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Senate Bill S. 2372 would also negatively impact home values in low-income communities and Gateway cities. T HE MASSACHUSETTS ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS (MAR) and its 22,000 members formally oppose several sec- tions of Senate bill S.2372, an act to promote energy diversity. As drafted, the bill would be extremely harmful to the Massachusetts h ou s i n g m a rk e t a n d w ou l d d i s pr op or - tionately hur t low- and moderate-income homeowners. The Massachusetts Senate is scheduled to vote on S.2372 this summer. "Realtors support the main goal of the bill, but there are provisions that will cause more harm than good if the bill is passed," says 2016 M A R President Annie Blatz, branch exe c ut ive at K i n l i n Grover R ea l E s t at e on Cape Cod . "A ma ndated home energ y labeling program, while well-intended, would significantly hurt the housing market for all homeowners, really stick it to low-income homeowners with older homes a nd won't actually create energy e¡ciency." The goal of the bill is to diversify the state's energ y acquisition to include more renew- able energy, but it also includes provisions that ma ndate a new energ y auditing a nd labeling system. This system would include information about a dwelling's energy costs, energy consumption and would be required to be available at the time of listing a home. In addition, this private information would be tracked and reported by the state. In reality, these requirements would have drastic negative impacts on Massachusetts' old housing stock. This would be significantly more severe in low- and moderate-income communities where the homeowners cannot a£ord to make upgrades. The ratings could cause depressed values of those older homes as well. " P r op onent s of t he le g i s l a t ion t r y t o simplif y the arg ument of an energ y score by equating it to a miles per gallon (MPG) rating. Unfor tunately, this wou ld be li ke putting out new MPG requirements on cars that were built over 50 years ago if you were to use t he media n a ge of Ma ssachuset ts h om e s , w h i c h i s s e c on d o l d e s t * i n t h e country," Blatz says. The bill as dra f ted would fur ther com- plicate an a lready complicated process of buy ing a nd sel ling a home. Requiring a n energy audit prior to listing a home will lead to home-buying delays. Adding a mandatory inspection to the home-buying process is counterproductive to encouraging a healthy rea l estate ma rket a nd oppor tunities for home ownership. In addition, a home inspec- tion is customarily not performed until the buyer is under contract to purchase a home. There are currently alternatives already ava ilable. Under existing state law, home inspectors are required to provide consum- er s i n for m at ion rega rd i n g home energ y aud it s at t he ti me of a home i nspection . A d d it ion a l ly, t h e s t a n d a r d c ont r a c t t o pu r c h a s e pr o duc e d b y M A R i nc lude s a provision a llowing for a buyer to conduct an energ y audit as part of the inspection. T h e s e a lt er n a t iv e s pr o v i de c on s u m er s t he opp or t u n it y t o volu nt a r i ly c onduc t inspections a nd obta in upgrades if they so choose. Continuing to educate consumers about these a lternatives is critica l to the success of energ y policies a nd prog ra ms. "Instead of focusing on ways to incen- t i v i z e a l l h om e o w n e r s t o m a k e e n e r g y ef f icient upg rades to their homes, the bill wou ld h i nder a nd cau se del ay s of home buy i n g a nd sel l i n g proces s," Blat z say s . " M A R h a s l o n g s u p p o r t e d a p r o p e r t y ow ner 's a bi l it y t o volu nt a r i ly obt a i n a n energ y inspection of their home through pr o g r a m s s uc h a s M a s s S ave . W h a t t he S e n a t e i s p r o p o s i n g a r e p e n a l t i e s a n d not incentives." About the Massachusetts Association of Realtors: Orga nized in 1924, the Ma ssachuset ts A ssociation of Rea ltors is a professiona l trade orga nization with more tha n 22,000 members. The term Rea ltor is reg istered a s the exclusive desig nation of members of t he Nat ion a l A s soci at ion of R ea lt or s who subscr ibe t o a s t r ic t code of et h ics a nd enjoy continuing education progra ms. * Ma ssachu set ts ha s the second- oldest median house age at 54 (New York State is the oldest with a median age of 57) accord- ing to the latest data from the Department o f H o u s i n g a n d U r b a n D e v e l o p m e n t American Housing Survey (A HS). ■ Set to Vote on Bill that would be Harmful to Commonwealth's Housing Market Massachusetts Senate REALTY NEWS | Greater Boston Builder+Architect BOSTON.BUILDERARCHITECT.COM | Greater Boston Builder+Architect BOSTON.BUILDERARCHITECT.COM

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