The association has released a specific call to action to protect current and future Flood insurance policyholders.
The National Association of REALTORS(r) is trying to safeguard the real estate market in the event of a government shutdown, more likely by October. 1 in the event that Congress is unable to pass an emergency spending measure. Suppose there is no agreement to pay for the government by the close of this fiscal year, a Saturday. In that case, the government’s array of services essential to the property industry will be cut off, including the renewal of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
“Absent an agreement at last minute there’s an agreement within Washington in the current situation for the administration to close this weekend. The only question is likely to be how it will last,” says NAR Chief Advocacy Officer Shannon McGahn. “Our advocacy team is in continuous contact with lawmakers over how this shutdown will affect the real estate sector, which makes up nearly 20% of the entire U.S. economy.”
NAR also issued an urgent guideline Tuesday that explains the impact of a shutdown on its members as well as the real estate industry in general.
“It is important to put this possible shutdown in perspective,” McGahn states. “The U.S. has lived through 22 government shutdowns over the past 50 years. As long as the government shuts down goes on, the greater damage will be caused. One thing is certain when there is a shutdown: nobody wins. There are numerous elements at play in the present as we face an incredibly political situation that is quite unique.”
The longest shutdown in the history of the government ran for 34 days, beginning in December 2018 until January 2019.
Fight for Flood Insurance
A major among the affected programs affected by a shutdown is NFIP. Flood insurance is mandatory for federally insured mortgages, and over 5 million homeowners rely upon the program across over 200,000 communities across the United States.
“The NFIP’s authority to write flood insurance has been extended 25 times since 2017 alone,” McGahn declares. “These extensions are largely the result of NAR’s substantial advocacy efforts. Our members need to know that we’re working behind the back with lawmakers from both parties to keep this vital program running.”
This past Tuesday, NAR announced a specific appeal to its federal coordinators of politics in an effort to contact and inform every member of Congress on this week’s NFIP during the week. Every member of Congress is assigned a REALTOR(r) in their district that is designated for the role of an FPC to communicate the urgent messages of advocacy from NAR.
NAR believes that a breach within NFIP authorization could impact 1300 transactions in the property market each day. “However, existing policies won’t begin to expire during the first 30 days of a shutdown, and those policies can be transferred from sellers to buyers after a lapse,” McGahn declares. “So, again, the longer the shutdown, the more harm done.”
NAHREP, along with other groups in the press conference held on Tuesday, said they’ll have more news to announce in the coming weeks as their project gets underway. “We want to help the real estate industry lead in a diverse way,” Rivera states. “People of different minds and different backgrounds can bring so much to the table. That’s why diversity is so important.”