The National Association of Realtors (NAR) hasn’t given up hope that Congress will keep alive the National Flood Insurance Program bill that has one provision that extends the deadline for closing on a home purchase to qualify for the homebuyer tax credit past June 30. The current bill is stuck in the senate.  The Democrats need 60 votes to end debate.  The death of Sen. Byrd complicates things as Republicans still do not want additional provisions in the bill that negatively impact the deficit.  The main reason’s stated by the Republicans are provisions that would extend emergency benefits for millions of unemployed workers and tax breaks for businesses that are scheduled to expire, because of its potential impact to the national budget deficit. The current bill would increase the deficit by $33.3 billion over the next 10 years, according to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office.

The Senate amended the bill last week, introducing language that would give homebuyers who were under contract by April 30 until Sept. 30 to close on their home purchase and qualify for the homebuyer tax credit.  NAR is looking forward to seeing another provision of HR 4213, retroactively extending the National Flood Insurance Program, signed into law. The expiration of the indebted program on May 31 has left many would-be homeowners unable to obtain insurance and derailed many home closings.
NAR estimates that as many as 180,000 homebuyers who are under contract and could qualify for the homebuyer tax credit may not be able to meet the June 30 closing deadline. There is little time to get the bill passed and the new bill to be effective would have to allow for retroactive closings back to June 30.