By Michael Wasserman

Whew. Real estate buyers, sellers and professionals all exhaled with relief last Friday. After lobbying from the mortgage industry, the Treasury Department has deemed Internal Revenue Service clerks (who process lending forms) as "essential" employees. Which means they can get back towork.

Whether you think records clerks are essential or not, at least the government shut down won’t delay loan approvals or closings.

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‘Could you make these guys essential?’: Mortgage industry gets shutdown relief after appeal to senior Treasury officials Mortgage industry gets shutdown relief after appeal to senior Treasury officials