NAR Thank You Letter to Representative Brownley Regarding HR 109 and HR 110
Issue Date: May 26, 2017
On May 26, 2017, NAR sent a letter to Congresswoman Julia Brownley. The letter thanks the Representative for introducing H.R. 109, the Mortgage Insurance Tax Deduction Act of 2017, and H.R. 110, the Mortgage Debt Tax Forgiveness Act of 2017.
H.R. 109 would permanently extend on a retroactive basis the deduction for mortgage insurance premiums, which expired at the end of 2016. This provision has been very helpful to the high proportion of families who have found it necessary to purchase a home with less than a 20 percent down payment. According to our REALTORS® Confidence Index, 63 percent of all April 2017 homebuyers put less than 20 percent down on their purchase, thus requiring mortgage insurance. Among first-time homebuyers, the proportion was 79 percent.
H.R. 110 would retroactively and permanently extend the rule that allows tax relief for homeowners when lenders forgive some portion of mortgage debt they owe. This critical provision, first enacted in 2007, has helped millions of financially distressed families. Unfortunately, the provision has always been temporary and last expired at the end of 2016.