This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A bill that would have wiped out a slew of required disclosures to investors in a specific type of real-estate deal was significantly watered down Wednesday and now has the backing of the state agency that oversees the transactions.
Rep. Brian Greene, R-Pleasant Grove, had proposed wiping out the disclosures — things like civil and criminal actions against the seller or agent, an appraisal of the property, financial background and environmental liabilities on the property — that have to be provided to potential investors in a kind of real-estate transaction known as a tenant-in-common or TIC.
TICs are deals where investors can buy a portion of an interest in a commercial development, but Greene — who sold TICs for a living until 2013 — argued the disclosures were onerous.
But a new version of his HB96 lets the Real Estate Commission continue to regulate the transactions and require the disclosures it sees fit. It does change the burden for providing the disclosures from the real estate agent to the seller of the property.
The new version has the backing of the Department of Commerce, which had concerns about the bill before, and passed a House committee unanimously, moving to the full House for consideration.