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Carver Communications - Index

Carver Communications - 6.15.08 - Index

On May 12th, leadership members
of the San Antonio Board of REAL-
TORS® traveled to Washington, DC to
take part in the National Association of
REALTORS®’ (NAR) Midyear
Legislative Meetings. REALTORS® from
across the nation converged there to exercise
their most fundamental right granted
by the Constitution: "the right of the people
peaceably to assemble, and to petition
the Government for a redress of grievances."
Nearly 10,000 REALTORS®
exercised their rights on behalf of all 1.2
million members of NAR and over 75 million
homeowners. Elements of the 2008
NAR Federal Legislative Advocacy
Agenda aren't grievances in the traditional
definition of the word, but they are
requests to address issues of critical
importance for the future of our industry.
REALTORS® Met with
Congressional Leadership
REALTORS® pressed the case for
additional housing stimulus measures to
the Congressional leaders of both political
By Robyn Locke,
Director of Political and Community Affairs
Midyear Legislative Meetings in DC
parties by meeting with Speaker of the
House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Minority
Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio). In addition,
REALTORS® briefed Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
(R-KY) on the state of real estate markets
around the country and the need to act on
the measures already passed by the House
of Representatives.
REALTORS® and Congress
Working Together
Working with our REALTOR®
Party congressional allies, NAR successfully
included a housing component into
the administration's Economic Stimulus
Package. These measures included
increasing FHA loan limits and increasing
Conforming Loan Limits for Freddie Mac
and Fannie Mae. They have helped many
American families avoid foreclosure, refinance
mortgages and bring increased stability
to the market. Unfortunately, these
increases will expire December 31, 2008
unless Congress enacts permanent
June 15, 2008 REAL ESTATE NEWSLINE 7
increases. The primary mission of REAL-
TORS® visiting Members of Congress
and Senators was to stress the importance
of enacting a Housing Stimulus Package.
The three elements of the package are:
FHA Reform legislation that
would make FHA a more flexible and
widely-utilized program for borrowers and
lenders alike and makes higher loan limits
permanent.
GSE Reform legislation that preserves
the housing mission of Fannie Mae,
Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan
Bank system and makes higher loan limits
permanent.
Homebuyer Tax Credit that would
be widely available for prospective homebuyers.
Assure that the credit is available
for any property purchased as a principal
residence. This tax credit is sought to be
offered over a brief period to create an
immediate and limited incentive. Moving
legislation through Congress is a challenging
task, but we have achieved significant
progress on the Housing Stimulus Package
and will continue to press Congress to get
the legislation to the President's desk for
signature into law.
Meetings were scheduled and held
with our local Congressmen, Senators and
their staff to discuss these key issues along
with a strong recommendation to extend
the National Flood Insurance Program
(which occurred while we were there) and
to move forward discussions regarding
Small Business Healthcare Insurance.
Source: National Association of
REALTORS (NAR)
Amber Price, Arnold Rodriguez and Ashley Nicholson, all with Legacy
Group Keller Williams, partook in good food and fun at the PT50 Early
Qualifiers event.