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Email: charlesmcmillan@prodigy.net
Charles McMillan, CIPS, GRI
President
December 5, 2008
Ms. Valerie Jarrett
Co-Chair
Presidential Transition Team
451 6th Street NW
Washington, DC 20270
Dear Ms. Jarrett:
On behalf of the 1.2 million members of the National Association of REALTORS®, I write to express our
strong support for a package of urgently needed measures to stimulate our nation’s housing and mortgage
markets. Indeed, we believe that recovery in these sectors is vital for national economic recovery.
We support making the existing $7500 first-time homebuyer tax credit available to all buyers and
eliminating the repayment requirements. REALTORS® know first-hand that the tax credit, as currently
constituted, is simply not working to stimulate additional home sales. We also support making the 2008
FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan limits permanent. And, we believe that a federal mortgage
interest buy-down program, financed through the Troubled Asset Relief Program, would go a long way
toward stimulating home sales and stabilizing home prices.
Beyond these specific stimulus measures, REALTORS® also believe that it is critically important to
maintain a healthy secondary mortgage market to assure the availability of mortgage funding. We do not
believe the GSE’s should be fully privatized. The federal government must continue to play in a role to
insure the continued flow of capital for safe and affordable mortgages. We would like to work with the
new Administration and the new Congress to insure that our mortgage markets are capable of providing
opportunities for homeownership throughout the nation, in all market conditions.
We look forward to meeting with appropriate officials of the Presidential Transition Team to discuss
these important issues. Please contact Bill Gilmartin at 202 383-1102 for help in scheduling such
meetings. We wish you all the best in your work in the coming weeks and months.
Sincerely
Charles McMillan, CIPS, GRI
2009 President, National Association of REALTORS®
Cc: Tom Perez
Department of Health and Human Services Team Leader
Bruce Katz
Department of Housing and Urban Development Team Leader
REALTOR® is a registered collective membership mark which may be used only by real estate
professionals who are members of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS
and subscribe to its strict Code of Ethics.