract, but then they do not let the owner know that they are finding someone else to buy it, and typically, it's a same-day closing. That means they're never putting out any risk or any funds of their own, and, uh, essentially they're s- robbing the owner of the equity in that property. Um, what this does is it would define a wholesaler as someone who is entering a, uh, assignable contract and marketing the property without the owner's knowledge or consent.

97. 0:37:44

    Simply put, um, they're, they're hiding the fact from them that they're selling that property to someone else before they become the owner. Um, this would then, under the exemptions, move the current exemption of the prospective purchaser to its own subsection to now say a prospective purchaser is exempt unless they are a wholesaler, meaning unless they have the permission, the written acknowledgement that you're going to be marketing it to someone else for resale. So I'm not keeping you in the dark on that.

98. 0:38:17

    Uh, if all you want is, you know, to be, to be done with the property, you're, you're happy to sell an option for me to purchase it, great. But if you think that you're getting top dollar and I'm making five times more without telling you that, um, then that's something that is, um, essentially a, a, a predatory practice on the public. So this is aimed at dealing with that. Um, there's also an unfair trade practice being added in here for a broker that is assisting, uh, essentially a wholesaler.

99. 0:38:48

    So someone that is listing on behalf of the wholesaler alone. Now, if you do have the permission of the owner, this does not prevent that. This just eliminates the owner being left in the dark, not realizing that someone is profiting off their property without their awareness. Um, under current law, um, a broker does have to have the permission of the owner. This just clarifies that the doing it on behalf of the wholesaler does not satisfy that on behalf of the owner, then.

100. 0:39:21

     Um, there's also, uh, the end of this section, another tool in here that allows the commission the ability to do a consent cease and desist. The commission currently has the ability to do a cease and desist order, but at that point, they have to have taken the time to complete a full investigation. They have to be ready to take it to a hearing, adding months to the process. This consent cease and desist is something that we had another mechanism when I was there that we used, and it was effective.

101. 0:39:52

     As the complaint gets filed, I can offer the individual, the unlicensed individual, a consent order to say they agree to stop practicing, uh, make them aware that what they're doing is alleged to be, uh, the practice of real estate. If they agree to it and sign it, the case is closed. That can help, uh, the commission process these and get through these much quicker, and it can help the unlicensed people that are practicing, that are practicing without a license be made aware much sooner that what they're doing is actually a violation of the law.

102. 0:40:24

     Um, in other words, it adds some efficiency to the process. It doesn't replace the other mechanism, just enhances.

103. 0:40:32

     All right. You've got a number of questions here. Um, Ms. Ehrhart.

104. 0:40:39

     Thank you. Thank you for bringing the bill. Um, quick question.

105. 0:40:42

     Mm-hmm.

106. 0:40:43

     Um, it, so, um, a cease and desist order to any person. I'm trying to figure out under... Trying to fully understand. So, um, the folks that are engaged in sort of this- Uh, predatory conduct-

107. 0:40:54

     Sure

108. 0:40:54

     ... as relates to this. Are, do those tend to be individuals? Are, are they individuals? I'm, I'm trying to understand who these folks are that are engaging in... Or, or are they those, you know, you see those signs at the intersections that say, "We buy houses"? Is that who we're talking about?

109. 0:41:07

     Y- y- yes. Yes on all that.

110. 0:41:08

     Okay.

111. 0:41:08

     So, uh, the who is licensed, the person who is licensed under the real estate license law is the individual and it is the company. So if I am doing that under the name of a company, uh, the Real Estate Commission would look to see that that company is not licensed as a firm, and then the individual that is the owner of that or operator with that would also not be licensed as a broker.

112. 0:41:31

     Okay.

113. 0:41:32

     So they could look at that.

114. 0:41:33

     F- follow-up if I may, Mr. Mr. Chairman.

115. 0:41:34

     Certainly.

116. 0:41:35

     How prevalent is this?

117. 0:41:37

     So, um, the wholesaler issue-

118. 0:41:39

     The problem. The problem with it.

119. 0:41:40

     The problem-

120. 0:41:41

     Yeah

121. 0:41:41

     ... has become, uh, we are probably one of the leaders in the nation of this-

122. 0:41:45

     Really?

123. 0:41:45

     ... being transpired. Uh, because we have, um, the, you have a number of people who own houses, and we've seen a, an appreciation in the value of homes to the rate where individuals may not realize the value of that home that they purchased in 1960-something, let's say. Someone offers them bottom dollar on it, tells them that's the best they're gonna get and they're rescuing them from it, and then they don't realize it's worth half a million dollars. I know, um, Chairman Goodman here had a bill a couple years ago dealing with this, uh, core issue in Title 10, uh, coming from the, um, consumer side of this, and this would give the, the Real Estate Commission the ability to better enforce unlicensed practice on it.

124. 0:42:29

     Thank you.

125. 0:42:30

     Sure.

126. 0:42:31

     All right. If I might just add to this, see if I can simplify it.

127. 0:42:35

     Yeah.

128. 0:42:36

     I warned Jeff about speaking too long 'cause he's so good about this. As a licensed realtor, today you have a certain code that you have to list in once you're licensed. If you go to a client to sell their property, then you have to put it in a contract, you have to put it on MLS or wherever you're gonna put it to advertise it, but you also have to state the selling price and offer it to the public. What's happening now, and it's become quite popular, that you have a lot of, uh, lot of these wholesalers, and that's no better term.

129. 0:43:09

     That's what they call themselves, wholesalers. They reach out, and a lot of these are from out of state. A lot of them work for, or they say they work for, for legal officers and things like that, but they will call people, and they seem to always look like the ones that we've run into, the complaints. They always seem to reach out to older people.

130. 0:43:30

     Yeah.

131. 0:43:31

     Folks who might be looking at their next life in an assisted living or something, and they bring it up and they'll tell them, "We want to sell your property for you." They're not a licensed realtor, but they don't have a buyer, nor do they market that property at a given price.

132. 0:43:47

     Mm.

133. 0:43:47

     They start looking for a, a... Basically they start looking for someone who wants to buy it, and there's an extravagant amount, in a lot of cases, an extravagant amount of profit. I think it was a situation that an older couple down in South Georgia, uh, one of these wholesalers came up and bought a family farm-

134. 0:44:04

     Uh, yes, sir

135. 0:44:04

     ... it was 400 and something acres.

136. 0:44:06

     M- m- Mr. Chairman, you know down where I come from we call these folks pen hookers.

137. 0:44:09

     Yeah.

138. 0:44:10

     But, um, basically, um, you know, I, there's, there is a lot of fraud I found out with... My mom was a realtor, right? And, and I've, I've worked with Jeff and the realtors a good bit on legislation in the past and, you know, there was a, an elderly lady down there, a widow lady, when... That was with legislation that we had a few years ago, Jeff, that-

139. 0:44:27

     Yeah

140. 0:44:28

     ... uh, with these purchase agreements, and she sold 200 acres for $38,000.

141. 0:44:34

     Mm.

142. 0:44:34

     You know? I mean, there's a special place in hell for people that do that kind of stuff, right? Um, and we also have worked on deed fraud. I don't know if y'all saw, but Lord, they somebody tried to steal Graceland. Did you see that?

143. 0:44:45

     Mm-hmm.

144. 0:44:46

     So this lady files a, a, a fake deed and, uh-

145. 0:44:50

     Yeah

146. 0:44:50

     ... I mean, you know, it's, that's... I mean, how, how brazen can you get, right? So, you know.

147. 0:44:55

     Yeah.

148. 0:44:56

     So E- Elvis had that house paid for.

149. 0:44:59

     Yeah. Yeah. All right. All right. So, you know, bottom line, this is a consumer issue. These folks aren't, they're practicing real estate without a license. End of the day, this gives Real Estate Commission cease and desist orders or the ability to do cease and desist, and it's about keeping our real estate profession clean in the state of Georgia, and that's what it's about. Mr. McCollum.

150. 0:45:24

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So I've got a question. So scenario. So you, you see a piece of property, say me for instance, and I go to the owner and say, "Hey, I'd like to buy your property. I have this contract. I want to get it zoned."

151. 0:45:45

     Mm-hmm.

152. 0:45:45

     It's, it's farmland now. I'd like to get it zoned to a subdivision. You tell them, "Look, it's gonna take me a year to get this done. We're gonna go through the process, get it surveyed, get the plat, all that." And then you go through the zoning process, you as the person buying the property, do a contract with them. Obviously it's assignable. Um, and then you spend $30,000 doing this, and then once you get it done, then you close on that property, and then you turn around and resell it to a developer-

153. 0:46:26

     Right

154. 0:46:26

     ... after you've done all those due, all that due diligent, do, and do the work. So the property would be worth this as a piece of farmland, but once you've done all that work, it's worth this-

155. 0:46:37

     Right

156. 0:46:37

     ... a higher amount. So does that stop this from d- from you doing that?

157. 0:46:42

     Th- this does not touch that one bit because you've been clear with that owner that you are, what you're doing with it. You're getting it rezoned. You're... Uh, even if you weren't getting it rezoned, you're clear that you're finding another buyer for it, that you're doing s- that you are, um-

158. 0:46:59

     You essentially have an option to purchase it. Um, you're gonna be doing some work on it, sounds like what you've said, and they're aware it's an assignable contract that you're gonna be, uh, finding someone else to purchase.

159. 0:47:12

     So if you, if you were that person and, and you did ... I mean, this is obviously land. I understand the housing piece, but if you went to somebody, not a real estate agent, and you had a contract and you said, "Look," you know, go through it with them, "This is a contract. Um, right here it says that I can assign it and sell it to someone else." Um, and then you put it under contract with them, and then you look for another buyer, it, where does it, where does the line, where do you cross the line if you explain the contract to them?

160. 0:47:45

     I understand what you're saying, and I, I think, you know, this is definitely needed 'cause I know people get taken advantage of. But where do you cross the line if you, if they sign a contract and you have it outlined that it's assignable, um ...

161. 0:47:59

     I, I think the difference is in answering what the wholesalers are doing. And they're hiding the fact that the person just entered an assignable contract. They're making it very minimal of what you would see with that, and they're indicating to them that they are the ultimate buyer of it. Um, they're not disclosing to them that they are looking for someone to assign it to. And I think that's, that's the key difference there. It's the disclosure of what you're doing. Not the amount, not the, not the who you found, but the fact that you essentially in that contract have the ability to market that property to find, uh, an ultimate buyer of it, that you're simply handling the in between.

162. 0:48:43

     So, if I might, Mr. Chairman.

163. 0:48:47

     Yeah.

164. 0:48:47

     So, so to protect yourself, what would you, you ... Do you feel like in this legislation it's gonna have a gotcha? You know, you, they sign the contract and it's obviously stated in there it's assignable. Um, and then they come back and say, "Well, I didn't know you weren't, weren't gonna buy it." Um, I mean, w- what would you do? You, would you have some kind of paperwork that you ... I mean, a separate piece of paper that you have signed? Or I'm, I'm just trying to, you know, make sure that ...

165. 0:49:18

     I, I think y- you, you possibly would have that in the contract or as a separate, uh, piece of paper. Either way, the key with this is that you're hiding from them the fact. Uh, and what a wholesaler is doing is not disclosing or hiding from them that they're actually reselling it to someone else.

166. 0:49:35

     Okay.

167. 0:49:36

     So that's the difference.

168. 0:49:37

     Okay. Thank you.

169. 0:49:39

     All right. Let's see. Chairman Martin.

170. 0:49:44

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, the, the representative before me kind of headed down the line I'm at. I mean, two, two things is I, I get the bad actor. I get the straw man you've painted here. Then, then, then there exi- exists an issue where somebody comes in and they're, they're assembling properties-

171. 0:50:00

     Mm-hmm

172. 0:50:00

     ... and they know what's going on. So, so the, the question I have, Mr. Leffer, is this, is how, how are we supposed to, on a black and white piece of paper, know what somebody's state of mind is? I mean, the, many times I've, I've seen people go and, and buy a house and, and, or go enter into a contract on the, the, a house. If, if the, uh, the contract, if you're a buyer, if you're a seller of a house and you don't want the contract to be assignable, can you not today in Georgia ... But what, what ...

173. 0:50:31

     Let me ask you this.

174. 0:50:31

     Sure.

175. 0:50:31

     What's the standard real estate contract? Is it assignable, yes or no? There's a box. I don't remember which one it is.

176. 0:50:36

     Generally, generally not assignable.

177. 0:50:38

     Okay. So you have to acknowledge the fact that it is assignable if you're a seller or not, correct?

178. 0:50:45

     You, yes. You, as the seller, you would, you would be entering into a contract that's either assignable or not.

179. 0:50:51

     Okay. So you're, you're, I think you are an agent or-

180. 0:50:53

     No, I'm not.

181. 0:50:54

     Okay, you're not. So, okay. Well, neither am I.

182. 0:50:56

     Sure.

183. 0:50:56

     So if I were to come and buy your house and I bring you in a, a contract without a, a realtor-

184. 0:51:01

     Right

185. 0:51:01

     ... which I don't necessarily think-

186. 0:51:02

     Sure

187. 0:51:02

     ... would be the wise way to do for, do it for either one of us. Uh, your, your industry would like that I, I suspect. Um, but if we were doing that, who, who is it incumbent upon to check the contract if nobody is represented?

188. 0:51:16

     Well, that's why we'd always say you're wise to get representation in that. Um, this is not so much, um, at the front end of this. If after the fact I found out, um, that I was, uh, essentially, uh, what was that, pin- pin-hooked?

189. 0:51:31

     Pin hooker.

190. 0:51:32

     Pin hooked, yeah.

191. 0:51:32

     And, and can, can I interject something real quick, Jeff?

192. 0:51:34

     Sure.

193. 0:51:34

     Um, it's kinda like the lady that sold that 200 acres for $38,000. She gets a purchase agreement in the mail. She's an elderly lady. Well, you know, she signs the contract. Well, of course the buyer handles all the closing costs and handles all the attorney's fees and everything else. And so, I mean, it's the, I guess the idea behind it is trying to, trying to consumer protection because especially amongst elderly people.

194. 0:52:01

     Well, I, and I understand that.

195. 0:52:03

     Right.

196. 0:52:03

     I'm, I'm, I followed you on the straw man that we've created. I, I see that situation.

197. 0:52:07

     Sure.

198. 0:52:07

     What, what I'm trying to, to get at is, you know, a situation that would be a reasonable business practice where-

199. 0:52:13

     Sure

200. 0:52:14

     ... where you would come in. I want to make sure, and pardon me, I've got something going on in a throat. I guess if you hadn't been out lately, it's sleeting actually-

201. 0:52:21

     It is, yeah

202. 0:52:21

     ... out, out there. Isn't that true? So what I'm trying to get at here is i- if, if you're going to sell, if you were represented by a realtor selling the property-

203. 0:52:30

     Mm-hmm

204. 0:52:30

     ... they would let you know that this, this buyer wishes to have an assignable contract. Correct?

205. 0:52:34

     Right.

206. 0:52:34

     And they, they would do that. And, and if they did that, you know, should the state step in and go, "You can't sign any- you can't do that contract"?

207. 0:52:43

     This is not preventing anyone from doing a contract. What this does is anyone that is attempting to, um- Mislead the public

208. 0:52:53

     Well, and then, and that's the question.

209. 0:52:54

     Right.

210. 0:52:54

     Again, I'm not trying to be argumentative here.

211. 0:52:55

     Sure. No, no.

212. 0:52:56

     How, how do we decide here today what the attempt to mislead? If, if I tell you I'm buying your property-

213. 0:53:02

     Right

214. 0:53:02

     ... and I ask for an assignable contract, w- whether I intend to, you know, directly head out and do that, or I might do that, if you don't want me to do that, then don't take the contract.

215. 0:53:13

     Right. Right.

216. 0:53:14

     So I mean, then, then you, then I can't mislead you. So that, that's what I wanna make sure we do.

217. 0:53:18

     Sure.

218. 0:53:18

     I'm, I'm, I'm with the, the... I think, Senator, you, you're... I'm all over what you're trying to do. I'm just going to if, if something's going on someplace, and I'm somebody coming in and I'm trying to assemble these parcels-

219. 0:53:30

     Right

220. 0:53:30

     ... and I want them to be assignable, and I am gonna take all five of them together and try to sell them to, you know, big corp or whatever.

221. 0:53:38

     Right. Right.

222. 0:53:39

     W- we've essentially made that illegal with this, have we not?

223. 0:53:44

     No.

224. 0:53:44

     Okay. Tell, tell me why, because I intend to resell it.

225. 0:53:48

     Right.

226. 0:53:48

     I'm not a realtor.

227. 0:53:49

     Right. You can, uh, you can resell it. The issue is that you're marketing and entering into the other contract before you're actually the owner of the property.

228. 0:53:59

     Okay. But, but that, that happens all the time when people do that. I mean-

229. 0:54:02

     Right

230. 0:54:02

     ... if, if, if you're gonna... I mean, if you put any of these large deals together-

231. 0:54:05

     Sure

232. 0:54:05

     ... you'll find a developer that comes in. Mo- most developers happen to be represented somewhere in their organization by a realtor. But i- if you were a s- a, a smaller developer and you wanted it to aggregate properties, and then take it and sell it to, you know, pick a, pick a company to d- to do that, this would prohibit that from happening without a realtor, would it not?

233. 0:54:26

     No, it would not. If you had an assignable contract with the ability to find another buyer, in other words, if you had a, a normal assignable contract, which I'm assuming any of these would have, um, a normal one.

234. 0:54:38

     Well, what is not-

235. 0:54:39

     Well

236. 0:54:39

     ... what is normal versus not normal?

237. 0:54:41

     Sure. Um, when, when you look at some of the, um, some of the items that the, uh, wholesalers are doing, um, they are not, there's not... These are not great contracts. This is a one-page deal that simply just says, "I intend to buy this property," uh, but has a lot of outs on it. Uh, so it becomes something that they're, they're using it solely as a prospective purchaser to then go and operating under, um, the prospective purchaser, uh, exemption under license law.

238. 0:55:15

     And then they're going out and remarketing the property without the permission of the owner. If I have a true assignable contract, which is something that then is stating that I can find someone else to take my place in here, and it's, and it's clear in the contract, um, then I'm... This is not addressing that. This is only addressing the individuals that are... Really, they're obfuscating the, the contract that they're using is going to find another buyer without, um, the knowledge and permission of the owner.

239. 0:55:45

     Okay.

240. 0:55:45

     So in other words, I'm, I'm reselling the property without the knowledge and consent of the owner.

241. 0:55:50

     Uh, okay. And, and that, and I don't want to belabor the point-

242. 0:55:52

     Sure

243. 0:55:52

     ... but this is my... You're, you're getting at my, my-

244. 0:55:55

     Sure

245. 0:55:55

     ... question is, wh- what, how do I know it's without knowledge and consent of the owner? I mean-

246. 0:56:00

     Right

247. 0:56:00

     ... you check the fact.

248. 0:56:01

     Sure.

249. 0:56:01

     You check the box that say it could be assignable. That means I could be assign, selling it to somebody and assigning it.

250. 0:56:06

     Yes.

251. 0:56:06

     How, how, what's the difference between that one s- uh, that piece of paper you said wasn't really-

252. 0:56:10

     Sure

253. 0:56:10

     ... a contract and, and a, and a form that I think most realtors use, right? Isn't there a standard form?

254. 0:56:15

     Th- there is, there is a form, uh, that most, um... Actually, it's not exclusive to realtors. The realtors produce a lot of contracts-

255. 0:56:21

     Sure

256. 0:56:21

     ... and allow non, uh, or licensed-

257. 0:56:23

     Standard forms, right

258. 0:56:24

     ... individuals to use them. Um, any of those forms are gonna be clear on the contract, uh, that if it's assignable, you can find someone else. W- what this is aimed at are the agreements that people approach that are, um, the back of a letter offering to purchase property. Uh, this is the example, uh, that, uh, Chairman Goodman was using. And on the back of it, it was a simple contract that just allowed someone to sign it and be bound to it.

259. 0:56:51

     My, my last question-

260. 0:56:51

     Yeah

261. 0:56:51

     ... and I'll, I'll get with y'all a- afterwards.

262. 0:56:53

     Sure.

263. 0:56:53

     But where in here does it denote the difference between the back of a letter contract and a full contract?

264. 0:56:58

     Sure. Um-

265. 0:56:59

     Where in, where in the statute?

266. 0:57:00

     The, a- again, you have with the, with the knowledge of the owner. If, if I am the owner and I'm not aware that you're out there trying to find someone else... Now, if I've checked the box saying this is an assignable contract-

267. 0:57:10

     Okay. There you go. That-

268. 0:57:11

     Then you're good

269. 0:57:11

     ... that, that, now you've got to the point.

270. 0:57:12

     Yeah.

271. 0:57:12

     So if you, if, if I sign a contract-

272. 0:57:14

     Yeah

273. 0:57:14

     ... if I have a contract that has that box on it and it's checked, that's knowledge and consent.

274. 0:57:18

     Yeah. Consent. You're there.

275. 0:57:19

     Okay.

276. 0:57:19

     You're the-

277. 0:57:20

     That's where-

278. 0:57:20

     Yeah. I'm sorry

279. 0:57:21

     ... that's where I, I was mis-

280. 0:57:22

     Perfect

281. 0:57:22

     ... mishearing you. I, I thought-

282. 0:57:23

     Yeah

283. 0:57:23

     ... if we check that box, we were still, could potentially be involved.

284. 0:57:26

     No.

285. 0:57:26

     That, there you go. You got me.

286. 0:57:29

     Mr. Chairman.

287. 0:57:31

     Oh, man. All right. Okay, so.

288. 0:57:34

     Sure.

289. 0:57:34

     My question's about section seven, please.

290. 0:57:36

     Okay.

291. 0:57:37

     Um, so, uh, this is the consent, cease and desist.

292. 0:57:40

     Sure.

293. 0:57:40

     And I'd like to understand the scenario in which a real estate broker with an LK license has the incentive to consent to a cease and desist order.

294. 0:57:49

     Sure. Um, so this goes back in time, um, uh, a little over 20 years ago, I was at the Real Estate Commission. I was real estate commissioner for a short bit of time.

295. 0:57:59

     Sure.

296. 0:58:00

     And at that point in time, uh, we had a tool that we used similar to this. Uh, now there's been s- um, some ch- there's been some other changes that have, uh, necessitated having to bring it back in this form. Right now in existing law, the commission can issue a cease and desist, and that starts the process of telling the person they can't practice. Um, I would say the vast majority of unlicensed operators don't realize that what they're doing requires a license. They may be simply, um, managing the property of a friend.

297. 0:58:32

     Uh, they may be, um, someone that knows about property and helping a friend sell it, uh, but then they are pretty good at, so somebody pays them some money. You know, they trigger that requirement, and they don't realize that they need to have a license to do that. And it's typically, honestly, it's typically less in the buying and selling, more in the managing a property Um, once they learn that what they're doing requires a license, the consent, cease and desist is a way that notifies them, they agree to stop, but it also doesn't prevent them from going out, taking a 75-hour course and getting a license.

298. 0:59:08

     It doesn't impede them. If instead you have to go all the way to the hearing stage, you've spent a lot of time proving the person did exactly what they agree they've done, but then you've also now had a sanction- or you've had something on the record that will make it harder for them to actually get that license since they weren't aware that what they were doing was a violation. Kind of think of it like a, uh, a traffic warning.

299. 0:59:32

     So the consent, cease and des- des-

300. 0:59:34

     Yes

301. 0:59:34

     ... desist wouldn't necessarily prohibit them from getting a license later-

302. 0:59:37

     Not at all

303. 0:59:37

     ... but make it harder for them to get a license later?

304. 0:59:38

     It, it actually makes it probably easier because you tell them upfront what they're doing, they need to stop. They've shown they've complied with the law, and so that's generally viewed as someone who is interested in getting a license, um, despite the fact that they were operating without one. But it doesn't put a black mark on their record then.

305. 0:59:55

     I appreciate the answer to the question.

306. 0:59:57

     Sure.

307. 0:59:59

     All right. On down then. Um, Chairman Jasperse.

308. 1:00:07

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Okay. So I'm not a real estate person at all. And, um, I guess I just want to make sure that we're not getting in the way of, um... I buy a piece of property at whatever price it is-

309. 1:00:22

     Sure

310. 1:00:24

     ... that I cannot turn around, as is done today, the next day to another willing buyer-

311. 1:00:31

     Mm-hmm

312. 1:00:32

     ... for whatever price I can get for it.

313. 1:00:34

     Oh, absolutely.

314. 1:00:36

     Well, it seems like there's, this is blocking that somehow. Maybe, you know, you could probably sit down and explain the assignments and all that kind of jazz to me, but seems like there's-

315. 1:00:45

     I, I think the way to answer that is that if you as an individual reach out and buy a piece of property, once you put it into your name-

316. 1:00:53

     Yeah

317. 1:00:54

     ... then nothing interferes with that.

318. 1:00:56

     Y- you're now the owner. You've given yourself permission.

319. 1:00:58

     Well, that's what I-

320. 1:00:59

     Yeah.

321. 1:00:59

     That was... Okay, I don't understand this assignment business then, but sure did-

322. 1:01:03

     Sure

323. 1:01:04

     ... makes it look questionable to me that you're gonna block individuals from-

324. 1:01:07

     An assignment, an assignment is that if you go to a person, you buy, say you'll buy their property, and you say, "But I'm gonna buy it with an assignment," you're putting them on notice that you're going to find somebody-

325. 1:01:16

     Yeah

326. 1:01:16

     ... that's gonna buy that property. But the difference is, if you're a professional real estate, then you tell them how much it's going to be paid-

327. 1:01:25

     Right

328. 1:01:25

     ... and they will see how much it's gonna be sold for. You can only charge, a realtor can only charge a certain commission. That's gotta be stated in the contract.

329. 1:01:35

     Okay. We're just not preventing this free market-

330. 1:01:38

     Not at all

331. 1:01:38

     ... willing buyer, willing seller. Okay. Thank you, Chairman.

332. 1:01:41

     What, what you are protecting against, and this is a real-life scenario. I got a call over the weekend. Um, someone was approached, uh, by, uh, i- it was an elderly person approached by a wholesaler, and they agreed to sell the property to them. The wholesaler then in turn could not find another buyer. Now the person has reached out to, um, a licensee. They have found someone that wants to buy the property, and the wholesaler has filed a lien on the property and is refusing to release the lien unless they get paid something.

333. 1:02:15

     And so this is the predatory practice this is leading to because, again, they have an assignable contract on it. They had no end date, and they now have filed that as a lien on the property. So it's, uh, it is leading to a lot of, um-

334. 1:02:29

     Where you going?

335. 1:02:30

     ... consumer harm, and again, primarily against the elderly. And this is not the whole answer to it, uh, because yes, there are, you know, some other laws in place, uh, elder abuse, that kind of thing. This is what the Real Estate Commission can do to the individuals who are doing this without a license.

336. 1:02:49

     Any, any more questions, Chairman?

337. 1:02:55

     All right. Let's see. All right, Mr. McCollum, let's see if you can add anything else to this.

338. 1:03:03

     Thank you. Sorry. Um, so what the chairman had stated a while ago was if, if I put something under contract, I have to close on it before I can sell it-

339. 1:03:16

     You-

340. 1:03:16

     ... or no?

341. 1:03:18

     I- if, if you put it under contract and you close on it, you can do whatever you want after that.

342. 1:03:22

     Right. Right. I understand that point.

343. 1:03:23

     If you put it under contract and you, in the contract it's clear that this is assignable and that you're going to be, you know, looking for someone else to purchase it. Or, as the chairman said, you know, the box says, this is assignable, and, you know, that's, that's what it means. Then, um, at that point, you can be marketing it to someone else. Um, in other words, you can, uh, assign that contract to someone else. It doesn't actually become a second closing. Um, what the wholesalers are doing is essentially they're getting that.

344. 1:03:54

     They become the prospective purchaser. They go out and find someone else, and they do a double closing-

345. 1:03:59

     Right

346. 1:03:59

     ... so that person never knows, um, that there was ever a second buyer. That's the, that's the, the mis- misrepresentation-

347. 1:04:07

     So-

348. 1:04:07

     ... or the misleading

349. 1:04:07

     ... so this would outlaw a double closing? So if you buy it, close it, and then-

350. 1:04:12

     No.

351. 1:04:13

     Okay.

352. 1:04:13

     Would not outlaw it, as long as you're, as long as it's disclosed to the individuals that you're s- finding another purchaser for it. What, what it, what it would be doing is failing to disclose to the owner of the property, failing to just simply have their permission that you can go out and find another buyer-

353. 1:04:32

     Right

354. 1:04:32

     ... if you're hiding that fact.

355. 1:04:33

     So do you have to disclose the amount you sold it for?

356. 1:04:36

     No. It's not in there at all.

357. 1:04:39

     Okay. All right.

358. 1:04:42

     All right. I guess we know who's into the business of land speculating down there. Chairman Ridley.

359. 1:04:50

     Thank you.

360. 1:04:50

     Mr. Ridley.

361. 1:04:51

     So if, if Rick's got some property, I approach Rick and I say, "Hey, do you want to sell your place?" And he says-

362. 1:04:56

     Yeah

363. 1:04:56

     ... "Yeah, I'll take $20,000 an acre for it." I said, "Okay." Just between me and him, I p- We sign a contract.

364. 1:05:03

     Yeah.

365. 1:05:04

     Well then, I know that you were looking for some land. I can get $40,000 an acre. That's what your is. And I show you, "Hey, this is this property I'm fixing to buy. Are you interested in it?" You know, blah, blah, blah. I go ... You say, "Yeah." I go close with him at the, at the lawyer's office. I walk right next door, you're sitting in there waiting, and I sell it to you for $40,000 an acre.

366. 1:05:24

     Is it ... You, you, you bought the property. You can do with it what you want after you buy it.

367. 1:05:28

     But if I take that contract and I haven't purchased that property and I give it to you, is this where this comes in? I sa- I sell, basically I'm selling you the contract that I had with him.

368. 1:05:37

     That's right.

369. 1:05:38

     If you're s- if you are marketing that property as if you were the owner of the property, and you've not ... If you have an as- if you have what would be an assignable contract, and, um, you're not disclosing to him that you're marketing the property, then it would allow the Real Estate Commission to look at that activity to see if it meets-

370. 1:05:58

     Okay. But I'm, I'm not marketing-

371. 1:05:59

     Right, right

372. 1:05:59

     ... that property while I got it under contract, waiting on it to close, and I'm walking around trying to find somebody else to pay more for it.

373. 1:06:05

     You still have to pay.

374. 1:06:05

     Right.

375. 1:06:06

     You still have to pay.

376. 1:06:08

     Well, but he said you could do that.

377. 1:06:11

     You are, uh, at that point, if you have ... If you're marketing the property for sale, you have advertisements out there marketing the property-

378. 1:06:21

     Oh, you're talking about ... Okay

379. 1:06:21

     ... that's what this gets to.

380. 1:06:22

     If I'm just calling up people saying, "Hey, do you want to buy this from me?"

381. 1:06:24

     If, if you're calling people, I wouldn't ... That's ... I don't think that's gonna be marketing. Now, marketing is gonna be you placed ads out there, you put it on the internet, you've sought other buyers that aren't interested. And this one, you know they're interested.

382. 1:06:36

     Or I got a real estate agent and I've already listed the property with him-

383. 1:06:37

     Yeah, that's a different-

384. 1:06:38

     ... but I actually haven't closed on it yet.

385. 1:06:40

     Yeah. That's a different scenario.

386. 1:06:41

     Okay. And that's what this would fix.

387. 1:06:43

     This fixes ... Right now, you have individuals going to, um, brokers, getting them to list the property, and what they're doing essentially is finding the best and highest, uh, bidder for it, essentially is, uh-

388. 1:06:58

     But, but they're listing it. They're list-

389. 1:07:00

     Th- they're publicly advertising it for sale.

390. 1:07:02

     I'm going to a broker.

391. 1:07:03

     Right.

392. 1:07:03

     I've got his under contract. He don't know that I'm trying to sell it. I'm going to a broker and saying, "Hey, I got this property. Go ahead and list it," even though I haven't closed on it.

393. 1:07:10

     Right. That's-

394. 1:07:11

     And then th- they're listing it for 1.2 million or whatever, and I got 50,000 for it-

395. 1:07:15

     That's right

396. 1:07:16

     ... is what my paper says.

397. 1:07:17

     Yeah. And under current law, you have where, um, the owner, you have to present all offers to the owner. You can only advertise property on behalf of the owner. What's misleading about this is they are presenting themselves as the owner of the property, and that's where the misrepresentation is coming.

398. 1:07:33

     So is it not up to ... Sorry, Mr. Chairman, can I keep ... Uh-

399. 1:07:36

     Yeah.

400. 1:07:36

     Just one more question. So is it not up to the broker or the real estate agent to make sure that I own that property before they list it?

401. 1:07:42

     Well, if you bring them something saying that you have permission to do this. In other words, um, one of the exemptions under licen- under licensure is, um, uh, having a power of attorney for someone. And so you could represent to them that you have permission of the owner. Now, the issue is, um, when the commission then looks at this and they see that there is no contract in place, that you do not have that consent to be marketing the property, it's not that they're going after ...

402. 1:08:14

     They're, they would be looking at you then as unlicensed practice of real estate. Um, I think if you had something, uh, that simply said you're purchasing the property, you purchase it, and then you resell it, that's not this practice that's going on.

403. 1:08:28

     Okay. Thank you.

404. 1:08:29

     Yeah. All right. We have, uh, Chairman Crowe who's handling the bill, and he's also, uh, probably one of the more astute brokers, real estate brokers, if you might wanna simplify for the committee.

405. 1:08:45

     Well, I will do my best, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Um, I think just to, to give an example of what's happening now and what we're trying to target, uh, and you may have seen this or have people that you know that have gotten these. You'll get a letter in the mail or you'll get a postcard or you'll get something saying, "We wanna buy your house." And so the person calls back and they talk to them and they say, "We want to buy your house for this amount of money." They enter into a contract with them, and it's not one of the realtor contracts. It's not a, a standard form that we typically use. Um, they are often looking for people who are maybe desperate to sell or, um, in a bit of a pinch that they really need to get rid of their property.

406. 1:09:25

     And what they do is they then get it under contract with a very, very minimal contract, and somewhere buried in the language of that contract it'll say about it being assignable. Um, but the, the seller, um, doesn't realize that that's what's happening. And so what they think is happening is that they have their property sold now, and they may, uh, take measures or take steps to work towards moving. Uh, they think that whatever, you know, the, the, the heat that they've got trying to sell this property, that they're about to be out from under that.

407. 1:09:58

     At the very same time, that may not be the case, 'cause this person has no intent to buy it. If they're gonna close on it and then sell it and have a double closing, that's a different thing. These folks never intend to buy it. All they wanna do is get a contract that gives them an equitable interest in the property that allows them to go out and market that property. And they'll have a very small penalty if they don't close, a very small amount of earnest money or something like that. Sometimes not even any earnest money, 'cause you don't have to have earnest money for the contract to be valid. And so they go out and try to find a buyer for it. If they don't find one, then they simply don't close on the property.

408. 1:10:30

     And now folks who thought their property was sold did not sell, and they're stuck with this property. And so there's some disclosure things. All this does is require them to disclose it. It doesn't even say they can't do that. It simply says they need to have that disclosure done in writing. It needs to be clear to the person that they're, uh, entering into contract with, the seller of the property. It needs to be clear in writing to them that they are going to attempt to find another buyer for this while they have it under contract and assign that contract.

409. 1:11:00

     Uh, and that's all it is. It's really about disclosure to make sure folks are aware of what they're getting themselves into. Um- You know, there's a process in Georgia that is illegal for us as licensed agents. Um, we are prohibited from taking what's called a net listing that says if we, you know, if, if you wanted to sell your house for $300,000, then we could get, as commission, whatever amount we can sell it for more than that. If you say, "I want 300 for it," you... however much you can sell it for, you can keep the rest. We can't do that. That's illegal for us to do that in Georgia because then it puts our interest above the interest of the client.

410. 1:11:36

     And so all we're trying to do here is make sure... That's what these folks are essentially doing. They're getting a property under contract and going out and trying to sell it for as much as they can. And the sellers of these properties, and again, a lot of times these folks are, um, responding to these, these outreaches because they're desperate. And we just wanna make sure that there's full disclosure required, uh, so they know exactly what they're getting into and they're not being preyed upon by folks who are, um, you know, trying to turn a quick buck. I- I've invested in real estate. I- I'm not against that at all.

411. 1:12:07

     Uh, I just think it needs to be very clearly disclosed what they're doing and them not essentially working as an agent without having to follow the same rules that licensees have to.

412. 1:12:20

     All right. Any other questions from any of the committee? Well, y'all about beat this one to death. You know, I had, uh, cautioned, uh, Jeff to be very quick, and he wasn't quite as quick, 'cause we have some- ... pretty quick members on the committee. This is a bill that, uh, I had been talking to Jeff and, uh, the Real Estate Commission and to the Real Estate Association for a couple of years about.

413. 1:12:50

     Living over on the state line, we're, um, basically we're f- easy pickings for folks across the state line that aren't licensed realtors. Um, and I kept looking at it, and everything I looked at in the questions that, uh, the questions that, uh, Mr. McCollum and, uh, Chairman Jasper and them asked, when we worked on this last year, I couldn't wrap my hands around it 'cause I didn't wanna interfere with the legitimate citizens' property rights to acquire property.

414. 1:13:20

     And Jeff kept working on this and working on it, and it's very specific of how this is, but it's trying to stop some of these practices. One is those people who are actually practicing real estate without a license, not using the adequate contracts or, or explaining due diligence to those purchasers or those sellers. And this is what he's came up with, and I appreciate him doing it. And I appreciate Chairman Crowe, and I appreciate you, Senator, and I hardly ever say that, but I do.

415. 1:13:52

     So now-

416. 1:13:52

     I appreciate you, Mr. Chairman

417. 1:13:53

     ... I don't see any other questions up here. Um, anyone wanna make a motion?

418. 1:14:01

     Motion to adopt.

419. 1:14:01

     Make a motion to be passed.

420. 1:14:02

     We have a motion. Do we have a second? Do we have any further questions? Love it when a plan comes together, sir. Beg your pardon? I love it when a plan comes together. Amen. Y'all about talked the guts right out of this hog. So that being said, if there's no other questions or comments, all in favor say, "Aye." Aye. And any opposed? And the ayes have it. Senator, Chairman Crowe.

421. 1:14:29

     Yes, sir.

422. 1:14:30

     Mr. Ledford, I thank you very much. Now, for the committee, tomorrow, uh, was scheduled to be a subcommittee on the workday, but we're gonna move into a full committee tomorrow. We've got a couple other bills that we're gonna be, uh, dissecting tomorrow and getting them over. As you know, time is getting of the essence, so we'll be moving those bills out tomorrow. And, uh, I think it's at 2:30 tomorrow. Yes. So if you could, make all attempt to be here.

423. 1:15:00

     That being said, if there's nothing else in front of the committee, we stand adjourned.

424. 1:15:07

     First up everything.