FRONT LINES: Do-not-fax rule pushed back

The effective date of a Federal Communications Commission rule on fax advertising has been delayed six months, to June 2005. The rule would require faxers to obtain written permission to send a fax advertisement. Compliance was scheduled to take effect Jan. 1.

NAR and a coalition of REALTOR® associations in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the territories of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands helped secure the delay, the second one on the fax rule. In a petition sent to the FCC in August, the coalition argued that Congress needed time to complete consideration of legislation that could affect the FCC rule. If the rule was implemented before Congress had time to take action, the coalition said, REALTORS® and state and local associations would have to bear the expense of compliance, knowing that the legislation could render the costs unnecessary.

The NAR-backed legislation, called the Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2004, H.R. 4600, would maintain a fax-approval exemption for businesses. That exemption has been in effect since 1992, when rules were written implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991.

The Junk Fax Prevention Act passed the House in July and was pending on the Senate floor in late September. The bill stands a strong chance of passage this year, and, should it pass, President George W. Bush is expected to sign it, say NAR analysts.

NAR advises members and REALTOR® associations to be prepared, if Congress doesn’t pass the legislation, to comply with the FCC rule by June.