LVAR - NAR Legislative Priorities


National Association of REALTORS® 2009 Advocacy Agenda
As the largest professional trade association in the United States, the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS^® represents more than 1.3 million residential and commercial REALTORS^® involved in all facets of the industry as brokers, salespeople, property managers, appraisers and counselors. NAR advocates policy initiatives that will result in the continued creation of a fundamentally sound and dynamic U.S. real estate market fostering vibrant communities in which to live and work. Click to read 2008 NAR Policy Accomplishments
Mortgage Interest Deduction (MID): NAR will aggressively engage in all necessary advocacy activities to assure that the 2010 Budget Proposal to limit the MID gets no traction and is not enacted. That proposal has the effect of converting the MID into a 28% tax credit for upper income taxpayers. Visit NAR's MID homepage>
Financial Services and Mortgage Market Reform Congress will debate how to better regulate the financial services industry and ensure that the current real estate and economic crisis is not repeated. NAR is actively working with Congress and Regulators to craft language that protects property owners, buyers, and REALTORS^®. Visit NAR's Unlock America's Economy homepage>
The Future of Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae: As Congress considers how to restructure Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, NAR is ready to make sure there will be an active, viable secondary mortgage market in both good and bad economic periods. Visit NAR's GSEs homepage> Rebuilding the Mortgage Markets Among NAR's highest priorities is restoring the flow of mortgage credit and helping homeowners in danger of losing their homes. NAR will continue to work with the Obama Administration, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Fed, and lenders on addressing the credit crunch and problems in the mortgage markets, including unnecessarily tight underwriting, excessive fees, and limits on investor loans. NAR will also work to promote policies that prevent foreclosures through refinance, modifications, and a more streamlined and consistent short sale process. Visit NAR's homepage on the Administration's Making Home Affordable Program> Small Business Health Coverage: NAR will continue to raise the importance of passage of legislation to correct the inequities in the nation’s health insurance delivery system and work with the House and Senate to introduce legislation for consideration. Visit NAR's Small Business Health Coverage homepage> Energy Efficiency: Legislation to make our nation’s building environment more energy efficient is under development. NAR is working with Congress to ensure that any proposals are based on commercially reasonable, incentive-based approaches to energy conservation. Read Our Issue Summary on Environment-Energy Use & Climate Change> Natural Disaster: In order to address the related problems of a lack of available and affordable property insurance in disaster-prone areas, NAR continues to press for consideration of legislation designed to deal with these insurance market failures. Read our Issue Summary on Natural Disaster Policy>