House Passes HB 2412; PAR Urges Wolf to Sign the Bill

Editor’s note: This Call-to-Action is no longer active. House Bill 2421 passed the House and Senate but was vetoed by Gov. Tom Wolf on May 19, 2020.

Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives passed House Bill 2412 on a concurrence vote on Thursday and the bill now moves to Gov. Tom Wolf’s desk. The bill, introduced by Rep. Todd Polinchock (Bucks), would allow some level of in-person real estate services in every county in Pennsylvania.

“We’re pleased to see that state House members reaffirmed their support of House Bill 2412, recognizing that shelter is essential and real estate is life-sustaining,” said PAR President Bill Festa. “The Pennsylvania Association of Realtors®’ 35,000 members and their clients strongly urge Gov. Wolf to sign this bill and allow consumers to buy and sell homes.”

PAR is launching a comprehensive statewide advocacy campaign today. The campaign will encourage Realtors® – and all citizens across the commonwealth – to contact Gov. Wolf to ask him to sign HB 2412 into law and re-open real estate in Pennsylvania.

The campaign features digital advertising in all areas of Pennsylvania and a dedicated call program that will easily enable Pennsylvanians to patch through to the governor’s office phone line. The message is simple – housing IS ESSENTIAL. The governor has said so himself and now we need him to make this right and re-open real estate in a safe and responsible manner.

“PAR will continue to have an active Call-to-Action for all PAR members, so you’ll be able to contact the governor’s office through HousingIsEssential.org,” Festa said. “I’m encouraging every Realtor® to join us in this campaign and contact Gov. Wolf right away.”

Pennsylvania’s incredibly restrictive shutdown of real estate services has created difficulties and financial hardships for consumers. House Bill 2412 would allow real estate transactions to occur with real estate professionals following CDC guidelines. The association has continuously urged Gov. Wolf to follow the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Advisory Memorandum to designate real estate as a life-sustaining business.

“Housing is essential. We’re seeing many Pennsylvanians who are facing tremendous difficulties and financial hardships due to this shutdown,” Festa added. “It’s outrageous that a majority of Pennsylvanians continue to be unnecessarily restricted from purchasing or selling a home.”

Contact Gov. Wolf today and remind him that housing is essential.