”A Paper” Rates held steady this week but that statement is not indicative of the wild week we had with the economy and interest rates. US markets were closed on Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Day. Worldwide stock markets took huge losses on Monday which basically guaranteed that the US stock market would face a frenzied sell off at the opening bell on Tuesday. In attempt to..(read more)
Good article about potential tax liabilities in a foreclosure situation, although the short sale analysis at the end is wrong, now that the Mortgage Relief Debt Forgiveness Act has passed.
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If you thought a foreclosure ended the financial miseries associated with your former home, think again. You soon could be hearing..(read more)
Phoenix Heritage was interviewed by Arizona Republic as the Arizona Short Sale Experts once again:
Kutz said his companies have 60 short-sale listings around the Valley, and they aren't going away anytime soon. "I think the short-sale situation is going to be with us for five-plus years," he said. Even if the Valley's housing inventory is reduced, Kutz said many portions..(read more)
Foreclosure filings in Maricopa and Pima counties rose from 777 in September 2006 to 2,414 in September 2007, according to Default Research, a foreclosure research company. Maricopa County led the state with 2,127 foreclosures in September and Pima County had 287, triple the amount of foreclosures both counties had the same time last year.
This is exactly why it's increasingly important..(read more)
In possibly the biggest news of the year for homeowners thinking about a short sale, President Bush signed the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act into law December 20th, 2007. (Click here to read the full statement from the White House) This much anticipated relief will alleviate the concerns of many troubled homeowners worried about receiving a 1099 for the forgiven debt in a short sale or a foreclosure..(read more)
Notices of unpaid taxes, unanticipated and little understood, will probably multiply as more people fall behind on their mortgages, said Ellen Harnick, senior policy counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonpartisan research and policy center in Durham, N.C.
Foreclosure is one way that beleaguered homeowners can fall into this tax trap. The other is when homeowners are forced to sell their..(read more)
Many families and individuals are one step closer to seeing tax relief, thanks to the passage of the Mortgage Cancellation Tax Relief Act (also known as H.R. 3648) by the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, according to the National Association of Realtors.
The current tax code requires a lender who forgives debt to provide a Form 1099 to the IRS stating the amount the borrower has been forgiven...(read more)
More good news for homeowners electing to perform a Short Sale on their house in order to avoid foreclosure. The House Resolution 3684 passed overwhelmingly last Thursday (10/04/07), and is moving to the Senate for consideration. The best news yet, is that this measure would be retroactive to January 1, 2007, so anyone who has done a Short Sale in 2007 would be effected.
Last week President Bush announced that he will include The Mortgage Relief Act in his initiative to help troubled homeowners affected by the current real estate market correction. Click here for the Press Release from Senator Stabenow who introduced the bill in Senate. We had previously blogged about it's companion, House Resolution 1876 here, and were speculating that it will pass this year, due..(read more)
One of the most frequent questions about a Short Sale is the Borrower's potential tax liability after the sale. The IRS requires lenders to submit a Form 1099 stating the forgiven amount. Sellers who meet the Internal Revenue Service definition of insolvency (either in bankruptcy or with debts exceeding assets) will not have to pay taxes on the forgiven amount. Most good accountants know and understand..(read more)
