Recently, Texas REALTORS® was contacted by the Texas Alliance of Land Brokers (TALB) encouraging Texas REALTORS® to join NAR's lawsuit related to the final Waters of the United States rule. The organization began outreach, including to local AE's and encouraged member to contact Texas REALTORS® directly. In fact, to reach out to Lori Levy directly. Lori provided the following response directly to to TALB which was received well and appreciated. We are sharing this with RVP's as an FYI in case you are contacted regarding this issue.
"I’ve been receiving a lot of communication from members of the Texas Alliance of Land Brokers requesting Texas REALTORS® join with the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) in their lawsuit filed to stop the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers’ final Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule from going into effect. Please feel free to share this response to those requests with TALB and other industry partners.
As you are aware, NAR and 17 other trade associations filed their lawsuit in January in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Texas REALTORS® is working closely with NAR staff to ensure legal avenues are being adequately utilized. To that end, Texas REALTORS® is monitoring this case closely and will be prepared to assist NAR as needed at the appropriate time.
As an update, the NAR lawsuit was combined with a similar suit brought by the State of Texas. In March, the judge in this suit preliminarily enjoined the WOTUS rule in Texas and Idaho, stopping the implementation and enforcement of the final rule. Additionally, on April 12, a federal district court judge in North Dakota issued a temporary injunction blocking implementation of the rule. The injunction was issued in a challenge brought by 24 states, bringing the total number of states where the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers’ final WOTUS rule is enjoined to 26.
We are encouraged by these rulings and will continue to work closely with NAR to support all efforts as appropriate to block implementation of this federal rule.
I appreciate hearing from our members on this important issue. And thank you for all you do for Texas REALTORS® and the real estate industry."
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