MBA: Strong Backing for TRIA Extension

A survey of 40 commercial/multifamily mortgage banking firms has found that all the 29 respondents favor the extension and reauthorization of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.The survey respondents, who together did more than $115 billion in debt financing for 2003, say that a failure to re-enact the law will adversely affect the commercial/multifamily real estate market, the MBA said. Twenty-eight respondents said TRIA had made terrorism insurance more available, while 18 of 23 respondents that responded to a question about the cost of terrorism insurance say the legislation has made terrorism insurance less expensive. Gail Davis Cardwell, the MBA's senior vice president for commercial/multifamily, said the association "urges the Treasury Department to extend the 'make available' provisions of TRIA to ensure continued availability of terrorism insurance, and urges Congress to reauthorize TRIA." The legislation expires in December 2005.