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If you have bought or sold real estate, you are no doubt aware of the length and complexity of the process, and how many elements and services must be required. ‘ get together to make your business happen. The counties of Bennington and Windham are suffering from a lack of a key component to this puzzle: housing lawyers.

The cause of the inadequacy is multifaceted but can be summarized as a greater volume of public work needs to be done, and fewer lawyers in the area to carry it out.

Floyd Amidon, an agent at Maple Leaf Realty in Bennington, has been on the property for the past 18 months and has also worked as an insurance agent for more than 15 years, and can talk about violence. market activity in Vermont when COVID-19 emerged in March 2020.

“A lot of people are looking for safer places to live, or to have a second home, and that has led to a huge influx of people into the country. our market, ”he said. “Only half of the lawyers are retired, market movements and people who want to move quickly, so they can move or elevate the property. . ”

The lack of lawyers to handle the workload is not a new problem but has been on the rise in recent years.

“In fact, the number of attorneys qualified to handle real estate has decreased over the last decade,” said a Bennington attorney who wished not to be named. “I tore my hair out of my head before COVID.”

Many attorneys are approaching retirement age in Bennington County and even the death of a local attorney, for example, has resulted in a decrease in attorney availability, and it seems that there are no young people to fill in the blanks.

The legal profession continues to grow in the country, according to the American Bar Association. That growth, however, has been heavily affected since the turn of the century, but the population is still on the rise. Vermont was one of only six states that actually lost lawyers in the past decade, with a 2.9 percent fall during that period.

The increase in the number of subjects is increasing the demands of the job.

“Not everyone is equally closed, and there are many situations that make it more difficult. More and more people are moving out of town, different offers, title insurance needs, ”the lawyer said.“ There are a lot of things in real estate that they don’t teach you about. law school. “

Abi Gregorio, who has been a member of Maple Leaf Realty for nearly six years, agrees with the assessment that the expectation of many lawyers is part of the problem. The problem for legal services is not only the speed and fury of the property itself, but also the increasing role of the lawyer in dealing with properties for sale. by the individual without a representative.

“There’s a lot of traffic going on that we don’t know about, because buyers are like, ‘It’s an easy time to sell my house. Why do I have to pay real estate commission?'” He said. said. “And so they’re not just lawyers who are lawyers, but they’re also acting as agents for a buyer or a seller. So they’re doing it. It’s part of our job, and they don’t like it. there. ”

Consumers are missing out on many of the services provided by real estate agents – which do not fall under the supervision of the lawyer – while also expanding the workload for more demanding lawyers.

“We make a lot of emotional calls throughout the process, when we deal with inspections, re -negotiations, review matters. We go to lawyers only for legal matters in the contract,” he said. of Gregorio. “[Their] whole hour is wasted by our work, and they’re worried about that.”

In Gregorio’s experience, he hasn’t seen many closures delayed due to a lack of lawyers, but keeping customers on time has compelled him and many home buyers to seek help. out of town.

Peet Law Group in South Burlington is one of the largest real estate agents in South Vermont. With a staff of more than seven lawyers and 17 paralegals, Peet Law is more flexible and able to meet clients and customers who want to make a transaction quickly, but the company still feels the pressure.

“There have been a lot of land changes in recent years. Federal regulations on how to go through the mortgage approval process are certainly becoming more complex, ”said Fred Peet, founder of the Peet Law Group in 1995.“ It’s not it’s a big issue for us as a rural community, but the The increase in COVID and decrease interest, there is a struggle to continue. “

Gregorio said working with lawyers in the north is going well, but he is trying to continue business locally. Things go smoothly sometimes because local lawyers have experience in the area, he said.

“There’s a lot of weirdness and weirdness about some areas here. For example, Old Bennington, there’s these kinds of old agreements about garbage and water lines.

Peet and Gregorio also say the state of Vermont needs more investigators than lawyers when it comes to closing real estate deals. Bennington’s attorney, who was not named, echoed the same sentiment.

“I argue it’s not just real estate lawyers, or general lawyers, that we’re dealing with inadequacy,” they said. “Dentists, entrepreneurs, teachers… fill the vacancy. Try going to the doctor now. ”

Matt Harrington, director of the Southwestern Vermont Chamber of Commerce since 2016, has been working hard on Bennington County’s hunger for young professionals. In 2018, the chamber launched a pilot program by Gov. Phil Scott’s “Stay to Stay” plan, is about encouraging more working families and young people in Vermont to start businesses or work locally – including filling the gap as businesses face buy houses.

The room began to attract families to Bennington from all over the US (and even a few outside the country) for weekend visits and plenty of communication opportunities and a taste of what Vermont means. . They had to be creative when the disease came, but monthly meetings are still being held through Zoom and may be able to rekindle interest in Green Mountain State.

“We just keep having that conversation,” Harrington said. “Best of all we’re constantly adding to our long list of Southwestern Vermont enthusiasts.”

Adding to Harrington’s hopes, for the first time in two years, the room has been able to bring families back to Bennington on Memorial Day Weekend, and there is another weekend planned for Northshire area in November.

“We presented a survey after asking:‘ How did you move to Vermont after this experience? ’” Harrington said. “The data was on a scale from 1 to 10, and 100 percent is on the 8 to 10 scale, which is exactly what we wanted to hear.”

Harrington said the study is strong evidence that families are certainly happy to move to Vermont, but challenges such as the lack of housing and the turmoil of crossing countries to an unfamiliar place. it compromises the system.

Harrington also said funding was a challenge for the room’s efforts in the “Stay to Stay” program, as the state is providing some federal COVID grants to help but is no longer available. This has limited the staff that the room can deliver to the purpose, as well as marketing for the purpose, which so far has mostly reached out to Vermonters in the past. of speaking.

Harrington is well aware that some Southern Vermonters may ask why he encourages people to come here when the area lacks housing.

“We’re creating a pipeline of people,” Harrington said. “To my mind, they are our other training committee, our other selection committee, our other volunteers. These people are not ordinary people who just come and go. take a village. These are the people who come to a village and give it back.… If and when buildings open, we will have a whole bank of strong citizens who want to be citizens of Vermont. ”

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