NAMB Legislative Alert: First-time homebuyer tax credit on the verge of extension

The $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit is set to be extended until April 30, 2010. The Obama Administration has urged Congress to pass legislation to extend the program from its original Dec. 1, 2009 deadline. In addition, legislation may provide a tax credit for some current homeowners. The National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB) will continue to monitor the legislation. "We welcome efforts taken by Congress to extend the first-time homebuyers tax credit for a limited period," said Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan in a joint statement. "This credit has brought new families into the housing market and contributed to three consecutive months of rising home prices nationwide." A number of proposals to extend and expand the credit have circulated in Congress of late; however, Senate lawmakers have come to a better focused plan in recent days. Under the terms of the agreement, the deadline for first-time homebuyers to claim the $8,000 credit would be pushed back to April 30, 2010. But the term "deadline" doesn't mean the same thing as it does in the current credit. The Senate agreement stipulates that buyers must have a sales contract on a house by April 30 to be eligible, but it gives them an additional 60 days to close the purchase. That's much different from the current credit, in which transactions must be closed by Nov. 30.