To maintain preventive measures to protect homes and businesses from expensive flooding during monsoon season, the Arizona Association of Realtors (AAR) is encouraging Realtors to help prevent the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) from lapsing.

The NFIP is scheduled to expire unless Congress takes action to renew it before Sept. 30, the AAR reported. To help save the NFIP, the AAR is urging Realtors and their clients to support the call for passing H.R. 2874, The 21st Century Flood Reform Act, as well as amending S.1751 to include private market insurance.

The 21st Century Flood Reform Act was devised to improve the NFIP's "financial stability, enhance development of more accurate flood risk estimates, increase the role of private markets in managing flood insurance risks, and provide alternative methods to insure against flood peril," the AAR said in a release.

Arizona home sales are reliant on floodplain maps created by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and rates set by the NFIP. If the insurance expires, the sales of properties on the market and in floodplain areas will be in trouble.

"The last time the NFIP expired, an average of 40,000 home sales per month across the country were stopped, creating negative effects throughout the industry and the rest of the economy," the AAR wrote.

For more information on how to support legislation that can keep the NFIP alive, visit FEMA's website.