Debt Relief Act Is Back: Merry Christmas Short Sellers!

What will Kris Kringle place under your tree this Christmas? A new car? A puppy? How about freedom from repercussions for Underwater Homeowners? 

That's right, a retroactive, one-year extension of the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act was unanimously passed in The House on December 3, and the President is expected to sign the bill into law, effectively extending the tax break through the end of 2014.
 

The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act was created 7 years ago after the housing bubble burst wide open. The act was intended to protected homeowners who lose their home in short sale or deed-in-lieu transactions from the resulting tax bills on remaining deficits.

In laments terms, this means that if your lender agrees to let you sell your home for $330,000, and you owe 400, the IRS identifies the remaining $70,000 as income. The act has been previously extended, once in 2009, and again in 2012, but lapsed at the end of 2013.

We at Equitable National Title understand that losing a home under any circumstances is never a pleasing experience. Hopefully this news will offer some relief to those involved in short sale transactions this year.

Although Short Sales aren't as frequent as they previously were, I see a lot of new agents shy away from taking listings because of the potential burden that mitigation brings. Did you know that Equitable Title has a short sale processing division dedicated to bearing that burden for you? Forget about the headache of mitigation and call Hemant! You sell the house, we'll take care of the rest!

Hemant Panchal

Short Sale Specialist

407-490-3647

shortsale@fmconsulting.biz
Happy Holidays!