PAR leaders talk Realtor® issues in Washington

While Washington, D.C. was being hit with a historic March snowstorm this week, PAR leaders President Todd Umbenhauer and President-elect Bill McFalls, along with PAR CEO Mike McGee and Director of Public Policy Derenda Updegrave, met with 13 congressmen and staff to discuss federal Realtor® legislative issues.

“Meeting with our Congressmen in person gives us the opportunity to shine a light on issues of critical importance to Realtors®,” Umbenhauer said. “We did just that this week, and gained agreement from legislators to support our positions.”

McFalls added, “I was encouraged by the reception and questions we received from the legislators and their staff. I believe they heard a positive message from the Pennsylvania Realtors® and were very receptive to some of our critical issues, including the extension of the National Flood Insurance Program and the importance of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the ability of Pennsylvania homeowners to obtain mortgage financing today and in the future.”

PAR leaders discussed several issues:

National Flood Insurance Program

NAR supports reauthorizing and strengthening the NFIP, encouraging development of private market options, providing federal assistance to high-risk property owners, more granular pricing NFIP policies to reflect a property’s specific risk and improving flood map accuracy. Pennsylvania ranks seventh in the country in filing flood claims and is the second state with the largest number of interior waterways.

Housing Finance Reform

NAR supports restructuring the secondary mortgage market, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to ensure a reliable and affordable source of mortgage capital for consumers in all types of markets. The association believes a collapse of the housing finance sector would create a major disruption to the nation’s economy. Restructuring is required in response to the failure of Fannie and Freddie, which have been under government control since entering conservatorship in 2008.

Association Health Plans

NAR has long advocated for reforms in the health insurance markets to allow self-employed and small employers to find affordable coverage. NAR surveys indicate that approximately 28 to 33 percent of Realtors® are uninsured in any given year. Earlier this month, PAR and NAR submitted letters expressing strong support for the proposed regulation that would expand access to health coverage through association health plans.

Mortgage Debt Forgiveness

Temporary tax relief was provided to troubled borrowers in 2007, when some portion of their mortgage debt is forgiven. Previously, borrowers were required to pay taxes on that phantom income. The relief has expired and has been extended several times. Congress extended the forgiveness again in February 2018, retroactively for 2017. NAR supports an exclusion from taxation of the phantom income generated when all or a portion of a mortgage on a primary residence is forgiven. Short sale relief continues to be an urgent need for sellers in certain areas of the country where home prices still have not rebounded. NAR is seeking the same measure to be passed for all short sales in 2018.

Tax Reform

It’s expected that Congress and the administration will address additional concerns with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act enacted at the end of last year. NAR supports amendments that would address the cap on the mortgage interest deduction at $750,000, and believes the $10,000 cap on state and local tax and MID should be indexed for inflation so the full benefit of what was provided in the act is available to taxpayers in the years ahead. The association believes there is also a marriage penalty built into the tax act regarding the cap on state and local taxes and would like that to be addressed.