FPC Talking Points

NAR Consumer Advocacy Outreach Program

What You Are Delivering

The USB Flash Drive contains the names of homeowners who have contacted your Member of Congress through NAR’s Consumer Advocacy Petition Drive. These names were gathered by through a direct email and browser advertisement outreach campaign to more than 80 million American Homeowners and potential Homeowners.

NAR conducted the outreach and compiled the database. The number of consumers who responded varies by each Congressional District.

What to Say About the Flash Drive to your Member of Congress

• This USB flash drive contains the names of constituents in your district who have signed onto the NAR petition that asks Congress to oppose any policy changes to income tax deductions that would adversely affect homeownership.
• In your packet next to the USB flash drive you will see two (2) very important numbers. The larger is the number of homeowners in the congressional district who are in the NAR Consumer Advocacy Database and have contacted their member of Congress in some manner on homeownership issues.
• The second number is the number of homeowner constituents on the USB drive who signed the NAR Consumer Advocacy petition (copy of petition is in packet).
• Over 900,000 homeowners have signed onto this petition demonstrating that they are engaged and care just as much about protecting homeownership as do REALTORS®.
• Significant changes to tax policy would jeopardize the ability of millions of American families to afford a home.
• NAR supports public policy reforms that promote responsible, sustainable home ownership.

What to Say about the T-Shirt

Finally, here is a special T-shirt. All our members are wearing them on the Hill, and I didn’t want you to be left out. We are proud of the REALTOR® Party and all we can do to help our friends in Congress who support the American Dream of homeownership.

Background

In early 2012, the NAR Leadership Team determined, after extensive study, that REALTORS® and consumers share a natural alliance on the importance of homeownership in the United States. During the second quarter of 2012, NAR launched a consumer advocacy outreach program to cultivate this alliance between American consumers and NAR. The strategy is a comprehensive, multi-year effort to strengthen the alliance, with the aim of multiplying the advocacy impact of both homeowners and REALTORS® should Congress propose changes that would change long-standing public policies supporting homeownership.

Moving forward NAR will continue to educate, energize and engage consumers on a wide variety of public policy issues that affect homeownership. NAR’s consumer oriented website Homeownershipmatters.Realtor is the platform dedicated to consumer information, education and to helping homeowners communicate with Congress.