Some Interesting Proposed Legislation to Provide Relief to the Housing Market

There are a number of bills on Capitol Hill that are looking at providing homeowners with some relief. One we desperately need here in California the the Federal Housing Administration Modernization Act, which would raise loan limits in high-cost areas such as California and parts of the East Coast and cut down payments. By some it is considered a crucial relief measure for homeowners who need to refinance out of adjustable rate loans into lower-cost, fixed rate mortgages. The Senate Banking Committee approved the bill back in September, but we haven't heard anything about it in the past month.

Another bill, the Home Ownership Mortgage Emergency Act, would allow certain homeowners who are 60 days or more behind on their payments to withdraw up to $100,000 penalty-free from their retirement accounts. The funds could be used to bring their loans current or refinance into a more affordable mortgage. Under this bill, homeowners would avoid the usual 10% federal tax penalties on early pension distributions as long as they paid back the withdrawn amounts within three years. The bill does restrict this benefit to taxpayers with maximum adjusted gross incomes of $166,000 for joint filers or $114,000 for single filers. It would only apply to owner-occupied properties and it would terminate in 2009.

A new piece of legislation introduced earlier this month is aimed at fixing the mess in the mortgage market. The Escrow, Appraisal and Mortgage Servicing Improvements Act would ban all forms of lender or broker interference in appraisers' valuations and would require high-cost, sub-prime mortgages to carry escrow accounts for property tax and insurance payments. The bill would impose penalties of up to $20,000 per violation on anyone who intimidates, threatens, bribes, or otherwise attempts to influence an appraiser's valuation of a home. It also guarantees buyers access to all appraisals performed on the property, not just the highest one the loan officer uses to close the deal.

These still seem a long way off, but for those of you in trouble relief is attempting to come your way. There are some things that can be done locally to try to get your property moving if it is on the market now. Give me a call and we can discuss what your options are.