A few months back I posted about a new law requiring sellers of residential real property in Nevada to prepare an energy consumption evaluation for the property before closing the transaction. (see Energy Consumption Evaluation Form goes into effect Jan 1st)
Well, that requirement has now been repealed. I just received the announcement below from the Nevada Association of REALTORS®. My favorite line in the release is “the current form for energy consumption that a seller must fill out provides no benefit to the seller or the buyer”.
From the NVAR release:
AB 432, introduced by Assemblywoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick and Assemblywoman Teresa Benitez-Thompson, enacts provisions relating to energy auditors and removes the requirement of the evaluation of energy consumption form.
After 5 long years and many discussions with Legislators, Energy Auditors and REALTORS®, an agreement was reached that the energy auditors need to be licensed in the state of Nevada and the current form for energy consumption that a seller must fill out provides no benefit to the seller or the buyer and therefore, should no longer be required.
AB 432 provides for the licensure of energy auditors by the Real Estate Division and establishes the minimum training and qualification requirements for individuals to be licensed as energy auditors. It would also establish the requirements for conducting an energy audit (including elements to be evaluated, software and tools to be used, and report to be provided).
The most important provision in AB 432 as it pertains to buying and selling property is it repeals the section of NRS that mandates a seller to fill out a form evaluating the energy consumption of the property…what this means is that the seller is no longer required to fill out the energy consumption evaluation form.
The licensure of energy auditors goes into effect on July 1, 2011 and repealing of the energy evaluation form became effective upon passage and approval. Governor Sandoval signed this bill into law on June 13th. Therefore, as of June 13th, the form is no longer required.
A big thank you goes to both Assemblywoman Kirkpatrick for her dedication and hard work on this issue prior to and during the Legislative Session and to Assemblywoman Benitez-Thompson for her research and time she put into learning about the issue and helping in its passage.
Sully
Guy, I’m confused. How is it now better that you have to pay someone to do something you could have done before for free that doesn’t benefit anyone anyway?
Guy Johnson
Sully, I’m reading this as the form is no longer required. Therefore no need to pay anyone to do anything.
crook realtor
Another POS ruling to benefit the unscruplous realtors..
Got a leak paint over the stain
Got mold..get a bucket, sponge and bleach
Got black toxic mold. use more bleach
Sully
crook, how does the sellers energy consumption compare to hiding defects? The only benefit to realtors scrupulous or not is one less form to have to fill out, as if there aren’t enough now. Also, energy consumption depends on number of occupants as well as their tolerances. Some people like it hot, some like it cold. I suspect the original intent was to disclose energy saving items that were or were not installed. However, the home inspection should easily cover that.
Josh
To me this is akin to purchasing a vehicle without knowing the MPG. For many, with a luxury vehicle MPG may have little bearing on purchase decision, but for some who look at a budget in $50 increments, the variation of $100 in a power bill is significant.
I was all for the legislation. That stated, you can call Nevada Power for free and if you give them an adress they will give you the monthly average usage for the past 12 months for free. No verification needed.
Sully
Josh, in order to get a comparable MPG rating on a house you have to remove the light bulbs and all but the fixed appliances. In other words the items you would expect in an empty house. I covered that in the energy saving items above.
The sellers usage or previous occupant has no bearing on the type light bulbs you use or the energy rating on the appliances you bring with you. Standard light bulbs versus LED or CFL can make a big difference in consumption if you like a lot of lights on. This particular legislation was useless in that regard and really should be put in the category of nanny laws. A few years ago I replaced my (old) freezer, refrigerator, washer and dryer on the same day. The savings in consumption showed up on the next bill and continued every month afterwards.
Also, NV Energy has a provision for you to register online and view your bill. You can compare your consumption to other similar houses in the area – which would be a much better comparison.
Martin
Hey Guy, did the Legislature also do away with that goofy bill that would have exempted distressed sales from comps?
MikeZ
As a potential home buyer, I would have liked this form to be available.
Zen
I for one am in shock that the legislature had the wisdom to eliminate some red tape from a business transaction. All hope is not lost. If you would like to have this information prior to buying a home, you can make it a condition of the sale that the seller provide the information. For that matter, you can have the seller provide almost any information about the property that you want, as long as it is not such a difficult or expensive task that the seller decides to look for another buyer rather than provide it.
crook realtor
Its almost like. Trust me buy this house its the best house on the block.
But no you can not see it first but I have some bright shiny photos on super glossy photo paper..
MikeZ
For that matter, you can have the seller provide almost any information about the property that you want, as long as it is not such a difficult or expensive task that the seller decides to look for another buyer rather than provide it.
Was providing this form a difficult and expensive task?
Zen
“Was providing this form a difficult and expensive task?”
Not extremely expensive or difficult on its own, but one more thing in the ever growing pile of paperwork that has to be done. Each page on its own isn’t a big deal, but the pile as it grows and grows makes getting a transaction completed more and more difficult. Like I said, if you would like to have this information prior to buying a home, you can make it a condition of the sale that the seller provide the information. I for one don’t want it. If you do, ask for it.
Sandbank
Appears that some Wolfpack football players were involved in a gun battle in downtown Reno early this morning. This must be the kind of reputation boost to UNR that Rory was talking about in praising the football team the other day. Perhaps they were out celebrating the renewal of Ault’s contract.
Also, it appears that the gun battle took place by the Aces ballpark. You know, the jewel of downtown Reno.
Carole
But they beat Boise St.! They beat Boise St.! They beat Boise St.!
Surely we can overlook this little incident involving a few of the Wolfpack’s fine collection of athlete scholars.
Boys will be boys. Go Pack!
Carleton
ESPN has already picked up on the story. Yes, this is exactly the kind of reputation enhancement that Rory was talking about. Without its wide receiver having life threatening gunshot wounds, why nobody in America would be talking about UNR today.
New in Spanish Springs
What will an “energy auditor” be empowered to accomplish? Who pays the check? What do they do?
Nanny state creep is coming for you. That it took five years to figure out a simple trusim bodes worse for the future.
bob_c
You can call NV energy and get 2 years records……you don’t have to be the owner.
Rob Ernst
This topic seems to be getting allot of attention. I’m a Home Inspector and I also am in the process of getting my energy auditor certifications. The AB432 law is good in my opinion because it will now require energy auditors to fall under the same law as home inspectors. As is sounds right now the auditors will not be able to do the repairs to the house just like home inspectors are not permitted to do repairs on homes they inspect. The contractors board is also taking about making a new license requirement for energy retrofit contractors. This is a good thing because it will help to ensure the contractor understands how to do the work properly and how to get the best return in energy savings on the work being done. The audit follows some of the same paths as home inspections but the states definition is “Energy audit” means a consultation to improve the energy efficiency of a home. The audit is pretty complex and there is allot of specialized training and equipment. From what I have heard the state will start to require all homes sold to have an audit in two years. This is something that is growing and changing and we have to wait and see where it goes.
Sully
Rob, audits versus consumption are two different things. However, it would be nice if you could paste a yellow label with most efficient and least efficient scale, like the water heater, on the front door. Then put in an arrow with “this house is rated X.” That would be a good MPG indicator that Josh referred to, I’m more concerned with the govt getting too involved with mandatory requirements on older homes. They already are doing that with new construction, which is fine. I hate it when they say “We’re from the govt and we’re here to help.”
Rob Ernst
For the audit the people still have to provide 12 months of utility bills. This is for locating where the building is loosing energy. There is also HERS rating which will more than likely be what every one will be looking at. The the index rating of a new home is 100. So there is a scale that can be found here http://www.resnet.us/home-energy-ratings . This is sort of the MPG rating that was mentioned. This rating is done by taking all the info gathered at the house and putting it into a program. It is a very long and detailed process. The software then gives a rating. From there you can also adjust the house based on energy improvements. The most common and effective place to start is air sealing. Then insulating the attic and sealing duct leaks to the outside lets say. So at that point you can see the rating change. In the future if the customer wants to make changes to the house they can contact the rater and the information can be adjusted to get another new rating or recommendation. For example a year later the people want a new furnace and decide to get a 90+ furnace the rater can put that into the program and tell them the projected cost saving and the size of the furnace to buy since a smaller one will be needed since they made the prior improvements. It will be a pain if the government requires it. It would keep people like me busy. If they require audits will they next require a home inspection? I think it would be better to get this process started by offering education and rebates than requiring it. It think like a sellers inspection tells the buyer what they are buying, the audit will give the buyer an idea of what the energy cost of a home will be. If there are any questions or information anyone would like to share feel free to contact me off the blog.
rory
Wow Sandbank….real classy post. And the other idiots piling on – you should be ashamed of yourselves. A young man is fighting for his life after being the victim of gun violence and you want to relish in his misery with some sort of sick I told-ya-so post? Grow up people.
Nevada football going 13-1 and beating #3 Boise St in the game of the year was great for our community. I’d like to see some post an argument to the contrary.
MikeZ
“Was providing this form a difficult and expensive task?”
Not extremely expensive or difficult on its own, but one more thing in the ever growing pile of paperwork that has to be done.
I didn’t think so, either.
Each page on its own isn’t a big deal, but the pile as it grows and grows makes getting a transaction completed more and more difficult. Like I said, if you would like to have this information prior to buying a home, you can make it a condition of the sale that the seller provide the information. I for one don’t want it. If you do, ask for it.
That may be true, but that wasn’t what I was questioning, Zen. Of all the forms presented at closing, it seems to me that this is among the simplest and least expensive.
MikeZ
You can call NV energy and get 2 years records……you don’t have to be the owner.
You can?!
Show me the last 2 years’ records for this address:
2135 Skyline Blvd, Reno, NV
Zen
“That may be true, but that wasn’t what I was questioning, Zen. Of all the forms presented at closing, it seems to me that this is among the simplest and least expensive.”
Well Mike, I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree. I think the legislature made the right decision in repealing the requirement, and it’s clear that you don’t. If you are really that passionate about this, contact your representative and try to get them to sponsor a bill to require the information the next time they meet. I’d much rather have them spend some more time on this than a lot of other things.
Norton
A “victim”, Rory?
He gets in a fight outside a bar at 2:30 in the morning, and he is a “victim”?
Yes, a victim of his own stupidity.
bob_c
I did last year when I bought a foreclosure (call NV energy and was told over phone the bill amounts for previous 2 years). I didn’t pursue it further (actual consumption), because the bills were so consistent year to year and were reflective of what i saw with my eyes during inspections.
Maybe they have changed policy. Give them a call.