National Association of Realtors

COVID-19 Relief Package 

Includes Help for Business and Property Owners

December 21, 2020

Congressional leaders struck a deal on a nearly $900 billion coronavirus relief bill that will bring a new round of support to millions of Americans before year’s end.

The agreement contains many priorities championed by NAR, including rental assistance, a fresh round of funding and simplified forgiveness for SBA loans, and more direct payments to Americans.

“Through this bill, our members will continue to have access to unemployment and small business assistance.  But perhaps one of the biggest wins is rental assistance, which we have fought hard for since the last major COVID-19 bill was passed in April. It will bring instant relief to both mom-and-pop property owners and American families in danger of going over a financial cliff at the end of the year,” said Shannon McGahn, chief advocacy officer for NAR.

“While this bill hit more traditional political obstacles than the ones passed earlier this year, it was always a must-pass bill,” McGahn said.  “One in five of our members took out a PPP loan. We made sure that Congress knew these items were critical to America’s 1.4 million Realtors and the economy as a whole.” Read more at: CLICK HERE

Governor Cuomo Announces Launch of New York Forward Small Business Lease 

Assistance Partnership

December 10, 2020

Governor Andrew Cuomo  announced the launch of the New York Forward Small Business Lease Assistance Partnership. Recognizing the economic impact of COVID-19, this program will provide small businesses and their landlords with informational resources and pro bono assistance to help both parties reach mutually-beneficial lease workout agreements. This service is available to all New York State small businesses and landlords, and participation is voluntary. Over the next year, the partnership has the capacity to serve thousands of small businesses statewide.

“Small business are the backbone of any strong economy and it is critical that we work to find ways to support them during these difficult times,” Governor Cuomo said. “The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the economy has been nothing short of devastating, and through partnerships such as this, we can help to alleviate the burdens many business owners are facing. While a moratorium on commercial evictions is currently in place, this new public-private partnership will help provide an additional level of stability for small businesses and ensure they are able to play a role in helping build New York’s economy back better than before.”  

As part of this program, Empire State Development is partnering with the New York State Bar Association and Start Small Think Big, a New York-based non-profit organization dedicated to supporting small, under-resourced entrepreneurs with high-quality professional services. For this partnership, Start Small will be offering pro bono legal services from its network of more than 1,000 attorneys, to commercial tenants and landlords seeking lease amendments to cope with the impacts of COVID-19. The New York State Bar Association has served as the voice of the state’s legal profession for more than 140 years and will support the recruitment and training of additional volunteer attorneys.

The Small Business Lease Assistance Partnership website includes information on the lease renegotiation process and details the different types of lease workouts available to help small businesses cope with the financial impacts of COVID-19. Those interested in pro bono assistance to initiate a lease renegotiation are encouraged to review and complete the partnership’s intake form. After completing the form, each small business will receive an email detailing an estimated timeline for placement with a volunteer attorney. Once matched, the volunteer attorney will email the applicant to schedule an appointment. Read more at: CLICK HERE 

NAR to offer FREE monthly training on Code of Ethics changes

December 16, 2020

NAR will host monthly trainings to provide guidance on the changes to the Code of Ethics that were approved by the NAR Board of Directors on November 13^th, 2020, and to provide an opportunity to ask questions of National Association of Realtor’s policy experts.

An event reminder from Zoom will be emailed prior to each session with a link to join the meeting. If you miss an email, the same link is used for each session so you can revisit a previous email to attend any meeting. These trainings will be recorded, and will be posted to this page shortly after each session.

Questions? Please contact Diane Mosley at 312-329-8407 or email [email protected]. To Register, please visit CLICK HERE

James Walker, CCIM, is the current president of NYSCAR, Albany, N.Y.