The Mortgage Forgiveness Act Expires

The Mortgage Forgiveness Act expires on the eve of the worst housing crisis since the Great Depression.

If you was fortunate enough to sell your home last year, but needed to sell it with the lender getting less than what they were owned; you may be taxed on the deficiency.  The bill, President Bush signed that gave tax exemptions on the deficiency created from the short sale is now taxable unless Congress extends the bill.

There is still time to ensure that the debt is forgiven by the lender if your property is sold after January 1, 2007 and before January 1, 2013.   The home must be your primary residence and the debt that is forgiven is debt from the first loan.  A secondary or HELOC is not eligible.

The tax form that allow you to take advantage of debt forgiveness is Tax Form 982.  You have to prove that you are insoverign and unable to pay the debt back.

Good Indication that You Need to File a Property Tax Appeal

It is often difficult to determine the indication of needing to file a property tax appeal, but there are signs.

The following are a few good indication that a property tax appeal is necessary:

• One indication is when the description of the property does not match.  An example of such an error is a town home being labeled as a single family home.
• Another indication is when similar homes in the area sell for less than the assessed value.  Incidentally, most states, including Indiana, use market value or some variation of market value to determine the assessed value.
• Still yet, another indication of a need for property tax appeal is changes in the environment.  Change in environment includes rezoning, heavy traffic, drainage problems, building of new industry, freeways, or toxic waste in the neighborhood.
• Another indicating factor is the condition of the property.  If the property is environmental obscene.  The obscenity includes the roof needing replacement, inefficient heating, structural cracking, deterioration , and/or chronic defects.

It is important to not that every year is not an assessed year, but that does not preclude you from filing a property tax appeal.

It is equally important to note that any time an economy is plagued with foreclosures, short sales, and homeowners seeking bail out of homeownership are all good intentions that your property tax bill need a review and may be an appeal.