In its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for the third quarter 2014, RealtyTrac Inc. reported New York State ranked number 27 out of all 50 states for quarterly total foreclosure filings. New York had 12,511 total foreclosure filings in the third quarter and 4,335 of them were in the month of September. 

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Builder confidence in the market for newly-built, single-family homes in October fell five points to a level of 54 on the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). Builder confidence for the Northeast remained level at 41. 

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The National Association of REALTORS announced its 2^nd Annual Online Silent Auction to benefit the REALTORS Relief Foundation will be held November 7-9. The auction catalogue is now available at www.BiddingForGood.com/RRF. Close to 250 items will be available to bid on during the online auction including: an original painting of Steve Jobs by artist Erik Wahl; vacation stays in St. Croix and St. Thomas; getaway packages to New York City and New Orleans; an autographed guitar; electronics; and much more. One hundred percent of all donations go directly to victims of disasters who are in need of housing-related assistance.

Last week, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman issued a report detailing his office’s findings regarding widespread violations of New York law in New York City listings appearing on the Airbnb website. The attorney general's report, Airbnb in the City, estimates that approximately 72 percent of Airbnb reservations over the last several years violated state law.

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Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced that his office has awarded $20 million to New York State land banks as part of a second competitive round of funding to counties, towns and cities. The awardees are as follows: Greater Syracuse Land Bank (more than $1.9 million); the Buffalo Erie Niagara Land Bank Investment Corporation ($2.5 million); the Rochester Land Bank (more than $1.8 million); Newburgh Community Land Bank (more than $1.9 million); Suffolk County Land Bank (more than $1.9 million); Chautauqua County Land Bank ($1.3 million); Capital Region Land Bank ($3 million); Albany County Land Bank (more than $2.8 million); Troy Community Land Bank ($1.25 million); and the Broome County Land Bank ($800,000). The funding, in addition to $13 million allocated in October of 2013, was made through the 2012 National Mortgage Settlement administered by the attorney general. For more information, click here.

The New York City Council’s Committee on Housing and Buildings will hold a hearing on Wednesday, October 29, 2014 at 10 a.m. at the 16th Floor Committee Room, 250 Broadway, New York, NY 10007 regarding Intros. 222, 289 and 433. 

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Today’s NYSAR Radio show will cover brokerage dos and don’ts. Tune in at 10 a.m. this morning on your PC or Mac by using the player on the NYSAR Radio page. You will need to be logged in to listen. If you have not yet created your account with the website, you will need to click on "New User" on the Member Login page and follow the prompts.

Click here for more information as well as a list of links to play NYSAR Radio from any of your mobile devices.

Enrollment for health insurance in 2015 will be open from November 15, 2014 to February 15, 2015. Look to NYSAR Member Perks partner USI Affinity to help you navigate the plan options and find the coverage that best suits your needs. Remember, you will face tax penalties if you do not obtain coverage. Also, if you miss open enrollment, you will not be able to obtain health insurance until the next open enrollment period unless you qualify for a special enrollment. Stay tuned for more information regarding 2015 open enrollment or visit www.myrealtorinsurance.com/nysar.

The Seller Representative Specialist (SRS) course will be offered October 29-30 at the Greater Capital Association of REALTORS in Albany, NY. This course provides the skills, training and resources you need to represent the interests of sellers in today’s marketplace. 

Click here for more information or to register.

REALTOR Institute 409 – "Equal and Ethical Service" – will be offered October 29-30 at the Greater Binghamton Association of REALTORS and October 30-31 at the REALTOR Service Center in Riverhead, NY. This course fulfills the Code of Ethics training requirement for NYS license renewal.

Click here for more information or to register.

Take advantage of NYSAR Member Perks partner Taxbot to keep more of your commissions through tax deductions! The Taxbot mobile app offers you the ability to track business mileage and expenses with your iPhone or Android smartphone or tablet, and turn those expenses into IRS compliant tax deductions. Click here to learn more.

NYSAR's partnership with UPS gives you access to exclusive shipping discounts – up to 30 percent! Enroll today to start saving on every package you send. Visit http://www.savewithups.com/nysar or call 800-325-7000 to enroll.

For the third consecutive year, New York REALTORS exceeded the RPAC fundraising goal of $696,900 by raising a total of $752,891 or 108-percent of goal. Thank you to the 13,990 REALTORS across the Empire State who invested in RPAC this past year and made it possible for us to reach goal once again. New York will be recognized as making goal during the NAR annual meetings next month in New Orleans. Congratulations to the 29 boards that reached their fundraising goal and the 18 boards that reached participation goals. Click here for the 2014 final results.

In addition to reaching its 2014 fundraising goal, RPAC of New York exceeded NAR's President’s Circle goal of 10 with 15 members or 125-percent of goal. RPAC of New York also exceeded the Major Investor goal of 125 with 127 major investors or 101-percent of goal.

The final 2014 RPAC investor recognition display will be included in the RPAC Annual Report in New York State REALTOR magazine's January/February issue.

The Columbia Greene Board of REALTORS held the first RPAC event of the 2015 fundraising year and raised nearly $500 for RPAC! Thank you to those attendees who joined the wine tasting and networking event and helped jump start the 2015 fundraising year.