A group of Berkshire REALTORS [President Steve Ray, Mary Tyer Kelly, Tom Doyle, George Cain, Anne Meczywor, Barbara Osborne, Maureen McFarland, Sue O’Brien and CEO Sandy Carroll] went to Boston on June 10th, 2015, to meet with our legislators about issues affecting private property rights and home ownership in the Commonwealth and in Berkshire County.

REALTORS® Support Copper Pipe Theft Prevention: 

As most REALTORS know, thieves target vacant homes and strip them of copper piping and wiring. The thefts negatively impact home values in the community and make the subject property likely ineligible for conventional mortgage financing. There are several pending bills that seek to eliminate the theft of scrap metal from homes by establishing a licensing structure for the sale of scrap metal. The licensing structure will provide law enforcement with ways to identify individuals who are selling the stolen metal to the scrap dealers. By giving the commonwealth access to, and the means for, the sharing of necessary information, the incentive to strip houses for metal will be greatly diminished.

Action: We asked our legislators to support both S. 202 and H. 226 and urge the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure to report the legislation out of committee favorably.  The impact on our housing stock is significant.  Good homes destroyed for greed and easy access to quick money.  We also see many of the federal incentives to rebuild neighborhoods thwarted because homes are stripped and un-mortgageable by those home buyers who could live there, and instead a target for flippers.  Let’s put a stop to this now.