Risk Rating 2.0 was designed by FEMA to modernize the National Flood Insurance Program’s insurance pricing methodology and more accurately tie its rates to the flood risks of individual properties. It begins to take effect on Oct. 1, 2021.

The commonwealth is the sixth in number of victims, with 18,636 reporting crimes. And losses totaled more than $108 million in 2020, making Pennsylvania eighth in the country. That’s up about $13 million from 2019, with nearly 8,000 more victims.

Several counties are reporting a scam that specifically targets real estate licensees, claiming they risk losing their real estate license if they don’t pay a fine.

According to the Urban Institute, the Black homeownership rate in the U.S. currently stands at 42.3%. The national homeownership rate is 64.1%, while the rate for whites stands at 72.2%. Left unaddressed, the Black homeownership rate will fall even further by 2040, Urban Institute projects.

Along with this measure, the legislature also passed House Bill 854 on June 9, with new language extending all of the regulatory waivers that had been issued under the emergency order. Those waivers, including one that allow livestreamed education courses to be counted under the rules applicable to in-person courses, are now extended to Sept. 30. HB854 was approved by both the Senate and House of Representatives and now moves to the governor’s desk for his signature.

NAR’s advocacy efforts this year are focused on three areas: improving access to homeownership, building strong and resilient communities and ensuring fair housing for all. And they are devoting extra attention to reinvigorating a change in commercial real estate landscape.