Eviction issues, McGirt among real estate summit topics

By: Journal Record Staff//August 27, 2021

EDMOND – A real estate summit coming soon to Edmond will feature breakout panel discussions on topics ranging from eviction policies in the pandemic to effects of the recent McGirt Supreme Court decision on commercial real estate in Oklahoma.

The Commercial Real Estate Summit hosted by the Central Oklahoma Commercial Association of Real Estate, or COCAR, has been planned for Sept. 14 at the University of Central Oklahoma’s Nigh Center. Discussions planned throughout the day will be educational opportunities for professionals but also will touch on topics generating widespread public interest. A “Pandemic Postmortem Track” forum, for example, will examine government and industry efforts to prevent evictions in the wake of widespread disruptions inflicted by COVID-19 on the economy. Moderating the morning panel will be Steven Shepelwich, a senior community development advisor for the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

Shepelwich is scheduled to lead a discussion on best eviction diversion practices witnessed across the country over the past year or more and how beneficial policies might best be developed and implemented. Slated subject matter experts include Katie Dilks of the Oklahoma Access to Justice Foundation, Jennifer Montagna of Legal Aid Services, and Alyssa Loveless, a case manager with Community Cares Partners.

A separate track discussion will focus on effects on commercial real estate resulting from the McGirt decision, which determined that sweeping Native American reservations were never formally disestablished across much of Oklahoma. The session is to be presented by Ryan Leonard, a partner at Edinger, Leonard & Blakley. He also is the governor’s special counsel for Native American affairs and Oklahoma’s lead negotiator in discussions with the state’s Native American tribes on foundational jurisdictional issues raised by the decision. He’ll provide an update on issues especially affecting commercial real estate.

Seminar participants may also choose to attend other discussions, such as one planned on the Oklahoma Landlord Tenant Act. For the past several years, the Oklahoma Legislature has attempted to revise the act. Andrea Frymire, executive vice president at Midwest Housing Equity Group, will lead a discussion about potential revisions and why they may be necessary. Scheduled panelists include Grant Cody, executive director at the Oklahoma Real Estate Commission; Karey Landers, executive director of the Apartment Association of Central Oklahoma; and state Reps. Melissa Provenzano, D-Tulsa, and Forrest Bennett, D-Oklahoma City.

COCAR has partnered with the UCO Real Estate Program and David Chapman, a UCO associate professor of real estate, in planning the seminar, which will benefit the UCO Real Estate Foundation Scholarship Fund.

UCO offers Oklahoma’s only university-level academic program in the real estate industry.

A to Z Inspection is presenting sponsor of the 2021 CRE Summit. To register or to find out more, online go to www.cresummit.org.