[Ryan Ward]

Let's not forget Jessie here...and anyone else who would like to contribute. We need all the help we can get.

[jessiesc]

Originally Posted by Ryan Ward

Let's not forget Jessie here...and anyone else who would like to contribute. We need all the help we can get.

Thanks Ryan, but I'm used to being in the background

And yeppers, we need people to comment and start signing up for assistance.

[arenetwork]

Nobody could forget Jessie.

Especially after reading her comments sent to NAR.

That was one of the best stated positions I have heard.

Jessie ... yo da woman!

[Benjamin Dona]

Hey folks,

I've been reviewing the petition writing process this morning. Looks like there are a few very important things to consider. First and foremost is the title and the opening paragraph. It has to be clear and consise as to what we are trying to accomplish. It basically has to tell the whole premise in short order.

Another thing is the ability to get e-signatures that can be relied upon. Looks like their are a few reliable sites set up to provide this service.

I'll continue to research this as the day goes on. I've got a call in to our local county appraiser who our Govenor chose to lead the major petition drive here in Florida for part of our states new real estate tax reform legislation. I know him pretty well and should be able to get some good insight.

In the interim, lets here some of your suggestions for an effective petition title?

[Ryan Ward]

Benjamin,

The petition plugin requires that the signer submit and then they get an email with a link that they must click on to confirm the submission.

If you want, go ahead and do a test sig and I'll delete...

[Benjamin Dona]

Ryan,

I wasn't trying to suggest you don't have the ability to collect the signatures or to rock the boat. I was just talking about proving their validity.

I would hate to see some hot shot NAR retained attorney blow your efforts out of the water by saying the signatures are not vaild. Based on my review so far, e-signature law is all over the place. Federal law is murky or non existent at best and some states have specific laws while others have nothing at all.

Being NAR is based in Chicago, I think it's worth checking out, just to be safe. I'm trying to do that for you now.

When I talked with Ken this morning about his experience with the petition process, he said that was one of their biggest concerns and they had to follow some specific criteria in order to make it work.

I'll let you know what I can find out.

[Ryan Ward]

That sounds great. Let us know what you find out. My thoughts were never that I thought by petition alone we could get the rule changed. Only that the platform would provide a unified voice from which to have the issue readdressed, to show how strongly we felt about it and to offer the reasons why it should be changed. Ultimately, they would have to vote on it to change it - at least that is my understanding.

That said, if we could demonstrate enough support for a change, they might consider it.

[Benjamin Dona]

Ryan,

I'm with you on your understanding of what we hope the petition can do. I too think that is the best outcome we can effect (a readdressing of the issue).

I did some reading of the NAR Constitution and By-Laws and it looks like if the board won't act in response to a request from its members, it would take a motion and a vote by the members at a duly authorized meeting (not absolutely sure about this yet).

Now I'm no lawyer, but I have always been interested in and do a lot of reading about the law. It's kinda of a hobby of mine. Guess I'm what you might call a "closet ambulance chaser" at heart. Anyway, it is just a small way that I thought I might be able to help in the effort.

I just came accross the "Electronic Commerce Security Act" for the State of Illinois and am going through it now. I'll review what it says and compare it to how the plug-in works (thanks for sending me the info on it) and let you know.

[Ryan Ward]

Benjamin,

We all have our secret hobbies.

So what I will try to do is review the changes that were made and try to come up with some concise language that we can use for the petition itself. Once we get the petitionon written, I think I would be comfortable attempting to obtain signatures. the site will need some more content, but, I will "sticky" this post to the top of the blog and off I'll go trying to get content.

[Ryan Ward]

O.k. so last night I was able to modify the plugin, delete the database tables in mysql admin, add seperate fields in the db for first and last names and change the form to reflect it, delete the plugin and reinstall it. This was the biggest concern because they have to add both fields for the form to work.

Benjamin,

You suggested that we add a place for signators to add the date - I can add a new field, but, it does already keep that field. Also you thought it would be good for them to create a password...I don't know if I can do this though.

I can't believe I was able to do what I did.