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August 2008
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Housing bill to help homeowners
President Bush signed into law housing reform legislation on July 30, a bill that includes an ambitious program to save hundreds of thousands of families from losing their homes to foreclosure.
The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, authorizes the Department of the Treasury to purchase obligations of housing Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs); reforms the regulatory supervision of the housing GSEs; provides reform of the Federal Housing Administration; provides homeownership assistance and reforms to mitigate recent increases in foreclosures; and contains housing-related tax incentives and other tax provisions.
Highlights of the Bill: First-time homebuyer credit – a new, temporary tax credit for first-time homebuyers. The credit available is the lesser of 10 percent of the home’s purchase price or $7,500. The credit serves as an interest free loan which is paid back by the home buyer over the subsequent 16 years or when the home is later sold.
Mortgage Revenue Bonds - $11 billion in mortgage revenue bonds, which are taxexempt bonds that can be used to finance affordable rental housing, loans to firsttime homebuyers or refinance subprime loans. Nevada can expect to get $99.8 million in additional tax exempt bond authority to use for these purposes
Low Income Housing Tax Credits – a temporary increase in the amount of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits that are allocated to the states for 2008 and 2009. This temporary increase will provide more than $500,000 in additional credits to the State of Nevada to use to develop affordable housing.
Standard Deduction for Property Taxes – a new standard deduction for 2008 for property owners who do not itemize their income tax deductions. The maximum amount that can be claimed is $1,000 for joint income tax filers ($500 for single filers).