Home Buyer Tax Credit Updates

We are optimistically expecting the extension of the current 1st Time Homebuyer Tax Credit. What is currently before the Senate and house is an agreement that would extend the existing credit for first-time homebuyers, worth up to $8,000, while offering a new credit of up to $6,500 for some existing homeowners. The reduced credit would be available to all homebuyers who have been in their current residence for a consecutive five-year period in the past eight years. Lawmakers in Washington also raised the qualifying income limits to $125,000 for single taxpayers and $250,000 for joint taxpayers, from the current $75,000 and $150,000, housing-industry sources said. Under the Senate compromise, buyers must have sales agreements in hand by April 30, but they will have until June 30 to go to settlement, said the sources.

The measure still faces votes in the full Senate and the House.The real estate market definitely saw a positive impact with the 1st time homebuyer credit this year. Personally I have been able to help several new buyers this year and it is very exciting.

Now I think a lot of folks that have been considering selling and upsizing or downsizing will make their move with the added credit for existing home owners. As always, if you or anyone you know, is in need of real estate assistance please let me know and we would be happy to help them.

Home Buyer Tax Credit Updates

We are optimistically expecting the extension of the current 1st Time Homebuyer Tax Credit. What is currently before the Senate and house is an agreement that would extend the existing credit for first-time homebuyers, worth up to $8,000, while offering a new credit of up to $6,500 for some existing homeowners. The reduced credit would be available to all homebuyers who have been in their current residence for a consecutive five-year period in the past eight years. Lawmakers in Washington also raised the qualifying income limits to $125,000 for single taxpayers and $250,000 for joint taxpayers, from the current $75,000 and $150,000, housing-industry sources said. Under the Senate compromise, buyers must have sales agreements in hand by April 30, but they will have until June 30 to go to settlement, said the sources. The measure still faces votes in the full Senate and the House.

The real estate market definitely saw a positive impact with the 1st time homebuyer credit this year. Personally I have been able to help several new buyers this year and it is very exciting. Now I think a lot of folks that have been considering selling and upsizing or downsizing will make their move with the added credit for existing home owners. As always, if you or anyone you know, is in need of real estate assistance please let me know and we would be happy to help them.

New Foreclosure Reimbursements

Countrywide Borrowers Begin Receiving Notices of Foreclosure Reimbursements
07/31/2009 By: Carrie Bay
State officials have begun mailing letters to Countrywide customers who may be eligible for foreclosure relief payments. Countrywide’s parent company, Bank of America, said it will begin issuing checks to borrowers during the first quarter of 2010.
The reimbursements are part of the agreement reached last October between Bank of America, who acquired the once-subprime-leader in 2008, and state attorneys general from across the country to settle allegations of predatory lending brought against Countrywide.
Up to $150 million is allocated nationally to provide assistance for certain borrowers who experienced a foreclosure, short sale, or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure on their Countrywide mortgage. Forty states are participating in the program. Borrowers will be notified by letter from their state if they are eligible to receive a settlement payment.
Rust Consulting, a third-party administrator, will manage notifications and payment processing for eligible homeowners.
The foreclosure relief program is one of three components of Countrywide’s 2008 agreement with state attorneys general. The second part, the National Homeownership Retention Program, calls for the bank to modify loans and lower mortgage payments for up to 400,000 borrowers who financed their homes with subprime or payment option adjustable-rate mortgages serviced by Countrywide.
The third component of the agreement provides relocation assistance to borrowers who experience a foreclosure sale and agree to leave the property voluntarily. They are eligible for a cash payment to help them transition to a new place of residence.
Countrywide admitted no wrongdoing under the agreement reached with state prosecutors, and as a result of the unprecedented settlement totaling $8.4 billion, the individual states dropped their lawsuits against the lender.
Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, though, has filed a separate suit against former Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo, alleging the subprime leader employed deceptive marketing and sales practices to lure borrowers into risky, high-cost mortgages and then knowingly resold those unsustainable loans to securities investors.
According to a report by the Miami Herald, Mozilo is seeking to have the case dismissed on grounds that the Broward Circuit Court in Florida has no jurisdiction over him as a California resident. The hearing on Mozilo’s dismissal motion, originally scheduled for Wednesday, has been postponed but no new date has yet been set.
Mozilo also faces civil charges of fraud and insider trading brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last month.