November 14, 2007
Notice of Application of the National Association of Realtors for Exemptive Relief Under Sections 15 and 36 of the Exchange Act and Request for Comment
As a Certified Financial Planner, registered investment advisor representative and registered representative, I am gravely concerned about the irresponsible decision to enable real estate brokers to solicit securities.
I went through extensive and continue to go through extensive training for 1031 exchange TIC investments. I am subject to the rules of the SEC, FINRA and the CFP Board. The investments we present go through many layers of due diligence in order to protect our clients from poor investments with large amounts of their wealth.
Often, the TIC investments we carefully scrutinize are our clients largest single pool of assets sometimes multiples larger than their accumulated IRA or other retirement savings. If a TIC is not subject to the same rules as other securities, then the public is endangered.
Do not allow unregistered real estate folks to play in the realm of registered securities. I see direct parallels with another hot button issue before the SEC and FINRA, equity indexed annuities. Because nonregistered folks are allowed to sell these products, some sell them inappropriately, without full disclosure, and the complaints have skyrocketed. Avoid this problem by keeping TICs safe from sales folks with lower standards.
Sincerely,
____________________________
Karl Frank MA, MBA, MSF
Certified Financial Planner ®