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What's
NEW
2004
(Today's
Hot Topics)
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December |
2004 |
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Frequently Asked Questions on Paying Dues
and Your Account Manager
Have questions about your Account
Manager, your RLI Membership ID, payment options, etc? Visit our
Frequently Asked Questions page.
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October |
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Logo Membership Pins
Still wearing the old RLI
membership pin? New pins, highlighting the new logo, have been
designed and have been available to members. To promote the use of the new
logo, these membership pins will be on sale for only $8 each through
December. It's a great time to get updated! An order form can be found
on-line under
Order Form >>
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Supreme Court to look at
Land-Seizing Law
(WASHINGTON) – Brokers
and agents involved in land development will want to watch the Supreme Court
this fall for a decision on what local governments must do if they want to
take land by eminent domain so that it can be developed into tax-producing
enterprises.
The high court has agreed to hear a New London, Conn., case in which
tax-paying home owners have refused to leave their property so their homes
can be razed and a riverfront hotel and shopping district can be built. The
city wants to take the land by eminent domain.
In the past, cities nationwide have used eminent domain to clear slums and
blighted neighborhoods so that land can be renovated and returned to the tax
base. In this case, however, residents say their working-class neighborhood
is not a slum and that residents pay their taxes.
Source: RE
Intel Report, Oct 4, 2004.
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September |
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Hearings held on
acquisition of FCSA
The House Agriculture
Committee, Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Rural Development and
Research held a hearing Wednesday to hear testimony on the Farm Credit
System (FCS) and the acquisition of the Farm Credit Services of America
(FCSA), a member of the FCS, by Rabobank. The hearing was an opportunity for
the Farm Credit Administration, the regulator of the FCS, to discuss the
details of the acquisition, describe the regulatory process by which the FCA
will decide whether or not to allow the FCSA to leave the FCS, assess
possible impacts on the FCS and rural economies if the acquisition is
approved, and discuss the alternative merger proposal that has been
presented by AgStar Financial Services.
In brief, the
FCA has not received a application of termination from FCSA. At such time
that this application is received, the FCA has sixty days to vote to approve
or disapprove the application. If the FCA approves the termination, the
question is then taken before the FCS stockholders for a vote. FCA staff
will review all relevant financial, cost/benefit and economic data before
making a recommendation to the FCA Board of Directors. They will also seek
public input and comment prior to making any decision, perhaps in the form
of a public hearing later in the fall. The questions of the Congressmen in
attendance at the hearing indicated concern for rural economies,
particularly in the bank's territory of Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and
Wyoming, if the acquisition is approved. Also, Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD)
has introduced legislation (S. 2851) that would extend the waiting time for
a FCS bank to leave the system, and would require a public hearing on the
issue. Contact Russell Riggs at
rriggs@realtors.org
if you have questions.
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Farm
Credit Buyout Plan Analyzed
Information on the Rabobank offer to buy Farm Credit Services of America is
now available on an ISU Extension website at
http://www.econ.iastate.edu/rabobankbuyout/.
The site includes background information about the buyout and analyses of
the transaction and its implications by Dr. Neil Harl, Dr. Robert Jolly, and
Dr. Roger Ginder. Industry sources indicate that opposition to the buyout is growing
and that Rabobank officials believe it has only a 50-50 chance of
succeeding.
Sources: ISU Extension, Sept. 9; Rabobank website, Sept. 10.
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