Volunteer leaders of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors (MAR) are appearing at the state house today in order to appear before two hearings.

The first is to support Senate bill 1521, “An act relative to discharge of indebtedness of principal residence from gross income.” This bill would bring relief for homeowners who are forgiven some portion of mortgage debt and greatly assist homeowners in avoiding foreclosure. Currently, a seller who goes through the short sale process, would be required to pay tax on the phantom income (the portion of mortgage debt that has been forgiven by the lender), even though no cash has changed hands.

“Making a homeowner who has experienced a true economic loss pay tax on ‘phantom income’ is just adding salt to their wounds,” MAR President Corinne Fitzgerald said in a statement. “A short sale is the best way to preserve home values in communities by preventing a home from falling into foreclosure. The federal government does not apply this tax; we want Massachusetts to do the same. It would make short sales a viable option for those homeowners.”

MAR will then oppose Senate bill 1761, “An act relative to home energy efficiency.” This bill would require mandatory energy audits and an energy rating at or prior to the transfer of property. Not only would this requirement disrupt sales and have a negative impact on the Massachusetts housing economy, but also stigmatize older and historic homes causing a substantial decline in value.

“Massachusetts continues to be the most energy-efficient state in the country with the second oldest median age of homes at 57 years, which is very impressive and shows how seriously we as a state take energy efficiency and use programs like MassSAVE,” Fitzgerald said in a statement. “However, requiring an energy score prior to transfer would create hardship and slow the real estate market down and unfairly compare the energy scores of newer homes to older homes which could stigmatize a large portion of our housing stock.”