Extension of Homebuyer Tax Credit Closing Deadline Has New Life

The House just backed a measure to extend the closing deadline to Sept. 30 for buyers who met the April 30 deadline to have a signed contract. The current deadline requires those buyers to close the transaction by June 30 to receive the $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers.


Today, the House of Representatives passed an extension of the $8,000 homebuyer tax credit for first time homebuyers. The extension was set to expire at the end of June. The extension, sponsored by Rep. Frank Kratovil and his colleagues Rep. Travis Childers (D-MS) and Kathy Dahlkemper (D-PA), will extend the credit until October 1, 2010.


“The first time home buyer tax credit is working to revitalize the housing industry, a major indicator of the overall strength of the economy,” said Rep. Frank Kratovil. “However, more than 2,000 Marylanders who have already signed a contract to purchase a new home are having their closings delayed through no fault of their own. This common sense legislation will ensure that these individuals receive the tax credit that they rightfully deserve. Extending this tax credit will not only boost our economic recovery and support our housing market, but it is also the right thing to do.”

The bill extends the credit for all homebuyers with a binding contract as of April 30, 2010 so that they are afforded more time to close the sale and still benefit from the credit.

In late September Reps. Frank Kratovil (D-MD) and Travis Childers (D-MS) introduced a bill, The Tax Credit Extension for Homebuyers with a Loss Deduction Incentive Act (H.R. 3640), to extend the first time home buyer tax credit. A similar home buyer tax credit extension was eventually signed into law on November 6, 2009.

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION UNVEILS PLAN TO PREVENT AND END HOMELESSNESS

"As the most far-reaching and ambitious plan to end homelessness in our history, this plan will both strengthen existing programs and forge new partnerships," said USICH Chair and HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. "Working together with Congress, state and local officials, faith-based and community organizations, and business and philanthropic leaders across our country, we will harness public and private resources to build on the innovations that have been demonstrated at the local level nationwide. No one should be without a safe, stable place to call home and today we unveil a plan that will put our nation on the path toward ending all types of homelessness."


By combining permanent housing with support services, federal, state, and local efforts have reduced the number of people who are chronically homeless by one-third in the last five years.

"Communities across the country have stressed the need for federal leadership to prevent and end homelessness," said USICH Executive Director Poppe. "For the first time, the nation will have goals, strategies, and measureable outcomes that will guide us toward a fiscally prudent government response. Local, state, and federal governments cannot afford to invest in anything but the most evidence-based, cost-effective strategies."

In recent years, over 300 communities have developed plans to end homelessness. "We know that the Federal government alone cannot address this challenge," said USICH Vice Chair and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis. "Achieving the goals in Opening Doors will require strong partnerships with Congress, states, localities, philanthropy, and faith based and community organizations across the country. After all, the people of our nation are best served when we work as a team.

Opening Doors serves as a roadmap for joint action by the 19 USICH member agencies along with local and state partners in the public and private sectors. The plan puts us on a path to end veterans and chronic homelessness by 2015; and to ending homelessness among children, family, and youth by 2020. The Plan presents strategies building upon the lesson that mainstream housing, health, education, and human service programs must be fully engaged and coordinated to prevent and end homelessness, including:

Increasing leadership, collaboration, and civic engagement, by a focus on providing and promoting collaborative leadership at all levels of government and across all sectors and strengthening the capacity of public and private organizations by increasing knowledge about collaboration and successful interventions to prevent and end homelessness.

  • Increase access to stable and affordable housing, by providing affordable housing and permanent supportive housing.
  • Increase economic security, expand meaningful and sustainable employment and improve access to mainstream programs and services to reduce financial vulnerability to homelessness.
  • Improve health and stability, by linking health care with homeless assistance programs and housing, advancing stability for youth aging out of systems such as foster care and juvenile justice, and improving discharge planning for people who have frequent contact with hospitals and criminal justice systems.
  • Retool the homeless response system, by transforming homeless services to crisis response systems that prevent homelessness and rapidly return people who experience homelessness to stable housing.