Telling your story to lawmakers

PAR kicked off its Public Policy Regional Training in Harrisburg yesterday.

The training emphasized the importance of Realtors® telling their story in the political arena. We’ve seen how Realtors® talking about their clients and the challenges they face helps legislators understand how laws and regulations affect the homebuying process.

And every PAR member can be instrumental in telling a story to their legislators.

Your stories are key to helping local, state and national lawmakers understand how ordinances, regulations and laws impact our industry and homeowners. For example, when Realtors® in my local association, Suburban West Realtors® Association, began seeing municipal code enforcement delaying transactions over minor issues like an incorrect size of numbers on a house, or small cracks in sidewalks, they brought the issue to PAR. Their stories helped legislators better understand the issue and pass amendments to the Municipal Code and Ordinance Compliance Act to help protect homebuyers and sellers. Act 133 of 2016, which amended the state Municipal Code and Ordinance Compliance Act, provided a more clearly defined “unfit for habitation” to give better guidance to local code enforcement officials.

The training also highlighted ways our members can participate in the association’s advocacy efforts and gives you the tools to become more engaged in PAR’s advocacy efforts and better represent our industry at the local level.

PAR is offering this training at several locations across the commonwealth. All training sessions are free and open to any PAR member, although pre-registration is required.

The training session runs from 2 – 5 p.m. (registration opens at 1:30 p.m.) and you can register online for the training session that works for you.

Register now for one of the remaining regional training dates:

• Wednesday, March 13 – Holiday Inn, Williamsport
• Thursday, March 21 – Crowne Plaza Valley Forge, King of Prussia
• Wednesday, March 27 – Mohegan Sun Pocono, Wilkes-Barre
• Wednesday, April 3 – Sunnehanna Country Club, Johnstown
• Thursday, April 4 – Grove City Country Club, Grove City