Michigan Real Estate Brokers and Salespersons, your legal updates continuing education deadline is October 31st!
With our on-demand video courses, we make it easy to complete your CE around your busy schedule. Here’s a preview from one of the Michigan Law Updates courses that’s available in our 6-credit hour course package!
2020 Michigan Legal Update II Course Preview
Course Description: This course addresses the most recent regulatory rules and regulations that pertain to the real estate industry in Michigan. It provides an understanding and working knowledge of a license holder’s responsibilities and obligations related to rule changes, requirements, duties, violations and agency. This course sets out specific requirements and best practices.
After completing this course, participants will be able to:
- Understand changes to Michigan laws and rules, including the legalization of recreational marijuana
- Gain an understanding of noteworthy case law as it relates to real estate
SANDBAGS AND TEMPORARY MEASURES
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy announced a new Minor Project category that will make it easier for lakeshore property owners to get a permit for the temporary use of sandbags as immediate stabilization measures to protect homes and other critical infrastructure.
The Minor Project category will provide for faster permit processing for homeowners and a reduced permit fee of $100. Under the new category, a public notice will not be necessary for stabilization projects meeting review requirements.
EGLE emphasizes that sandbags are not a permanent solution to erosion problems and the bags eventually must be removed. Property owners should work with a contractor to design a more permanent solution, such as boulders, riprap, or even moving homes and other infrastructure farther inland.
Property owners who seek to take measures to protect their property from record high water levels still need to file a permit application through EGLE’s MiWaters portal. EGLE is expediting permits where there is a risk to structures, human health, and safety. In many cases, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also needs to review the permit application, which is filed jointly through Mi Waters.
Since Oct. 1, EGLE has issued more than 100 shoreline protection permits across the state. Of these, 60 percent were issued within three days of receiving a completed application. Between Oct. 1, 2018, and Sept. 30, EGLE issued 730 permits for Great Lakes projects, some of which were non-emergencies. Fifty percent of the 730 permits were issued within 30 days of receiving an application and 21 percent were issued within 10 days.
In October of 2019 EGLE announced it would expedite permit applications to protect homes or structures that are in danger due to record high water levels. Permits can be approved within days of a completed application being filed, when under normal circumstances the process takes 60-90 days. The shoreline permitting process ensures a balance between protecting property and freshwater dunes and shorelines.