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Week of February 11, 2008
Changes to I-9On Nov. 7, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has released a revised and updated version of the Employment Eligibility Verification Form (Form I-9) that all employers are required to complete to verify the identify and work authorization of each newly hired employee. The revision reduces the number of approved verification documents that newly hired employees can submit to employers. Specifically, these five documents have been removed from List A, and will no longer be acceptable proof of identify and employment eligibility:
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On the House: More on disclosure by sellers
By: Al Heavens, Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist
Since we're heading into spring home-selling season, and since there's so much interest in the subject each time I write about it, here's more on home inspections.
This started a few weeks back with a story I wrote on renewed interest in home inspections because of the current buyer's market.
Then a reader asked about pre-inspections - specifically, whether one would be useful for a house his mother had inherited from her late sister. I contacted a number of experts; each said yes.
That column resulted in an e-mail inbox filled with more recommendations. So here we go again, with the promise that this will be the last installment - for a while.
John Badalamenti of Weichert Realtors in Collegeville has been suggesting to sellers that they provide to prospective buyers a Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange (CLUE) report, to which the property disclosure statement is attached.
Feds unveil mortgage plan
By: Marcy Gordon, AP Business Writer
With mortgage defaults surging and politicians urging the industry to do more, six lenders agreed to widen their effort to help borrowers of all loans — not just subprime.
The plan, called Project Lifeline, is to be announced Tuesday by the Treasury Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, a person familiar with the plan said Monday evening, confirming earlier news reports and speaking on condition of anonymity because it had not yet been made public.
The plan will allow seriously overdue homeowners to suspend foreclosures for 30 days while lenders try to work out more affordable loans are worked out.
Home Builder's Send Message to Congress
Daily Real Estate News | February 13, 2008
The National Association of Home Builders announced Tuesday that its political action committee has decided to stop making contributions to candidates for Congress “until further notice.”
The association said it was taking the action because lawmakers and the Bush administration, "have not adequately addressed the underlying economic issues that would help to stabilize the housing sector and keep the economy moving forward," the trade group's president, Brian Catalde said in a statement. "More needs to be done to jump-start housing and ensure the economy does not fall into a recession."
Since 1990, the trade group has contributed nearly $20 million to federal candidates — 35 percent which has gone to Democrats and 65 percent to Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Source: The Associated Press (02/12/08)
Pa. voters told to pick party affiliation for primary Election officials warned voters to register as a Republican or Democrat before April's primary.
By Jeff Shields, Philadelphia Inquirer
Philadelphia election officials yesterday warned voters that they can't vote in the state's April 22 presidential primary - possibly a critical one for Democrats - unless they're registered as Democrat or Republican.
More than 93,000 voters in Philadelphia are not affiliated with a major party. Some made that choice, others ended up that way by leaving the information off their registration cards, said Margaret Tartaglione, chair of the city's Board of City Commissioners.
Tartaglione said she is concerned about confusion in the primary. On Super Tuesday, Feb. 5, when 22 states voted in primaries and caucuses - including New Jersey - the Board of Elections in Philadelphia received at least 700 calls from people who showed up at their polling places and wanted to vote.
Pennsylvania holds a closed primary, meaning only voters registered with a party can vote in that party's primary. In New Jersey, unaffiliated voters can choose a party to vote for in a primary.
Tartaglione said she doesn't want people coming to vote April 26 and crying foul when told they cannot vote if they are not registered with a party. Those voters can vote only on ballot questions in a primary.
"That's the reason we called this meeting," Tartaglione said, "So there's no confusion."
Pennsylvania voters unaffiliated with a party can change their registration by March 24, and even switch back immediately after the election.
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Builders at annual show lack optimism, attendance
By Alan J. Heavens, Philadelphia Inquirer
The International Builders' Show opened yesterday without the boundless optimism that characterized the annual convention of home builders from 1998 to 2005, when the real estate market was booming.
Attendance numbers were down, and the behemoth Orange County Convention Center - jammed last year with a record 104,000 builders from all over the country - seemed strangely quiet.
"We're expecting 10 to 15 percent fewer this year," said Donna Reichle, a spokeswoman for the National Association of Home Builders. "The official numbers aren't released till Saturday, and we're pinning our hopes on on-site registration."
Filling the four-day show schedule are programs that reflect the gloom besetting the residential-construction industry: "Marketing Against Resales and Foreclosures"; "When Survival Equals Success"; "Securing Investors and Lenders for Land Development in a Downturn."
A two-year market decline in the nation's major growth areas (Florida, California and the Southwest), coupled with continued softness in other regions, seemed to be taking its toll, or at least taxing the patience of the people at the convention's helm.
As the show was preparing to open, Brian Catalde, president of the home builders' association, said that its political action committee, Build-PAC, decided to cut off its support of congressional candidates until they "adequately addressed the underlying economic issues that would help to stabilize the housing sector and keep the economy moving forward." Last year, Build-PAC disbursed $1.8 million to congressional candidates.
Catalde and others in the housing industry fear recession and say Congress is not doing enough to forestall it. Economists agree that the national housing market will get worse before it gets better.
Galloway undeterred despite missed opportunities
By: Theresa Katalinas,Bucks County Courier Times
For Rep. John Galloway, 2007 was a year of opportunities.
But all of the opportunities for reforming the state Legislature were missed, said Galloway, D-140, one of 55 new legislators.
“After 13 months, if you were going to give the Legislature a grade, it would be an "F,' ” Galloway said, during a recent editorial board meeting at the Courier Times. The lawmaker included himself in the failing mark, which he gave before the House and Senate approved an open records bill that was sent to Gov. Ed Rendell on Tuesday.
“Trying isn't good enough,” he said. “I was sent here to actually accomplish something. I come from a world where it's all about results. I was put there to accomplish, not just to try.”
Perhaps a bit frustrated, Galloway said this week he remains undeterred and intends to run for re-election.
“I'm going to keep being exactly who I am. What we need are more people who are doing the same thing,” Galloway said. “Taking my ball and going home is not the answer.”
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Bucks native is appointed conservation district chief
By: Jenna Portnoy, The Intelligencer
The newly appointed director of the Bucks County Conservation District will focus on education and watershed improvements.
Gretchen Schatschneider had already served as acting director for nearly a year while performing her duties as watershed specialist when the environmental agency's board unanimously hired her Wednesday morning.
“It's challenging, but exciting,” she said. “I strongly believe in the mission of the conservation district. I've enjoyed learning to run the office and am looking forward to watching the district grow.”
The agency reviews soil erosion and sediment control plans submitted by developers and can levy fines. It is technically a state agency, but county commissioners name its board members.
Schatschneider, who grew up in Langhorne and Warrington and is living in Northampton County temporarily, is a 1999 graduate of Delaware Valley College in Doylestown Township. She has a bachelor's degree in agronomy and environmental science.
After college, she worked for the North Wales biosolids recycling firm Garvey Resources Inc. As the president's assistant, she wrote reports, did product research, traveled for demonstrations and made contacts in the field, she said.
State House passes PBA-supported scrap metal legislation
Thieves will find it harder to sell stolen scrap metal under the provisions of a bill passed this week by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. PBA helped draft House Bill 1742 in response to members' growing problem with copper pipe thefts at building sites. Watch for updates in TradeSecrets as the bill is considered in the Senate. Please contact your PBA field service director for more information.
House bills set procedural standards for municipal land development actions
PBA praised the state Senate local government committee as it passed House Bills 1329 and 1330, which set procedural and appeal standards for local government action in regard to land development. While PBA supports the bills, the association will suggest amendments refining some of their provisions. Please contact your PBA field service director for more information.
Committee to study cost of Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy compliance
On Feb. 12, the Pennsylvania Senate approved Senate Resolution 224, sponsored by Sen. Patricia Vance, R-Cumberland, which would require the state Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to determine the cost for municipal sewage treatment plants in Pennsylvania’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay watershed to comply with their new nitrogen and phosphorus discharge limits under the Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy. The impetus for the resolution was the wide disparity that exists between the sewage treatment plant compliance cost estimates offered by the state Department of Environmental Protection (as low as $190 million, later revised upward to $620 million) and affected Pennsylvania municipalities (as much as $1 billion). The committee is to present its findings to the Senate within nine months of the resolution's adoption. In addition to the above referenced cost assessment, SR 224 directs the committee to "assess the methods by which wastewater treatment plants may achieve compliance with the Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy, including the purchase of nutrient credits and physical upgrades." PBA has argued that a viable nutrient credit trading program is needed for the Tributary Strategy to meet the twin goals of improving the environmental health of the Bay and ensuring that sufficient future sewage capacity is available for economic growth and development in many areas of Pennsylvania. PBA is also scheduled to testify on the nutrient credit trading program at a Senate Majority Policy Committee hearing about the strategy, to be held on Feb. 21 in Harrisburg. For more information, contact Grant Gulibon at 800-692-7339, ext. 3013 or at ggulibon@pabuilders.org.
