A member of the Florida State Senate from 1933-1949 and chairman of its finance and taxation committee, Walter Rose* had a leading role in formulating a notable program aimed at a more equitable tax situation for real estate in Florida. Mr. Rose, who for many years served as chairman of the Florida Association of REALTORS®’ taxation committee, wrote and secured enactment of major measures of the Florida tax program in the 1930s. In addition, he contributed active leadership to the national movement for real estate tax reforms during his tenure as president of the National Association of REALTORS® and as chair of its committee on state taxation.
During his two-term presidency of the Florida Association of REALTORS®, Mr. Rose led the fight to curb “binder” real estate operators and to protect the state from ill-conceived or fraudulent operations. He drafted Florida’s real estate license law and was chairman of the first real estate commission in his state, serving in that post from 1925 through 1932. A founder of the Orlando Regional REALTORS® Association, he served as its first president in 1918.
The Orlando Sentinel-Star proposed Mr. Rose as a candidate for governor, writing: “Mr. Rose has compiled the best achievement record in the legislature… has not failed to pass any of his bills… and is also recognized as a legislator of unimpeachable integrity.”
President and owner of the Walter W. Rose Investment Company, which engaged in real estate brokerage and subdivision development, Mr. Rose planned several communities in Orange County, including the Orwin Manor community in Orlando and Winter Park. He was president of the Florida League of Baseball Clubs for five years and a member of the National Board of Arbitration of Minor Baseball Leagues. He was also a large-scale orange grower. He was born in Athens, Ga., in 1887 and died in Orlando in 1958.
Source: National Association of REALTORS® Archives
*Deceased