A measure extending the National Flood Insurance Program until Sept. 30 was approved tonight by the Senate, Sen. Mary Landrieu said in a news release. Because federal law requires that anyone purchasing property in a flood zone have flood insurance in place before closing, the expiration of NFIP prevented countless home purchases and sales in Louisiana from moving forward....
A measure extending the National Flood Insurance Program until Sept. 30 was approved tonight by the Senate, Sen. Mary Landrieu said in a news release.
Sen. Mary LandrieuBecause federal law requires that anyone purchasing property in a flood zone have flood insurance in place before closing, the expiration of NFIP prevented countless home purchases and sales in Louisiana from moving forward.
Without an extension of the program tonight, first-time homebuyers would also have been prevented from closing on homes and taking advantage of the $8,000 First-Time Homebuyers Tax Credit which was set to expire on July 1.
The flood program's fate had been tossed into an "extender" bill with several controversial items such as extending unemployment insurance and Medicaid benefits, so Congress had been deferring action and granting short-term extensions, which lead to lapses that have been getting longer each time. The first one, in early March, was just for two days; the second, in April was for 17 days; this one was a month and counting.
The Associated Press reported tonight that Congress has sent President Barack Obama a plan to give homebuyers an extra three months to finish qualifying for federal tax incentives that boosted home sales this spring.
The legislation would give buyers until Sept. 30 to complete their purchases and qualify for tax credits of up to $8,000. Under the current terms, buyers had until April 30 to get a signed sales contract and until June 30 to complete the sale.
The bill only allows people who already have signed contracts to finish at the later date.
The House approved the measure on Tuesday.
Legislation in the Senate, sponsored by Majority Leader Harry Reid, was approved Wednesday night by unanimous consent.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.