New deadline for home-buyer tax credit nears approval - 0 views
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maher muhawieh on 13 Jul 10CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Home buyers may soon win more time to get to the closing table to qualify for a federal home-buyer tax credit of up to $8,000. The House of Representatives passed the Homebuyers Assistance and Improvement Act on Tuesday to extend the deadline for the home-buyer tax credit, which would give buyers who have purchase contracts in place three more months to close on the sale. The measure still awaits approval in the Senate; a vote there could come as early as Wednesday. Under the House bill, buyers must close before Oct. 1 to be eligible for the credit. That means people who had hiccups in getting to the closing table would have a few more months to wrap things up. The closing deadline was originally June 30. To be eligible, buyers needed to have a contract in place by April 30, and that won't change through this legislation. The National Association of Realtors estimated that about 180,000 otherwise eligible buyers were likely to miss out on the credit if the original deadline was upheld. One big hurdle for buyers has been getting the mortgage approval on time, as lenders work through a clogged pipeline of applications. In the Senate, the measure to extend the closing date for these buyers is included in a bill that also would extend unemployment insurance. Majority Leader Harry Reid filed for cloture on the bill on Tuesday, and expects to have a cloture vote on the measure on Thursday, according to Reid's office. If cloture is invoked, that limits debate on the bill, bringing it a step closer to a final vote. But Reid said on the Senate floor Wednesday morning that he was working to get an agreement with Republicans to pass the House-passed tax-credit bill by unanimous consent as early as Wednesday, according to Regan Lachapelle, Reid's deputy communications director.
