Web Winners:
It's called the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008, and it sprinted from Congress to the president's desk last weekend in a bid to bring relief to the troubled housing market. Time will tell whether it works. These sites explain and critique the bailout measure.
It's called the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008, and it sprinted from Congress to the president's desk last weekend in a bid to bring relief to the troubled housing market. Time will tell whether it works. These sites explain and critique the bailout measure.
The law. Find the text of the legislation and the nitty gritty on how it wended its way through the U.S. capital here at the Library of Congress' site for searching all bills and resolutions on Capitol Hill. Favorite line from this page: The bill passed, "On motion that the House agree with an amendment to the Senate amendment to the House amendments to the Senate . . ."
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.03221:
FHA. The Federal Housing Administration, an agency that insures mortgages, gets a bigger role under the new legislation. It will be able to back much bigger mortgage loans than previously permitted, thus expanding the borrowing options for home buyers and for refinancing. There's good advice, such as the caution to avoid making a large credit purchase that could cloud your credit report before applying for an FHA-backed loan.
Tax briefing. Here's a detailed description of the tax implications of the law by tax consultant CCH. Notably, there's a tax credit for first-time home buyers, and a property-tax deduction for people who don't itemize on their tax returns. On the down side, there are complicated new restrictions on the tax exemption for gains from selling your home.
http://tax.cchgroup.com/legislation/2008-Housing-Assistance-Act.pdf
Critics' circle. There is a host of criticism of the rescue legislation. This is just a sample, posted before the Senate's approval. Will elements of the law chip away at privacy? Will taxpayers get stuck with the bill for bad loans, a badly managed industry, and the $800 billion increase in the national debt ceiling? Good questions. Stay tuned.
http://www.wisebread.com/the-more-questionable-aspects-of-the-housing-bailout-bill
Blown mortgage. These words of warning, "Legislators in both the House and Senate are getting ready to put through the mother of all mortgage bailout bills," were posted before the congressional votes on this site critical of the mortgage industry.
http://blownmortgage.com/2008/06/24/celebrate-our-independence-with-the-08-housing-bailout-bill/