Is Home Building Essential? The Department of Homeland Security Says Yes

If you still remember being cut from a school play or sports team, you can put that angst to bed because real estate professionals and residential construction builders just made a much more important list earlier this week: The Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency published a 15-page advisory outlining “critical infrastructure” that includes many housing industry professionals. This doesn’t mean that they must work—companies can still choose to suspend business if they deem the risk of spreading coronavirus too high—but now they have the choice in states that have issued shelter-at-home orders and are following federal guidelines.

Are the many activities that underline the real estate industry – from home construction to title searches – essential services during the coronavirus pandemic?

Christopher Krebs, director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), thinks so.

Earlier this week, Krebs designated “real estate services” as part of the nation’s “critical infrastructure” in a memorandum that serve as a guideline rather than an enforceable federal directive.

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