After a three-day shutdown, the Senate approved a Continuing Resolution on January 22nd that will fund the federal government through February 8th. This extends the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for the same time frame. If another shutdown occurs after the February 8th deadline, the NFIP will not be able to issue new or renew flood insurance policies for the duration of the shutdown. However, existing policies will not be affected until 30 days after their expiration date. Homebuyers will also be able to assume existing policies and claims will continue to be processed and paid as usual. For more detailed information, FEMA’s latest guidance to insurance companies can be found here. Mortgage processing and programs that fall under the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Housing Administration would also be affected. Click here for more details on these programs and others which would be affected if no agreement is reached by the extension deadline. Statement from the National Association of REALTORS® President Elizabeth Mendenhall: "We are pleased that members of Congress were able to come together to extend short-term funding for the federal government and end the shutdown, which thankfully, will have only a minimal impact on real estate transactions. However, following this shutdown we strongly urge Congress to speed passage of legislation to reauthorize and reform the National Flood Insurance Program for a longer term and end the uncertainty of the current stopgap approach."