Under existing law, a real estate wholesaler who holds a contractual right to transfer real estate but not legal ownership, can transfer that equitable interest for a fee without disclosing to the potential buyer that he or she is not the deed owner and without being licensed by the Alabama Real Estate Commission. Additionally, existing law does not provide certain consumer protections for victims of unsolicited investment-oriented real property solicitations. This bill would establish the Alabama Property Deception Prevention Act to protect property owners from deceptive, fraudulent, and predatory real estate investment schemes by authorizing the Alabama Securities Commission to prosecute and regulate certain real estate transactions. This bill would grant the Alabama Securities Commission concurrent jurisdiction with the Alabama Real Estate Commission to investigate and discipline wholesalers. This bill would require that real estate wholesalers be licensed by the Alabama Real Estate Commission and provide certain disclosures to all parties to a wholesaling contract. This bill would require investment-oriented real property solicitations to contain certain consumer disclosures and authorize the Alabama Securities Commission to enforce these rules and impose fines for violations. This bill would also make nonsubstantive, technical revisions to update the existing code language to current style.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 8-42-1, 8-42-2, 8-42-3, 34-27-2, 34-27-30, 34-27-36, 8-42-1, 8-42-1, 8-42-1, 8-42-4