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Welcome to the member's section. This part of our web site in designed to provide services and information for the members of the Southern Maryland Association of REALTORS®. If you are not a member, you are still free to browse these pages, however, you may find the Public portion of our site more useful. SMAR Members should check this part of our site often to get the latest news on SMAR events. Members should also be sure to look at our MEMBER SERVICES area.

Member Notices: (See SMAR News at left for latest Legislative and Weekly Updates!)

HELP NEEDED! The Southern Maryland Food Bank needs food ! DONATIONS ARE URGENTLY NEEDED! Click here for details

Video Page--Now featuring the Youtube YPN mentoring interviews.
We have a few videos hosted on this site. The site has a built-in video player that requires Adobe Flash to be installed on your machine to play our videos. You may also download them and view them using your own FLV format player. SMAR goes to Annapolis shows the Southern Maryland REALTOR contingent that participated in the protest against Gov. O'Malley's proposed elimination of the mortgage interest tax deduction. We also have a video showing how to add forms from other associations to your Autocontracts 6.02 software. The YPN interview videos on YouTube are here. They show YPN members interviewing SMAR REALTORS® to gain insight about successful practices.

Watch out for the 419 Real Estate Scam!

Governor's Proposed State Legislative Redistricting
Governor O'Malley's proposed legislative redistricting map may be found here. For more information, visit the Maryland government web site's redistricting page.

Fair Warning--Enforcement of SHA Sign Regulations Begins January 1, 2012
October 1, 2011 began the Warning Period prior to enforcement of new SHA sign regulations. Violation of the new laws can result in fines up to $25. For more information see this SHA News Release and this SHA FAQ document.

UPDATE!!!    RETURN OF EARNEST MONEY DEPOSIT- LAW CHANGES EFFECTIVE OCT 1, 2011
Maryland Law regarding the return of earnest money deposits by real estate brokers in residential real estate transactions where the property is located in a Homeowners Association or is a condominium will change effective October 1, 2011. Click here for the full advisory from Alvin C. Monshower, Jr., Legal Counsel.

Dues Proration
New members joining SMAR in the middle of a fiscal year pay dues on a prorated basis. The trouble is, SMAR, MAR, and NAR all bill using different fiscal periods and proration methods. New members can click here to see what their dues will be. SMAR's new fiscal year starts in July.
Click here for a schedule of REALTOR® membership renewal dues. Click here for a schedule of Affiliate Membership dues and click here to see Sentrilock Lock Box System fees.

Rules Regarding Teams and Groups
SMAR’s general legal counsel Alvin C. Monshower, Jr., has prepared documents which thoroughly discusses the provisions of House Bill 406, which took effect on October 1, 2010. A copy of these documents were mailed to all office managers in September. Click here for the full Memorandum from Alvin C. Monshower, Jr., Legal Counsel. Click here for the New Rules that took effect October 1, 2010, and click here for the Agency Disclosure Chart.

Information from USDA Rural Development
Click here for more information about the 502 Single Family Guaranteed Loan Program as described in the recent email from SMAR Goverment Affairs Director Paula Martino.

Agency Disclosure at the Open House
The Maryland Real Estate Commission has recently formally adopted an interpretation of the current agency disclosure under Maryland law applicable to residential real estate transactions. Click here for a synopsis in question and answer format of the three issues covered by the Maryland Real Estate Commission's adopted interpretation.

SMAR Times Moves to Electronic Format
The SMAR Times introduces its first electronic, interactive, e-newsletter edition in PDF format. A copy will be sent to all SMAR members soon. If you don't receive yours, click here to add or verify your email address on our list. Click here to see the latest copy of the SMAR Times.

FUNDS AVAILABLE FOR ST. MARY'S COUNTY HOME BUYERS
The Board of County Commissioners for St. Mary's County urges residents to use the Maryland Mortgage Program. Over $3 million was approved for use by St. Mary’s County citizens to finance home purchases at the County Commissioners meeting on Sept. 1. Eligibility for the program is income-based. Qualifying families in St. Mary’s County include 1-2 person households making less than $85,600 and 3 or more person households making less than $98,440. The maximum mortgage amount under this program for St. Mary’s County is $343,125. Click here for details.

NAR Legislative Analysis: The American Clean Energy and Security Act
The overwhelming number of comments and questions generated by the House of Representatives passing the American Clean Energy and Security Act requires additional information to address the issue with members. Click here for a PDF document containing NAR's analysis of this far-reaching legislation.



MAR and RPAC: A summary of Success
The Maryland Association of REALTORS® and SMAR would like to remind our members of the critical role RPAC has played in protecting REALTORS® and homeowners from legislation that could be harmful to the real estate industry. Your RPAC contributions are more important now than ever before. Please click here for a summary of the MANY important ways RPAC has acted to protect REALTORS® in the past 10 years. Your RPAC contribution is a worthwhile investment in your profession.

SMAR FOOD DRIVE
The Southern Maryland Food Bank is in Dire Need of non-perishable food donations. Donations will be accepted on an ONGOING basis. Click here for details on where to drop off food donations.

	SMAR is pleased to announce a new savings program for our members. SMAR members will qualify for instant
savings between 10 - 95% on office supplies, paper, ink & toner, and printing services. To register, send an email to cathypette@officemax.com for a username and password to access the business-to-business website www.officemaxsolutions.com. Shipping is via UPS and FREE on orders over $50.

Check out the NEW SMAR "Members Only" web site!

www.smarmember.org It's strictly for SMAR Members and it's FREE!

FBI Alert! House Stealing? YES-- HOUSE STEALING!
The very idea of stealing a house sounds insane, but scam artists have figured out how to do it. Education is your best protection. Read the FBI alert here.

TheBaynet.com Offers a Freebie to SMAR Members
A slower market means you need to make sure you provide value to your clients as well get the biggest bang for your budget. Maximize your exposure for minimum cost. TheBayNet.com is offering you a section of their site to market your listings free! Provide better service to your clients by advertizing your listings on the premier website for Southern Maryland. TheBayNet.com currently receives over 700,000 hits per day. You can go to www.thebaynet.com/realestate and add your listings free right now.

Considering a Break from Real Estate?
Members who may be terminating their membership are encouraged to deal with their lock boxes prior to requesting termination. Sentrilock does permit the transfer of lock box ownership from one member to another, however, both members should have active and valid Sentrilock Key cards to perform the transfer. Your Sentrilock membership is terminated with your SMAR membership, which renders your card invalid so it's better to deal with lock box ownership transfers first.

MAR Legal Hotline
Free authoritative legal advice is available to SMAR members by calling the MAR Legal Hotline. Questions on all aspects of real estate law are answered. Sales agents may call the hotline up to four times per year; designated REALTORS® Brokers and Managers), have unlimited calls. A written response to all callers and their brokers is sent within 48 hours. Hours of operation 10:00AM - 12:00 Noon and 2:00PM to 4:00PM Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Call 1-800-888-1272.

SMAR WEBSITE ADS AVAILABLE
Let the public know you're here! SMAR web site ads are available to all members at very low rates. A full year costs just $600 and will be seen by over 1,400 new site visitors each month. Your ad will play continuously in the available spaces on the site front page, providing well over 100,000 viewing opportunities. Contact Ronnie Miles at SMAR for details. 301-870-2323, ext 15.

BEWARE OF INTERNET "PHISHING" HOAXES
Please click here for vital information concerning "phishing" and what you can do to avoid becoming a victim.

Member Promotional Web Pages --take a look at who's already on board! SMAR offers our members low-cost web pages. SMAR personal web pages are a great launch pad to send prospects visiting SMAR's site to your own personal web sites or company web pages, or as a great low-cost way to begin your presence on the web. All SMAR members, including Affiliates, are eligible. Buy a Personal page here | Send your information for the page here | Learn more here

SMAR Membership Forms and AutoContracts
STATE forms found at the MAR web site | NOTICE TO PURCHASER OF PURCHASER’S RIGHTS UNDER MARYLAND’S SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY CONDITION DISCLOSURE LAW. | Membership forms | NEW MAR Residential Contract of Sale 10/2008 |

Ethics Training--Confused? Here's the Scoop!
Can't find a convenient class?  Try NAR's free on-line Code of Ethics training available at  http://www.mdrealtor.org.

SMAR Events Revisited (newer galleries are here: www.smarmember.org)
Were you caught on pixels?  2003 Production Awards | 3-8-04 Legislative Breakfast | 2003 SMAR REALTOR® Fair | 2004 SMAR REALTOR® Fair | 2005 SMAR REALTOR® Fair | 2006 SMAR REALTOR® Fair |2004 President's Tea | 2004-2005 Installation| 2006 Art and Essay Contest | 2004 awards | 2005-6 Installation| 2006-2007 Installation| 2006 Awards | 2007 Art and Essay Contest.

Web Site Features
Association Links area | Sales statistics | The REALTOR® Store | Relocating to Southern Maryland? | Production Award winners| Affiliate Profile Pages.

8440 Old Leonardtown Road Suite 211
Hughesville, Maryland 20637
301-870-2323 . 301-870-2575 Fax