California

North Platte Valley Association of REALTORS® Leverages Housing Opportunity Grant to Promote Financial Literacy Among Local 8th Graders

In partnership with like-minded organizations in rural eastern Wyoming, the North Platte Valley Board of REALTORS® conducted a "Reality Town" program to introduce important concepts of financial literacy to area 8th grade youth. Students from three schools in the region learned about the correlation between grades and earning potential, and…...

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Land Use Initiative Helps Bakersfield Association of REALTORS® Defeat City’s Draft Climate Action Plan that Threatened to Worsen the Housing Crisis

The local REALTORS® saw that the draft Climate Action Plan developed by the City of Bakersfield would make real estate transactions more costly and would violate private property rights. With a coalition of concerned partners, they resisted its adoption. A Land Use Initiative review by Robinson & Cole provided the…...

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Neighboring West Coast Associations Use Issues Mobilization Grant to Create ‘Smart Coast California’ Initiative

Ventura County Coastal AOR and Santa Barbara AOR have banded together to create ‘Smart Coast California,’ an organization that provides economic, planning policy, and engineering considerations that inform effective decision-making in coastal communities facing the common threat of rising seas in California. Issues Mobilization Grants from the REALTOR® Party helped…...

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Sacramento Association of REALTORS® Equips Local Aspiring Homeowners with Resources and Know-How to Begin Homebuying Journey

The Sacramento Association of REALTORS® established a new Fair Housing Month tradition this year: a first-time homebuyers expo featuring information sessions, panels of new homeowners, and vendors drawn from its preferred-partner membership -- even Home Depot-sponsored activities to occupy the children! It was funded in part by a Housing Opportunity…...

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Contra Costa Association of REALTORS® Uses Advocacy Everywhere to Dissuade City Council from Imposing Real Estate Transfer Tax

When the City of Hercules, CA threatened to establish a Real Estate Transfer Tax to help pay for services and maintenance, members of the Contra Costa Association of REALTORS® raised their voices in opposition.  The REALTOR® Party’s Advocacy Everywhere program helped to get the message across....

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Santa Barbara Association of REALTORS® Use Advocacy Everywhere to Rally Voters Against Expensive and Ineffective Rent Control Proposals

Using the REALTOR® Party’s Advocacy Everywhere program, the Santa Barbara Association mounted a member- and consumer-facing Call For Action that generated a 23% response rate in opposition to unreasonable rent control measures being considered by the City Council. Message heard, the council instead created a Housing Crisis Ad Hoc Committee....

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Conejo Simi Moorpark Association of REALTORS® Advocates for Wildfire Safety Measures, Demonstrating Voter Priorities Through Polling

Twice in the past four years, Thousand Oaks, California has experienced devastating wildfires.  To mitigate the risk of future damage and loss, the local REALTOR® Association used polling and a Consumer Advocacy Grant from the REALTOR® Party to help convince officials that maintenance of the open space surrounding the city…...

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Six REALTOR® Associations Serving LA County Highlight Recent Legislation with Campaign Promoting “Housing Reimagined”

A Consumer Advocacy Grant from the REALTOR® Party helped the South Bay Association of REALTORS®, the Pasadena-Foothills Association of REALTORS®, the Glendale Association of REALTORS®, the Greater LA Association of REALTORS®, the Greater Antelope Valley Association of REALTORS®, and the Southland Regional Association of REALTORS® educate consumers on two major…...

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Advocacy Everywhere Helps Santa Barbara Association of REALTORS® Protect Rights of Coastal Homeowners

Having spent eight years drafting a comprehensive coastal land use plan, the County of Santa Barbara, California received official recommendations that would seriously infringe on property rights and land use policies within the five-mile swath inland from the waterline.  The Santa Barbara Association of REALTORS® came to the defense of…...

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Bridge Association of REALTORS® Defeats Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Legislation with Help from Multiple REALTOR® Party Programs

In Berkeley, California, legislation that would wrest control of a rental property’s destiny from its owner was successfully stalled by the Bridge Association of REALTORS® with a powerful Issues Mobilization campaign and a timely Call For Action. The proposed ordinance, which the REALTORS® called ‘eminent domain in disguise,’ was also…...

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