July 11, 2025

THANK YOU MAR LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE!

Pictured Above: One of many zoom meetings through out the session. Pictured Below: In-Person meeting back in February before the Annual Legislative Meet & Greet in Augusta

Many thanks to these Maine REALTORS® serving on MAR’s 2025 Legislative Committee! This group of dedicated REALTORS® met bi-weekly from late-December to early-July to monitor proposed legislation and strategize action to protect private property rights and your real estate business:

·       Aaron Bolster, Chair – Skowhegan

·       Joel Alexander – Hallowell

·       John Blouin – Hallowell

·       Erica Brooks – Bar Harbor

·       Judy Brossmer – Belfast

·       Lisa Caron – Bangor

·       Aaron Chadbourne – Gorham

·       Tom Cole – Brunswick

·       Victoria Condon – Camden

·       Sherri Dunbar – Wiscasset

·       Sue Durst – Gorham

·       Raylene Estabrook – Scarborough

·       Ed Getty – Gray

·       Kim Gleason – Hallowell

·       Pete Harrington – Portland

·       Jeff Harris – Farmington

·       Madeleine Hill – Bailey Island

·       Jill Huard – Waterville

·       Angelia Levesque – Bangor

·       Paul McKee – Portland

·       Carmen McPhail – Lincoln

·       Judy Oberg – Bridgton

·       Laura Pellerano – Mount Desert

·       Corenna Quirk – Bangor

·       Beth Sleeper Roybal – Bangor

·       Bart Stevens – Winslow

·       Chris Sullivan – Portland

·       Elias Thomas – Shapleigh

·       Stan Tupaj – Lovell

LOCAL REALTOR® OF THE YEAR ANNOUNCED: 

Congratulations to the following who was recently announced as a 2025 local REALTOR® of the Year:

-Acadia Council of the MidCoast Board of REALTORS®: Erica Brooks (Portside Real Estate Group; Bar Harbor) 

NAR ECONOMIC SUMMIT:

On July 16, 2025, from 2:00–3:00 p.m., NAR will hold a no-cost virtual economic and real estate summit to provide a midyear update on the economy and housing. A recording of the event will be available to REALTORS® as a value-added resource. Registered attendees will receive an email with a link to the recording as soon as it is available. Register via the button below.

TEXAS FLASH FLOOD DISASTER RELIEF:

Flash floods in Central Texas have left a trail of death and destruction. You can help families begin to recover by making a contribution to NAR’s REALTORS® Relief Foundation. 100% of your support will go to Central Texas flood relief efforts. To donate, you can text RRF4TX25 to 71777 or find an online contribution link here

HOUSING OUTLOOK REPORT:

Earlier this year MaineHousing released its first Housing Outlook Report. The 18-page report is the first edition of what is intended to be an annual summary of the state of housing and housing-related issues in Maine. The report combines data from national and state agencies and organizations to examine the health of housing and employment markets, housing affordability trends, and homelessness trends. Click here to download a copy of the report

INVESTIGATE ALL LEADS:

Use your Forewarn app (a NO-COST member benefit provided by Maine Listings).

--Conduct a reverse lookup of the telephone number in FOREWARN and if it comes back with anything other than the expected person – investigate further. 

--Conduct a reverse name search in FOREWARN and call the number(s) provided to confirm the person’s identity and whether they did indeed contact you to list the property. 

In addition, you should verify information about the listing property and owner with the town/municipal tax records and the registry of deeds. 

For prospective sellers who are not physically located near you/the property, ask them to Zoom, Google Meet, Facetime with you for a first meeting – and ask them to show their identification on the screen. While scammers may also have fraudulent identification, they are likely to be unwilling to show their face on a screen. You can use a phrase like, “it’s our office protocol for new customers and clients”. If they’re unwilling, likely a red flag. It is not enough to receive identification via email since scammers are using fake passports and/or drivers licenses.

Recently we have been notified that 0 Lower Mast Landing in Freeport is NOT for sale by its lawful owners.

BE CAUTIOUS – COURTESY LEADS:

REALTORS® are receiving “courtesy leads”, “profile leads”, or leads “from the app” from major real estate portals. Many of these “leads” are potential fraudulent sellers. As a reminder, follow the instructions above and do your due diligence to verify information about the listing property and the property’s legitimate owner. 

FAIR HOUSING / ANTI-BIAS TRAINING REQUIREMENT:

Effective January 1, 2025, all REALTORS® are now required to complete fair housing/anti-bias training in addition to Code of Ethics training. These training courses must be completed between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2027. Learn more about this membership requirement here

NAR has developed a NO COST, self-paced, two-hour course (no CE) called Fairhaven 2.0 to help members fulfill this membership requirement. Upon completion of this online course, your NAR member record will automatically update to reflect compliance. Learn more about Fairhaven 2.0 here.

Three-hour continuing education courses are also available to fulfill the fair housing / anti-bias training membership requirement. Find the list here.  Be sure to share your course completion certificate with your local REALTOR® Board to update your membership record for compliance.  

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