\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

By Kerry Smith<\/div><\/div>\n

Should doc stamp money collected for housing be spent only on housing? Florida Realtors members think so, and the association throws its full support behind a drive to amend Florida\u2019s constitution. But that petition drive needs almost 1M signatures \u2013 including yours.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 The concept is simple: \u201cHousing funds for housing.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But the effort is complicated, and Realtors\u00ae throughout Florida now have a chance to codify housing support into Florida\u2019s constitution. However, the effort requires work from every Realtor in the state, and that starts with signing a petition<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In theory, the 1992 Sadowski Act created an affordable housing-support system where a portion of documentary stamp money \u2013 charged on Florida property sales \u2013 goes directly to affordable housing efforts.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In practice, it\u2019s a different story. Over the years, the Florida Legislature has \u201cswept\u201d $2.3 billion out of the affordable housing money and moved it into general revenue, essentially using the money to pay for other state expenses.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Year after year, Florida Realtors\u00ae has advocated for affordable housing, asking the Legislature not to use the doc stamp money for other purposes. But during the 2021 session, lawmakers brought the issue to a breaking point when they created a new law to permanently reduce the funds by 50%.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Realtors in Florida decided to take action by creating a constitutional amendment that would codify \u201chousing funds for housing\u201d into the Florida Constitution. If approved by 60% of voters during the 2022 election, Florida\u2019s housing market could then have an ongoing and reliable source of income to help first-time homebuyers, such as nurses, firefighters and teachers.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The challenge of a constitutional amendment<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n
The first step was completed with the formation of \u201c Floridians for Housing<\/a>,\u201d a Florida Realtors-funded Political Action Committee (PAC) overseeing the effort to advertise the project, collect petition signatures and create a path to the 2022 ballot. The drive officially began on Monday, June 28, 2021, and a copy of the full proposal is posted on the Florida Division of Elections\u2019 website<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
The second step: The Florida Supreme Court must consider and approve the proposed amendment language. But to get there, the drive first needs to collect 225,000 signatures from registered voters.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
The third step: Once the court approves the amendment language, Floridians for Housing must collect more than 1 million signatures from registered voters. To reach that level, the state\u2019s brokers and agents must not only sign and return a petition, but they must also advocate for their industry and collect additional signatures from family, friends and customers.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Gathering, signing and sending petitions<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n
Petitions can be downloaded at the Floridians for Housing website or directly here: https:\/\/floridarealtors.org\/petition<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
Petitions must be physically signed and filled out to qualify. Once printed and signed, they must be stamped and snail-mailed. While the petition lists Florida Realtors\u2019 Orlando address as the sponsor, send all completed petitions to:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
Floridians For Housing<\/span><\/span>
3515 NW 98th Street, Ste. 200<\/span><\/span>
Gainesville, FL 32606<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
Over the years, \u201cbillions of dollars from the trust funds have been siphoned away to be used for purposes other than housing,\u201d says Florida Realtors President Cheryl Lambert. \u201cGetting a constitutional amendment on the ballot and passed by voters is a heavy lift that will take considerable resources, time and the involvement of our entire membership \u2013 but we have the resources and we have the passion.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
For Realtors in Florida, it\u2019s time for action. Sign and share the petition today.<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a9 2021 Florida Realtors\u00ae<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
Go to Source<\/a>
\nAuthor: kerrys<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Kerry Smith Should doc stamp money collected for housing be spent only on housing? Florida Realtors members think so, and the association throws its full support behind a drive to amend Florida\u2019s constitution. But that petition drive needs almost 1M signatures \u2013 including yours. ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 The concept is simple: \u201cHousing funds for housing.\u201d But the effort is complicated, and Realtors\u00ae throughout Florida now have a chance to codify housing support into Florida\u2019s constitution. However, the effort requires work from every Realtor in the state, and that starts with signing a petition. In theory, the 1992 Sadowski Act created an affordable housing-support system where a portion of documentary stamp money \u2013 charged on Florida property sales \u2013 goes directly to affordable housing efforts. In practice, it\u2019s a different story. Over the years, the Florida Legislature has \u201cswept\u201d $2.3 billion out of the affordable housing money and moved it into general revenue, essentially using the money to pay for other state expenses. Year after year, Florida Realtors\u00ae has advocated for affordable housing, asking the Legislature not to use the doc stamp money for other purposes. But during the 2021 session, lawmakers brought the issue to a breaking point when they created a new law to permanently reduce the funds by 50%. Realtors in Florida decided to take action by creating a constitutional amendment that would codify \u201chousing funds for housing\u201d into the Florida Constitution. If approved by 60% of voters during the 2022 election, Florida\u2019s housing market could then have an ongoing and reliable source of income to help first-time homebuyers, such as nurses, firefighters and teachers. The challenge of a constitutional amendment The first step was completed with the formation of \u201cFloridians for Housing,\u201d a Florida Realtors-funded Political Action Committee (PAC) overseeing the effort to advertise the project, collect petition signatures and create a path to the 2022 ballot. The drive officially began on Monday, June 28, 2021, and a copy of the full proposal is posted on the Florida Division of Elections\u2019 website. The second step: The Florida Supreme Court must consider and approve the proposed amendment language. But to get there, the drive first needs to collect 225,000 signatures from registered voters. The third step: Once the court approves the amendment language, Floridians for Housing must collect more than 1 million signatures from registered voters. To reach that level, the state\u2019s brokers and agents must not only sign and return a petition, but they must also advocate for their industry and collect additional signatures from family, friends and customers. Gathering, signing and sending petitions Petitions can be downloaded at the Floridians for Housing website or directly here: https:\/\/floridarealtors.org\/petition Petitions must be physically signed and filled out to qualify. Once printed and signed, they must be stamped and snail-mailed. While the petition lists Florida Realtors\u2019 Orlando address as the sponsor, send all completed petitions to: Floridians For Housing3515 NW 98th Street, Ste. 200Gainesville, FL 32606 Over the years, \u201cbillions of dollars from the trust funds have been siphoned away to be used for purposes other than housing,\u201d says Florida Realtors President Cheryl Lambert. \u201cGetting a constitutional amendment on the ballot and passed by voters is a heavy lift that will take considerable resources, time and the involvement of our entire membership \u2013 but we have the resources and we have the passion.\u201d For Realtors in Florida, it\u2019s time for action. Sign and share the petition today. \u00a9 2021 Florida Realtors\u00ae Go to Source Author: kerrys<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5258,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nwfl4sale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5257"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nwfl4sale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nwfl4sale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nwfl4sale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nwfl4sale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nwfl4sale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nwfl4sale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nwfl4sale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nwfl4sale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nwfl4sale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}