Florida Realtors Issues Housing Trust Fund Call for Action

Help make Realtors’ voice in Tallahassee a little louder: Email lawmakers. Ask them not to permanently cut 66% of the housing trust funds many hard-working Floridians need.

ORLANDO, Fla. – On Monday, Florida Realtors® President Cheryl Lambert issued a Call for Action – a legislative tool that asks and encourages all members of Florida Realtors to contact their lawmakers in Tallahassee.

The process takes only seconds using Florida Realtors’ votervoice.net system.

“In 1992, Realtors® in Florida agreed to tax their own business with a new documentary stamp tax that would be used to help residents attain affordable housing,” Lambert wrote in an email to all Florida Realtors members. “Since then, hundreds of thousands of Floridians – many of them teachers, firefighters, first responders and other essential workers – have utilized these funds to help purchase a home, beginning their journey of financial wellness.

The trust funds – commonly called the Sadowski trust funds – have not always gone toward affordable housing programs, notably in lean budget years when the Florida Legislature would “sweep” money into general revenue and use it for other purposes. However, the latest proposal would be a permanent reduction by two-thirds, at a time when the state is already struggling with affordable housing issues.

“Affordable housing is a priority for Florida’s essential workers,” Lambert says. “It is a priority for the elderly on fixed incomes. And it is a priority for hard-working Floridians looking to purchase their first home. Now is not the time to take money away from programs that can help Floridians achieve the American dream of homeownership.”

While Realtors are encouraged to contact their personal representatives – which the email system does for them automatically – anyone can join the movement and help keep homeownership affordable.

“Help support affordable housing by telling our lawmakers to use the housing trust funds for housing!” Lambert says.

© 2021 Florida Realtors®

Reprinted with permission.

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