See generally, S.B. 670 Bill Analysis, 2007 Cal. Sen., 2007-2008 Reg. Sess., Senate Transportation & Housing Committee, Ver. 4/11/07 [1] (To the extent the existence of a [transfer] fee impacts the value of property, as long as the fee is fully disclosed the market will adjust to the fee.)
Jennifer Hiller, 99 Years of Fees May Mean Windfall for Home Developers, San Antonio Express News. March 31, 2010, ("Freehold, which started in Austin, compares the transfer fees to mineral rights and calls land development a creative process on par with writing a book.") Available athttp://www.chron.com/homes/article/99-years-of-fees-may-mean-windfall-for-home-1704441.php
Created as part of the Federal Housing Finance Regulatory Reform Act of 2008, Public Law 110-289 (2008) FHFA is an independent federal agency created through consolidation of the Federal Housing Finance Board, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The FHFA regulates the Federal National Mortgage Association ("Fannie Mae"), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation ("Freddie Mac"), and the 11 Federal Home Loan Banks. Seehttp://www.fhfa.gov
fortworthtexas.gov
Similar structures include the "Public Improvement District" ("PID") and Tax Increment Financing ("TIF"), which, like Mello-Roos and a developer private transfer fee, assess the real estate for purposes of repaying the developer for infrastructure. The private transfer fee is the only mechanism that reduces the debt burden by avoiding monthly or annual payments in favor of a single payment at closing. See City of Ft. Worth, Policy and Guidelines for Public Improvement Districts ("Public Improvement Districts ('PIDs') provide a development tool that allocates costs according to the benefits received. A PID can provide a means to fund supplemental services and improvements to meet community needs which could not otherwise be constructed or provided and be paid by those who most benefit from them.) Available at http://fortworthtexas.gov/uploadedFiles/HED/Business/pid.pdf
freeholdcapitalpartners.com
See http://www.freeholdcapitalpartners.com/forms/Realtor_Reason.pdf. This flyer refers to a "commissionectomy" as a reduction in a Realtor's commission when a "buyer or seller" "try to reduce a Realtor's commission" in consequence of a transfer fee. The flyer goes on to refer to a "swackectomy" as a reduction in "Realtor political power" that would arise from reduced Realtor commissions.
According to OpenSecrets.org, the NAR has spent close to a half billion dollars on lobbying, political contributions and related spending. Seehttps://www.opensecrets.org (reporting $448,754,720) Retrieved June 21, 2016.
See TREC Form 20-13, 1-4 Family Residential Resale Contract (Texas), at Art. 6 (Title Policy and Survey), available at https://www.trec.state.tx.us/pdf/contracts/20-13.pdf, (allowing Buyer 20 days to review the title commitment, at which point buyer "may terminate [the] contract and the earnest money will be refunded").
Christopher D. McEachran, Sometimes Jumping on the Bandwagon is a Good Thing: An Analysis of North Carolina's Prohibition of Transfer Fee Covenants, 89 NORTH CAROLINA L. REV. 2201-02 ("Numerous groups oppose the use of [transfer fee covenants], including the [NAR] and [ALTA]. ....") (citing R. Wilson Freyermuth, Putting the Brakes on private transfer fee covenants, PROB. & PROP., July-Aug. 2010, at 20; Coalition to Stop Wall Street Home Resale Fees, http://stophomeresalefees.org/about (listing both NAR and ALTA as members).
Dr. Tom McPeak, Ph.D. (Land Economist), The Economics of private transfer fee covenants, 2010 PR Newswire Association LLC (11 Dec. 2017). (The assumption is that the seller will lower the sales price. This assumption is well-founded because economic theory suggests that buyers armed with the facts will not pay the same for a home with a transfer fee as they will pay for the same home without a transfer fee. It would be illogical to argue otherwise. (internal parenthesis omitted)). https://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Economics+of+Private+Transfer+Fee+Covenants-a0224760996
