ESP President Addresses Real Estate Community at 61st Annual NAREB Conference

(Saturday, August 9, 2008, Memphis, TN)

ESP’s Everett Glenn takes a break from Conference activities to visit the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, TN.

Michael Roberts, President of The Roberts Companies/Roberts Hotels and Chairman of The National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators and Developers, and ESP’s Everett Glenn connect between their respective presentations before the national conference.

ESP President Everett Glenn joined author, broadcaster, advocate and philanthropist Tavis Smiley, National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators & Developers' President Michael V. Roberts, Oppenheimer & Co., Inc. First Vice President of Investments Gail Perry-Mason, real estate developer Harold A. Dawson, Sr., Chairman of the Harold A. Dawson Company, LaVaughn M. Henry, Ph.D., Director, Economic Analysis, The PMI Group, executives from Bank of America, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, State Farm, Stewart Title, Wells Fargo, Washington Mutual and nearly 1,000 Black residential and commercial real estate sales agents and brokers, loan officers and mortgage brokers, title companies, appraisers, insurance agents, and developers at the 61st Annual Conference of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB).

NAREB is the oldest minority trade organization in America with 84 chapters nationwide from Florida to Washington State. NAREB members are called "REALTISTS®", a term which incorporates the many disciplines they represent. The organization was formed out of a need to secure the right to equal housing opportunities regardless of race, creed, or color. The goal of the goal is to bring together the nation's minority professionals in the real estate industry to promote the meaningful exchange of ideas about our business and how best to serve our clientele including the provision of certifications and special designations in many areas of the real estate industry.

Since its inception, NAREB has participated in various meaningful challenges and legislative improvements, to establish fair housing for all. Most recently, Maria Kong, President of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) has urged Congressional leadership, President Bush and Secretary of the Treasury Paulson, to act fairly and responsibly to ensure that minority-owned real estate, finance and legal professionals are included among the firms tapped to manage the $700 billion dollar asset portfolio as part of the federal government's bailout of the country's failing banks, financial institutions, and insurance companies.

ESP President Everett Glenn, a 30-year real estate law professional, addressed the conference and shared with the membership an overview of the mortgage brokerage industry, recent developments in the law, and the legal response to the subprime mortgage meltdown including, but not limited to, a discussion of HR 3221, the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008, Senate Bill 1222, the Stop Fraud Act introduced by the next President of the US, Barack Obama, H.R. 3915, the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2007 which, if passed, will create a federal duty of care on the part of all mortgage originators (including individuals as well as companies and banks that originate mortgages) that will require (1) licensing and registration, as applicable, under State or Federal law, (2) presenting consumers with appropriate mortgage loans (i.e., consumer has reasonable ability to repay and receives net tangible benefit, and loan does not have predatory characteristics), (3) making full disclosures to consumers, (4) certifying to lenders compliance with mortgage origination requirements, and (5) including a mortgage originator’s unique identifier in loan documents.

For more shots of the event, please click here