Mortgage Action Alliance ‘Call to Action’ Targets States’ ‘Essential Services’ Designation

The Mortgage Action Alliance, the grassroots advocacy arm of the Mortgage Bankers Association, issued a “Call to Action,” urging its 23,000-plus members to urge state governors and officials to include government agencies and offices that support housing and mortgage transactions as “essential services” during the coronavirus pandemic.

As the coronavirus continues to spread in the United States, state and local governments are responding with measures to slow the rate of transmission. Increasingly, these efforts have included state and local governments issuing mandatory stay-at-home orders, which effectively mandate closure of all non-essential businesses and governmental agencies, while allowing businesses and agencies providing “essential services” to continue operations.

The federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released revised guidance on March 28 to help states identify and manage their essential workforce definitions and the National Governors Association has urged governors to follow the CISA definitions, which reflect the real estate finance industry’s priorities.

“As governors and other state officials impose increasingly tight shelter-in-place restrictions, MAA members need to urge them to follow the CISA guidance and ensure that essential activities for businesses and government services include financial services and housing,” said MBA Senior Vice President of Legislative and Political Affairs Bill Killmer. “Along with businesses that directly provide consumers with access to mortgage credit, it is vitally important that ‘essential services’ include the government agencies and offices that support housing and mortgage transactions.

Killmer urged MAA members to help MBA amplify these efforts and urge governors to follow federal guidance to ensure that essential activities for businesses and government services include financial services and housing.

To participate in the Call to Action, click https://action.mba.org/mba/app/write-a-letter?0&engagementId=507007&_zs=rPPPA1&_zl=aKFg5.

Membership in MAA is free; MBA membership is not required. To register, click https://www.votervoice.net/MBA/Register.