Judge Bill Weathington swore in the new officers of the St. Clair Realtors Association at Countryside Farms in Pell City at the annual Christmas Luncheon on Wednesday, December 17, 2014.

2014 Past President, Scott Fields, welcomed 2015 President Jenny Houze to take over the duties as President and Scott gladly handed her the gavel.  Caran Wilbanks had the honor of pinning the President’s Pin on Jenny.

    

2015 Executive Committee and Board of Directors are Johnnie Atchison, Shawn Story, Carl Howard, Lisa McClellan, Alan Drinkard, Sharon Thomas, Maggie Lay, Chad Houze, Nicole Walters, Jenny Houze, Scott Fields, Caran Wilbanks, Karen Bain and Tina Stallings.

According to their web site, The St. Clair Association of Realtors exists to maintain and enforce the REALTORS Code of Ethics, to provide members with state-of-the-art programs, products, and services that are more affordable and accessible collectively than individually, to advocate a high standard of education and professionalism, to influence public policy and political affairs which promote and protect private property rights, to enhance the public image of our REALTOR members, and to act as a contributing member of the state and national associations of REALTORS.

The St. Clair Realtors Association is well organized, affording a system of Chairs for leadership development.  According to President Jenny Houze, the First Vice President becomes the President Elect, and the President Elect progresses to the Office of President.  It doesn’t always work that way.  Sometimes people have to drop out, but someone else will step up and take the responsibility.

Real estate seems to be picking up in St. Clair County.  The realtors are optimistic. When asked about the greatest challenge facing the Association, past president Nichole Walters said, “Change and compliance.”

The National Association of Realtors exercises oversight on the entire industry.  According to Wikipedia, the NAR has over 1.2 million members (2008), and serves as a self-regulatory organization for real estate brokerage. They set the standards for affiliate Associations.

As laws change, and standards for operations evolve, compliance in continuing education and reporting becomes more difficult.  The overhead required to administer the programs grows, making it difficult for smaller Realtors Associations and smaller brokerage agencies to keep up.  In some cases, smaller Associations have merged with larger associations located in major metropolitan areas.

Navigating these challenges will be up to the Officers and Board of Directors of the St. Clair Association of Realtors.  They are ready and equipped to do so.