Here is an excerpt from a letter I recently wrote to Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite
Yesterday I thought of a very simple yet potentially powerful solution to our nation's economic recovery.
My solution for the nation's recovery will need your help. A few years ago, Congress passed the National Do-Not-Call Registry laws. This made it a violation punishable by up to $11,000 for each call made to telephone numbers listed on a "do-not-call registry".
There were exemptions to this law, such as: charities, surveys and political calls. Each one has been abused.
So-called "charities" are usually for-profit companies that call "on behalf of" charities, ask for "donations" and then typically keep 82% for themselves.
So-called "surveys" are sales calls in the form of a survey.
The worst offenders are politicians. Political campaign calls are simply sales calls. The product they are selling is the politician him/herself. Why is it OK for politicians to sell their product but not OK for anyone else? People are sick of all the campaigning by the time the election rolls around. Yet, politicians are amazed at the low turn-out at the polls.
The driving force behind our economy is obviously the housing market. People's homes are usually their greatest investment, and often their ONLY investment. People are concerned about the value of their homes because often it is their entire net worth.
All the media talks about is the decline of the market, driving values lower and lower. Sellers are afraid to sell and buyers are afraid to buy.
Here's my solution, please draft and submit a bill to Congress, offering licensed Realtors, an exemption from the do-not-call list so that we can actually call people and talk to them about the market, the value of their homes and the potential of the market today.
Since the do-not-call registry came into existence, we have not been able to reach customers without spending huge (and very scarce) dollars on advertising, when a series of quick one-minute calls could get immediate response, feedback and results.
Perhaps structure this exemption as a temporary moratorium by licensed Realtors, let's say, a one-year period. This will allow us to do our jobs. When we are allowed to do our jobs, we can sell more real estate, stimulating economic growth, and raising the value of the US Dollar on the world market.
I would be very happy to help you with this bill and I am counting on you for a response. I will be posting a copy of this e-mail on my real estate blog.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Tom Mastrangelo
Realtor