Commercial Investment Real Estate

MAR-APR 2015

Commercial Investment Real Estate is the magazine of the CCIM Institute, the leading provider of commercial real estate education. CIRE covers market trends, current developments, and business strategies within the commercial real estate field.

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12 March | April | 2015 Commercial Investment Real Estate Q & A C CIM a by Sara Drummond Government Watchdog After more than 30 years in commercial real estate, fi rst in New York City and most recently in Orlando, Fla., Lou Nimkoff, CCIM, CPM, president of Brio Properties in Winter Park, Fla., has seen the effects of both good and bad government. This year he serves as CCIM Institute's Legislative Affairs Subcommittee chair as well as vice chair of the National Association of Realtors Commercial Legisla- tive/Regulatory Advisory Board. With his two-pronged perspective on government and real estate, Nimkoff shared some thoughts on the current legislative and regulatory environment. Lou Nimkoff, CCIM, CPM CIRE: As a commercial real estate professional, what are your top federal legislative and regulatory concerns this year? Nimkoff: I am focused on what I call "the big eight" issues. On the regulatory front, we are trying to relax rules on the now-illegal use by real estate profession- als of unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones. The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed rules regarding lead paint in commercial buildings, and the SEC is issuing new rules on lease accounting and crowdfunding. On the legislative side, fortunately the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act was renewed for another six years in the f rst week of the new year. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate were made aware of the importance of this legislation to the commercial real estate industry. I am also focused on marketplace fairness, which would require all online sellers to collect sales tax, leveling out the playing f eld for brick-and-mortar retail- ers. Lastly, we are monitoring proposed changes to both Section 1031 rules regard- ing tax deferred exchanges and the For- eign Investment in Real Property Tax Act, which imposes taxes on foreign nationals who invest in U.S. real estate. CIRE: How does CCIM's Legislative Affairs Subcommittee help resolve problem issues? Nimkof : Working through CCIM's Leg- islative Liaison Lydia Snowden in Chicago and the NAR legislative staf in Chicago and Washington, D.C., the subcommittee helps monitor proposed laws and regulations on both the state and federal levels to make sure CCIM members are not negatively impacted. We also work toward promoting federal legislation, such as the Marketplace Fairness Act, that will help our industry. T e CIRE: On daily basis, how does federal policy affect commercial real estate practitioners? Nimkof : A number of issues, both legisla- tive and regulatory, af ect commercial real estate businesses every day. We have to deal with factors governed by federal law, such as depreciation/cost recovery periods, capi- tal gain taxes, treatment of foreign inves- tors, and energy ef ciency tax credits. And there are also regulatory issues, not created by people we elect but rather by the various departments of our government, such as the Internal Revenue Service and the Securities Exchange Commission. T ese items include 1099 reporting, lease accounting, and secu- rities rules for public companies and pri- vate partnership of erings. It is important to monitor both these areas to know how our business and our clients might be af ected. On top of that, each state also has its laws and regulations.

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