State Senator Carl Kruger and NYARM President P. Leonard Jones. Deborah Morrell, Columbia University; Mona Shyman, MHS Consultants; Frank Delucia, Kaye Insurance; Chuck Holden, Esplande Gardens and Lori Simon, Kay Waterproofing. Nelson Davis, JAD Corporation of America; Irwin Chopak, Nelson Davis, JAD Corporation of America; Irwin Chopak, AKAM Associates; Linda Peters, The Sea Crest Group and Mark Weil, AKAM Associates Joanne Roberts and Barbara Payne, Ruppert Houses; Joe Meneses, Cadman Towers and Jim Malatos, KNS Restoration. Standing: Wayne Reed, Northeast Plumbing specialties; Stan Weintraub, Flatiron/Floorworks Ltd; Joan Saberito, Richter Properties and Lou Marchesi, Flatiron/Floorworks. Dan Maroni and Ray Ceballo, Kew Forest Maintenance Supply; Angel Velazquez, Lockman Security Systems; Linda Peters; Lisa Phillips, Charles H Greenthal Management. Standing: Paul DeMarco, Bay Ridge Fuel Corp; Donna Klein, NYARM Executive Director and Bill Jebaily, Bay Ridge Fuel. Stephen Elbaz, Esquire Management; Vince Callagy, Knickerbocker Village; Gary Mortman, Keyspan Energy Management and Richard Howard, Polar Distributors.

The New York Association of Realty Managers (NYARM) held its first monthly membership meeting of 2001 at Tavern on the Green on Wednesday, January 24th. More than 100 members and friends of the organization gathered to hear New York State Senator Carl Kruger discuss pending legislation in Albany to license property managers.

According to Senator Kruger, "nothing is happening." He claims this is in large part due to the political make up of the State Senate. The difference of six seats making the Senate Republican controlled is "the difference between heaven and hell." He described the government as "paralyzed by partisanship" thus making passage of any Democrat-introduced bills a virtual impossibility.

BILL S279
Senator Kruger is the sponsor of Bill 279, a new piece of legislation modeled after the original NYARM/Halperin bill of the late 1980s. This bill endorses the licensing of property managers in New York State. It regulates and requires that a residential property manager attain a certain level of education and experience in order to be allowed to manage, what most of us consider sacred, a person's home.

The Halperin bill was originally introduced in the early years of Governor Mario Cuomo's administration. Through several sponsorships and years of re-filing, Senator Kruger states "my hopes and my aspirations have never faded from being able to come back to this organization and being able to tell you that we are on the verge of doing something with that legislation."

ASSEMBLY COMPANION
Just that morning, Senator Kruger spoke with Frank Seddio (D-Brooklyn) who has agreed to sponsor the companion bill on the Assembly side. According to the Senator this "is a step in the right direction, having a bill that is being carried in both houses of the legislature. Now begins the long, arduous and tedious process of making the legislative process work for us."

He called 2001 the "threshold year," the year that this bill will finally be victorious. "I believe with successful debate, and if we're able to articulate a position that shows that our bill has merit, we can win, we can get that bill approved. But the legislative process dictates that we have to get it out of committee."

In order to achieve this, in order to get S279 out of the Judiciary Committee, states Senator Kruger, everyone, every NYARM member has to write to Senator James Lacke, chair of the Judiciary Committee and to Senator Joseph Bruno, Majority Leader of the State Senate urging the release of the Kruger bill.

And, because Senator Kruger believes this is vital legislation, he has invited his 36 Republican colleagues to review the bill and ascertain the merits in it. He has offered to withdraw his name in favor of a Republican sponsor so that this necessary piece of legislation finally gets past the partisan politics that have kept it from becoming law.

The Senator got a round of applause when he declared, "Let's finally put the indicia of professionalism on this industry. We stack educational qualification and most important integrity, on the table, right up front. Let the bill pass, let's move ahead with what's important to all of us."

ACCOUNTABILITY
In alluding to the activities of the District Attorney's office and their numerous indictments in the management industry over the years Senator Kruger explained that a law governing the licensing of real estate managers would raise the bar, would raise the ante. This licensing bill not only states that there will be integrity in the process, there will be accountability.

"There will be a licensing process that says that if any individual or group of individuals are found to somehow or other disturb or break the guidelines that are established under this legislation then the Secretary of State would be able to use their power to lift that individual's license. There would be several penalties, if need be, and there would even be a prescription where there could be civil adjudication. And with that the removal of that person's license and the barring of them ever participating as a licensed property manager."

The Senator spoke glowingly of what it is that residential property managers do. He spoke with deep respect and that is what NYARM has been trying to affect all these years. A bill that would secure the profession we represent with a populace dedicated to the proper and lawful execution of our duties.

THE TIME IS RIPE
He rallied the audience with a spirited pep talk assuring the group that with a successful lobbying effort, passage of this bill is possible. And, that after all these years of languishing in committee, the time is ripe for this legislation to become law. Kruger applauded NYARM's letter writing campaign which will be kicked off at The Cooperator's Co-op and Condo Expo on February 8th. Form letters will be available to attendees for their signature imploring their representatives to vote for this legislation. NYARM will deliver these letters to these legislators with copies to Senators Bruno and Lack with a cover letter from NYARM explaining the importance of this piece of legislation.

A copy of the letter. If you do not know your State Senator go to www.senate.state.ny.us, click on "senators" then "senate look up by zip code." You can also log on to the NYARM website at www.nyarm.org and download the letter. If we all pull together and make a concerted effort, victory can be ours.

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