The down-to-the-wire (and beyond) push to authorize casino gambling in the Bay State overshadowed dozens of other bills passed during the Legislature’s last-ditch sessions last weekend. Included were several with potentially large impacts on the real estate industry, even though some of most-desired measures didn’t make it to the governor’s desk.

Permit Extension

Hiding on two pages of the huge economic development bill is a much longed-for permit extension act, which will enable developers granted permits during the slowdown to extend them for up to three years.

But there are some important exclusions to the recently passed act – permits granted under state affordable housing statutes 40B and 40R will not be extended.

“It’s fascinating that they left the 40B stuff out; that wasn’t the intention of the permit extension act at all, it’s unfortunate.” said Gregory Vasil, CEO of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board. Overall, however, “the bill will be a great thing for the industry,” he said.

Right To Cure, Reverse Mortgages

Less pleasing, perhaps, to the mortgage banking industry was the passage of a new bill extending the right to cure law. Bankers have been forthright about their problems with that aspect of the bill, saying it imposes obligations on them but lacks clarity as to how to fulfill those obligations.

But less noted is the provision within the bill requiring face-to-face counseling for certain purchasers of reverse mortgages.

Reverse mortgage industry executives had been concerned about the limited number of approved counselors available to perform the sessions. The revised bill allows two years for the counseling provisions to kick in – a compromise that relieved reverse mortgage brokers.

“I think that will provide ample time for us to work on that matter to make sure that adequate counseling opportunities exist throughout the Commonwealth,” said George Downey, founder of Harbor Mortgage Solutions in Braintree and a reverse mortgage advocate. He noted, however, that “the logistics get pretty challenging – distance, mobility, language issues,” all will have to be dealt with in order to implement the bill’s provisions, and no funds have been dedicated by the new law to deal with these issues. “The challenge is there, but we’ll work it out,” he said.

Though there will be another legislative session in the fall before lawmakers hit the campaign trail, the fall session will be informal. In an informal session, only bills deemed “non-controversial,” that is, those which have not attracted a single objection from a lawmaker, may be voted on. So essentially, any bill which didn’t make it though the Legislature’s marathon session last Saturday will have to be resubmitted in January 2011, and start the cycle all over again.

Community Preservation Act

One of the most significant bills awaiting a second go through the wringer is a measure which would shore up funding for the Community Preservation Act. The 10 year-old act allows towns authorizing a surcharge on real estate taxes to receive matching funds from a statewide pool generated by deed registration fees. The money can then be used to preserve open space and historic sites or to create more affordable housing.

Since the matching funds are generated by deed registrations, the amount available fluctuates with the real estate market – during the boom years, towns were accustomed to receiving a dollar-for-dollar match, and 143 of the state’s 351 towns passed the law. This year, however, the state treasurer’s office projects that matching funds could dip below 30-cents per dollar, throwing into doubt towns’ plans for the funds.

That’s a shame, said Doug Pizzi, spokesman for the Community Preservation Coalition. “The last five or six [towns which have passed the law] have done so in the midst of this recession. So that really tells you – they voted to raise their own taxes in the midst of this recession. It shows how useful it is,” he said.

A bill sponsored by State Sen. Cynthia Stone Creem, D-Newton, was meant to eliminate some of that uncertainly by allowing the registration fees to fluctuate, thereby guaranteeing at least a $0.75-per-dollar match. But though the bill passed through Ways and Means and was supported by the Senate, it wasn’t enacted and will almost certainly have to be resubmitted in the fall.

“It would cost the state budget nothing,” Pizzi contended. “Our position has been all along, the fees are $10 or $20, and to adjust them a few dollars, you’re really not going to have any kind of negative impact on real estate. If you’re buying a $305,000 home, if the cost of registering the deed goes up $10, $20 or $30 that’s not really going to have an impact.”

Expanded Realtor Education

Realtors, too, didn’t manage to get their top priority, the expansion of educational requirements to obtain a real estate agent or broker license. Massachusetts has the second-lowest requirements for salesperson education nationwide, with only Alaska requiring fewer hours.

Agents had used their recent Realtor Day on the hill to lobby for the bill, and had hoped to find a sympathetic ear in Senate President Therese Murray, herself a former Coldwell Banker employee before becoming a full-time pol, but the bill did not make it out of the House.

“It’s a good bill, which would bring us in line with what a lot of other states are doing, and we’re optimistic about getting it through,” said Stephen Ryan, general counsel and government affairs director for the Massachusetts Association of Realtors.

Domestic Violence

Another initiative which failed to make it through was a bill intended to help domestic violence victims deal with sticky housing situations, preventing victims from being evicted and allowing them to break a lease without penalty. Landlords had been concerned that passing such a bill would make it difficult to deal with problematic tenants.

“I think they discovered some serious flaws with it,” said Skip Schloming, executive director of the Small Property Owners Association. “Our understanding is that public housing administrators were very much concerned with the potential for abuse. That’s a serious snag.”

Though he felt it there was a strong chance the bill would be resubmitted, for now, he said, “We’re happy it didn’t make it.”