By Robert Freedman, senior editor, REALTOR® Magazine
If you’ve been following the oil spill dispatches from my colleague Erica Christoffer you’ve gotten a taste of the impact the spill is having on real estate in the hardest-hit areas of the Gulf. Her interview with Dustin Cheramie was particularly illuminating. The 30-year old home builder and fisherman says he’s thinking about leaving the Gulf because of the hardship the area faces. And he’s not alone. People who were in the process of buying a home in the Gulf area are backing out, contributing to a vicious circle in which the area’s hardship drives away households, further harming the area’s prospects for recovery.
From left, J. Danny Cooper, Kenneth Feinberg, Dale Stinton, Malcolm Young, and Lawrence Yun.
It’s against this backdrop that NAR CEO Dale Stinton a week ago joined Malcolm Young of the Louisiana Association of REALTORS® and J. Danny Cooper of the Alabama Association of REALTORS® in a Washington meeting with BP Oil Spill Claims Administrator Kenneth Feinberg. NAR Associate General Counsel Ralph Holmen and NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun participated in the meeting as well.
Feinberg, as the administrator of the federal compensation fund for the survivors and victims’ families of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, is uniquely positioned for his post, and his experience with those trying events will surely be instrumental in his efforts to ease the spill’s economic impact on the Gulf as much as possible. The office he’ll be overseeing for the spill victims, called the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, is expected to be up and running by mid-August. When it is, he’ll oversee the disbursement of as much as $20 billion in BP compensation funds.
In his meeting with NAR and the Louisiana and Alabama associations of REALTORS®, Feinberg heard of the need to provide fair and equitable treatment for real estate professionals in handling compensation for lost business and income.
Although it’s too soon to know what the fund’s policy will be on REALTORS®’ claims, Feinberg has testified before the U.S. House of Representatives that “REALTORS® have made a credible case” for compensation. He has also been meeting frequently with REALTOR® representatives and state officials in the Gulf Coast region.
The fund won’t solve the economic hardship the Gulf area faces over the next few years. But its launch, along with BP’s latest successes in quelling the gush, give Gulf residents reason for optimism for recovery.
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With a $500 Million account to compensate Realtor and agents being adversely affected by the BP Oil crisis. Can you tell me how much of a fee is being paid to administer the account. I was told that 10% of the account will be charged for the service?
Where can a Florida Agent apply?