RESPA/FHA-12410 BECAME LAW AT 12:01 AM (EST) - 250,000 AFFECTED

The Washington Times, New York Times and Los Angeles Times newspapers all report on legislative action, and all have discussed new federal legislation going into affect today (April 1, 2013), yet, none of the major newspapers are covering the impact new RESPA/FHA-12410 guidelines have on commercial real estate professionals. The new law impacts nearly 250,000 commercial real estate people and businesses including lenders, brokers, title and escrow companies, mortgage professionals, and law and accounting firms with real estate practices to name a few. However, most impacted are real estate investors who purchase or refinance commercial property.

Hon. Richard Paul Astley, is not a typical Washington bureaucrat; he sounds more colloquial than most lawmakers in the nation’s capital, "You wouldn't get this from any other guy." The new rules require, among other measures, that all commercial real estate professionals use the Internet when procuring financing alternatives for commercial projects.

RESPA/FHA-12410 became law at 12:01am this morning, and at press time supporters from 49 states and the writers are in closed session to hammer-out the details of enforcement. It is unprecedented for State and Federal agencies to work so closely together, and behind closed doors on capital hill negotiations are expected to continue into the night. Astley acknowledged that there are two sides to the issue, (the original legislation has met with firm resistance from one detractor) but it doesn’t look like Astley’s giving up any time soon, of his opponent, Astley’s comments depict unwavering determination "…we both know what's been going on - we know the game and we're gonna play it." Astley has worked with co-authors Matthew James Aitken, Peter Alan Waterman and Mike Stock since before the 1988 election, and they are "thinking of a full commitment" on the issue. The Whitehouse has their own take on why we need a consumer watchdog: (>a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/01/04/consumer-financial-protection-bureau-101-why-we-need-consumer-watchdog">http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/01/04/consumer-financial-protection-bureau-101-why-we-need-consumer-watchdog).

It almost seems personal for Astley, "I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling…" Commercial real estate is a serious business; the people involved need access to good information and they should be required to obtain it. The language is based on a precedent set in California: http://www.corp.ca.gov/Commissioner/Releases/pdf/65-FS.pdf (Similar bills passed in 48 other states.) Astley says "[He’s] gotta make you understand…" given the law’s timing, it might read like an April Fool’s hoax, but the financing and networking components of the commercial real estate industry affect nearly 100% of people and companies involved, and most no-nonsense legislators aren’t know for their sense of humor.

While commercial real estate professionals may benefit from the requirement to use the resources at their disposal, it’s the online real estate information providers that are shouldering the burden as they scramble to increase their capacity to support more website "hits". Koss REsource (https://www.kossresource.com), an online information provider to the commercial real estate industry is just one of many companies affected by the new rules.

Early this morning I reached Samson Lov, Co-Founder and CTO of Koss REsource, on Facebook. He also posted on LinkedIn: "Commercial real estate has always been and always will be a relationship based business. For federal and state government agencies to try to legislate commercial real estate people and businesses into using all the available resources to improve their business may sound like a great idea, but we think people will find great resources on their own." When asked how lawmakers should proceed, Samson posted "They need to be careful when enacting new legislation, that they assess all unintended consequences in advance." Samson concedes that regulations mandating commercial real estate professionals to get the information they need is likely to benefit him and other online information providers like Koss REsource, but he’s still concerned about the new laws. The new regulations have the potential to help online information providers, but in what has been called a "reckless" passing of RESPA/FHA-12410, the measure might already be causing unforeseen unintended consequences. Samson shared one such consequence: "Last week the traffic on our website was so high, that it crashed two of our servers, and even with backup systems, many CRE professionals were not able to access our website for up to an hour. We’ve added more servers, in anticipation of the increased demand that’s probably going to come after this bill becomes law on [later today], but we have no way to be sure that everyone will be able to access our site."

The regulatory landscape needs to evolve to meet the needs of our country, but it should do so in a responsible manner. To watch an interview with Richard Paul Astley, click here.

To view the video interview please visit my youtube chanel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

For information about Koss REsource or to contact Samson Lov visit https://www.kossresource.com