FREEHOLDER BROWN OPPOSES BILL TO ALLOW KICKBACKS

(March 24, 2009) – Burlington County Freeholder Christopher Brown is standing up against a state Senate bill that will allow the practice of financial kickbacks in all New Jersey residential real estate transactions.

The bill – Senate No. 139 – would permit real estate brokers to provide rebates to sellers or purchasers. A version of the bill – Assembly No. 373 – passed the Assembly on March 16 by a 45-26-7 vote.

“Instituting rebates will set back the real estate profession and will force brokers to haggle over prices as if they were at a Saturday morning flea market,” Freeholder Brown said in a letter to state Sen. Nia H. Gill, Esq., chair of the Senate Commerce Committee that will hold hearings on the bill later this year.

“This would seriously degrade the hard work and training that define the achievement of becoming a Realtor,” Brown wrote. “Senate Bill No. 139 will make real estate a commodity service where the lowest bidder gets the job, not the one with the most expertise and experience.

In addition to being a Burlington County freeholder, Brown is CEO of Castle Realty Management, LLC, a company that manages eight RE/MAX real estate offices across New Jersey.

In his letter, Brown called for more, not less, regulation of the state’s real estate industry, including the introduction of a continuing education program similar to the ones required in other key public service professions. Such action, Brown said, “will help protect home buyers and sellers and eliminate deceitful real estate tactics.”

“I am sure you will take the side of integrity for New Jersey consumers and work with me to help defeat Senate Bill No. 139,” Brown wrote to Sen. Gill. “Let’s fight together to keep professionalism a key ingredient in the state’s real estate transactions.” 

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