Congress Extends Flood Ins. in Last-Minute Deal
Following a “Call for Action” issued by NAR Fri. night and shared by Florida Realtors Sat., Congress and the president extended government funding to Nov. 17.
WASHINGTON – Flood insurance and transactions it might impact are safe for now after a down-to-the wire vote in the U.S. House that was soon passed by the Senate and signed by President Biden.
The action comes after the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) issued a Call for Action (CFA) on Friday night, asking all Realtor® members to contact their representatives and pressure them to extend the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) as well as other government functions. Florida Realtors® also shared the “Call for Action” with members Saturday morning.
The bipartisan agreement is a continuing resolution rather than a full-year fiscal budget. It extends current funding levels from the past year – with a few changes – through Nov. 17. In addition to extending the flood insurance program to homebuyers required to have it and current homeowners who must renew, the agreement will pay federal workers and the military, as well as extend for other vital programs like the Federal Aviation Administration, whose employees would have been asked to work without paychecks until Congress acted.
“This is an all-hands-on-deck call for action,” NAR’s Friday night CFA stated. “Join your fellow Realtors® in urging Congress to extend the NFIP, preventing disruption to real estate markets and protecting families from the costliest and most common natural disaster in the country: flooding. A lapse of the NFIP would disrupt the purchase of flood insurance in more than 20,000 communities nationwide. Just one inch of flooding can cause $25,000 in structural damage, and without access to flood insurance, families must rely on severely limited federal disaster aid.”
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