The Washington Report

On July 14, 2026, the U.S. Copyright Office submitted a final fee schedule to Congress that includes a significant increase in registration fees for multiple listing services (MLS). The House and Senate Judiciary Committees and Congressional leadership have 120 days—through midnight, November 11—to approve or disapprove the new fees.

Timely copyright registration is critical for MLSs and other content creators because it is required to bring infringement lawsuits and to seek statutory damages and attorneys fees when companies scrape and use listing data without permission. The proposed fee increases would raise the cost of maintaining these legal protections at a time when unauthorized use of real estate data remains a growing concern.

In coordination with the Copyright Alliance, NAR opposed the fee increases in two recent letters (linked below). NAR argued that MLSs should not be required to absorb repeated cost hikes driven by the Copyright Office’s decision to maintain a more expensive, paper-based system. NAR urged the office to reduce costs by modernizing its processes, including offering a fully electronic filing option, rather than shifting those costs onto users.

NAR maintains that fees should be fair, reflect actual costs, and not discourage registration. The Copyright Office’s proposal shifts costs onto MLSs and others who register many works at once to subsidize lower fees for individuals filing a single registration, based on assumptions that all high-volume users are large corporations that will keep filing no matter the price. NAR pushed back, noting that MLSs are not large corporations, are sensitive to price increases, and that registrations are already declining. While the Copyright Office acknowledged these concerns, it did not revise the MLS-related fees and made only minor changes in other parts of the fee proposal.

In the coming months, NAR will engage with key members of Congress to oppose the fee increases during the review period. If Congress does not act by November 11, the higher fees will take effect, increasing compliance costs for MLSs and other content creators. Over time, higher fees could discourage registration and limit access to the full suite of legal protections against unauthorized use of real estate data.

Copyright Office Fee Submission to Congress - July 14, 2026
NAR Submits Comments on Copyright Registration Fee Reforms - June 26, 2026
NAR Letter to the U.S. Copyright Office - June 24, 2026
NAR Opposes Copyright Office Fee Increases - May 7, 2026
NAR Letter to the U.S. Copyright Office - May 4, 2026

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has posted a draft policy that would give lenders a new way to handle partial claims, a change that responds to a problem NAR members have raised: hidden liens that surface late in a transaction and hold up closings. FHA is accepting stakeholder feedback through September 3, 2026.

A partial claim is one of FHA's main tools for helping a borrower who has fallen behind get current again. FHA advances the past-due amount, and today that debt is secured by a separate note and a subordinate mortgage recorded against the home. Because the partial claim usually does not show up on the borrower's monthly statement, sellers and their agents often do not learn it exists until it appears in a title search, sometimes just before closing, forcing a scramble to track down and release the lien.

Under the proposal, lenders could instead secure the past-due amount through a non-interest-bearing balance under the existing FHA-insured mortgage, documented with a repayment agreement rather than a recorded subordinate mortgage. The borrower would still repay the balance when the home is sold or refinanced, but there would no longer be a separate lien to locate and release at closing. FHA calls this option the Reinstatement Advance Payment (RAP). The proposal is intended to reduce administrative burdens for lenders while also making future sales, refinances, and assumptions easier to complete.

Participation in the RAP demonstration would be voluntary. Mortgagees that choose to participate could decide whether to use a RAP for individual partial claims, meaning some borrowers could still have traditional recorded partial claim liens depending on their servicer's practices.

The proposal follows feedback NAR shared with FHA after members reported transactions stalling because undisclosed partial claim liens were discovered late in the closing process. NAR will submit comments on the draft policy and will continue working with FHA as the agency finalizes the guidance.

On July 15, 2026, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held a hearing on the bipartisan Fixing Emergency Management for Americans (FEMA) Act (H.R. 4669). NAR supports the legislation, which would speed disaster assistance, prioritize cost-effective home repairs, strengthen mitigation efforts, create a single application for federal disaster aid programs, and help communities rebuild to more resilient standards that reduce future losses and support insurance availability.

 Key Themes

1. Broad support for the FEMA Act. Committee leaders and witnesses representing local governments, insurers, and the business community agreed that FEMA's current disaster assistance programs are often too slow and bureaucratic, leaving survivors and communities waiting years for recovery funding. Several witnesses highlighted provisions that would replace the current reimbursement-based process with an estimate-based system, allowing aid to flow more quickly and predictably.
2. Housing was a major focus. Witnesses strongly supported provisions that would provide permanent authority to repair damaged homes rather than relying primarily on temporary housing assistance. One witness testified that repairing homes is often less expensive than funding long-term hotel stays or FEMA trailers and helps preserve workforce housing that is frequently lost after disasters. Witnesses also emphasized the importance of helping families return home more quickly after disasters.
3. FEMA can repair homes and reduce risk. Witnesses noted that FEMA was designed to complement, not replace, private insurance. Several argued that while FEMA cannot solve insurance affordability challenges, permanent authority to repair damaged homes would help homeowners recover more quickly, particularly in areas where insurance coverage is increasingly difficult to obtain. Witnesses also contended that accelerating mitigation and home-hardening projects could reduce disaster losses, improve insurability, and help moderate insurance costs over time.

Why this matters

For real estate professionals, the hearing highlighted that Congress increasingly views disaster recovery, housing affordability, and insurance availability as interconnected challenges. NAR will continue advocating for policies that strengthen disaster resilience, support housing recovery, and improve insurance availability, including advancement of the FEMA Act.

Watch the Congressional Hearing and Read the Witness Testimony (House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee hearing, Jul. 15, 2026)
NAR Supports FEMA Disaster Aid Reform Act (Washington Report, Feb. 6, 2026)