Want a mortgage tax forgiveness extension? Act now

ORLANDO, Fla. – Nov. 13, 2014 – The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) has issued two Calls for Action – a tool that fills senators' and representatives' inboxes with issue-related emails. Many times, lawmakers use their "number of emails" as a measure of voters' concerns, making NAR's Call for Action an important Realtor political tool.

It only takes 10 minutes to participate in a Call for Action. NAR's Realtor Action Center directs an email to your representatives in Congress, and it fills in the email's content, though Realtors are invited to add an independent note.

However, time is short. Congress has less than four weeks to pass pending legislation before the winter holidays, and NAR says the deadline for email participation in the Call for Actions ends Nov. 30, 2014 – less than two weeks from now.

Extend mortgage forgiveness tax relief

In the third quarter of 2014, the number of Florida short sales dropped 50.8 percent year-to-year, according to Florida Realtors Industry Data and Analysis (IDA) department. Yet at the same time, one in four (28 percent) Florida homeowners with a mortgage was still underwater, according to RealtyTrac.

Why the disconnect?

Without the "Mortgage Forgiveness Tax Relief Act" passage, mortgage money forgiven by a lender in a short sale or other mortgage workout is considered income. And as with all income, sellers will be taxed on the amount of this "phantom money" when they pay their federal taxes.

This "phantom money" wasn't taxed last year, but it will be early next year when sellers calculate their 2014 taxes.

The current bill in Congress, if passed, would extend mortgage tax forgiveness and make it retroactive to Jan. 1, 2014.

Visit NAR's Realtor Action Center now and ask them to pass mortgage forgiveness tax relief.

Extend terrorism insurance

The federal government created TRIA (The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002) after the 9/11 World Trade Center attack to keep coverage affordable for commercial real estate interests because the loss of affordable terrorism insurance would grind development to a halt in some cities.

U.S. terrorism insurance spreads the risk. It keeps commercial insurance coverage reasonable and costs taxpayers almost nothing.

"Sustaining a viable private market for terrorism insurance depends on the federal backstop," says NAR.

Visit NAR's Realtor Action Center now and ask Congress to extend terrorism insurance.