Home Buyer Tax Credit: 10 Things to Know

On Nov. 6, the president signed the new Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 into law. The centerpiece of this legislation is the extension and liberalization of what is now inaccurately called the first-time home buyer credit.

Here are the 10 most important things to know about the revamped credit.

1. New purchase deadline extends into 2010

The home buyer credit was previously scheduled to expire on Nov. 30, 2009. The new law extends the deal to cover purchases of U.S. principal residences that close by April 30, 2010. However, if a home is under contract on that date, the deadline for closing is extended to June 30, 2010. (Is it the right time for you to buy?)

2. Existing homeowners can now qualify

The new law allows a reduced credit for existing homeowners who buy a replacement U.S. principal residence after Nov. 6, 2009. The credit equals the lesser of: (1) $6,500, or (2) 10% of the price of the replacement home, or (3) $3,250 for a buyer who uses married filing separate status. The new existing-homeowner credit is only available for purchases that close after Nov. 6, 2009. To qualify, the buyer must have owned and used the same home as a principal residence for at least five consecutive years during the eight-year period ending on the purchase date for the replacement principal residence. If you're married, your spouse must pass this test too (whether or not you file jointly). (Calculate how much you can afford to spend.)

See How to Calculate on Personal Finance For Dummies, 5th edition

3. Larger credits still allowed for first-time buyers

Before the new law, the home buyer credit was only available to so-called first-time buyers, which means someone who had not owned a U.S. principal residence during the three-year period ending on the purchase date for a home that will serve as the buyer's new principal residence. (See our guide on Buying Your First Home.) If you're married, both you and your spouse must pass the three-year test (whether or not you file jointly). These first-time home buyer rules still apply for purposes of claiming a larger credit of up to $8,000. Specifically, the credit for a first-time buyer still equals the lesser of: (1) $8,000, or (2) 10% of the home purchase price, or (3) $4,000 if you use married filing separate status.

See the Guide on How To Buy Your First Home

4. Higher-income folks can now qualify

The home buyer credit is phased out (reduced or completely eliminated) as income goes up. However, the new law significantly raises the phase-out ranges so that many more higher-income buyers will now qualify.

* For purchases after Nov. 6, 2009, the phase-out range for unmarried individuals and married folks who file separately is between modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) of $125,000 and $145,000 (way up from the old-law range of $75,000-$95,000).

* The phase-out range for married joint filers is now between MAGI of $225,000 and $245,000 (way up from the previous range of $150,000-$170,000).

5. New $800,000 purchase price limit

For purchases after Nov. 6, 2009, the credit can only be claimed for a principal residence that costs $800,000 or less. So if your new home costs $800,001, the credit is completely off limits (but I doubt too many people will feel sorry for you).

6. No more credits for kids or dependents

For purchases after Nov. 6, 2009, the home buyer must be at least 18 years old on the purchase date to qualify for the credit. Also, no credit is allowed for a buyer who can be claimed as a dependent on someone else's Form 1040 for the year of the purchase. These new rules are intended to shut down the practice of claiming the credit for youngish buyers who really don't even have incomes of their own (like college students who use money from their parents to buy a pad near campus).

See Bless This Home Office... With Tax Credits (An Adam Collection)

7. New anti-fraud rules

A recent government report said the IRS has already identified over 100,000 returns with potentially fraudulent home buyer credits. This is hardly surprising when the government is willing to give away up to $8,000 in free money to anyone who files a return, even when that person reports no income. Believe it or not, absolutely no documentation was required to claim the credit, until now. For credits claimed on 2009 and 2010 returns, buyers must attach a properly executed real estate settlement sheet to the return. Also, the IRS can now simply disallow credits in fishy circumstances (like when it appears the $8,000 credit is being claimed by someone who already owns a home).

8. Credits can still be claimed on prior-year returns

Under the revamped rules, you can still claim the credit for a 2009 purchase on your 2008 return (although you would now generally have to file an amended return to do so). You can also claim the credit for a 2010 purchase on your 2009 Form 1040. This allows you to cash in on the credit sooner rather than later, and it may also allow you to claim a larger credit if your income in the year of purchase is higher than in the preceding year.

9. Credits must still be repaid in some cases

Under old-law rules for homes purchased between April 9, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2008, buyers are generally required to repay the credit over 15 years. However, this repayment rule is generally eliminated for purchases after 2008. That said, you might still have to repay the credit if you sell your home within three years of the purchase date or stop using it as your principal residence during that period.

10. Special rules for military service members

For military service members on extended duty outside the U.S., the new law lengthens the deadline for closing on home purchases for an extra year, to April 30, 2011 (or June 30, 2011 for homes under contract on April 30, 2011). The new law also waives the credit repayment rules for service members who are forced to move due to receiving new orders. The same special rules apply to members of the foreign service and intelligence communities.

See Homebuyers Beware: Who's Ripping You Off Now?--What You Must Know About the New Rules of Mortgage and Credit

Source: http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/home-buyer-tax-credit-10-things-to-know.html

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Clean-up the Clutter in Your Credit Report

The contents of your credit report is actually an important factor that plays a significant role in maintaining a clean credit report. The credit report is pretty much the story of your financial life, contained in a detailed document.

The credit report carries the credit score, which is a numeric ranking usually between 300 and 850. Several lenders use the credit score to help them decided whether you are worthy of a credit. More so, the score is also used to determine your capability of paying a loan. The credit report is important and cleaning or maintaining a good credit report is vital to your financial survival.

A Look inside the Credit Report

In a credit report, the first entry is normally your personal information. It includes your name, listed telephone number/s, previous and current addresses, reported differences of your Social Security Number, past and present employer and the date of birth.

The information regarding your credit accounts follows your personal information entry. This is also listed in detail and normally includes loans, the maximum loan amount, and information of any joint account holders or co-signers. The credit report also incorporate a section, called Inquiries, which lists any person who has recently requested a copy of the credit report.

There are some states, wherein the credit report contains public record information. This information can feature overdue payments, bankruptcies or other judgments in the court. Normally, these entries can last for up to ten years and may affect your chances of obtaining a loan negatively.

How to Start

Firstly, in order to clean your credit report, you will need to order a copy of the report. You must determine what is out of date or inaccurate, after which you can submit a letter to the bureau requesting fixes to the information. This process may take a long time and you may be required to do several follow-ups with each bureau before achieving a clean credit report. However, to perform this correctly, you must be aware of the information the credit agencies are allowed to report and the duration.

Ordering a credit report can be easily done and accessible to everyone, since at least one free report can be obtained by the consumer each year; this rule is also included under the FCRA or Fair Credit Reporting Act. More so, the consumer is also allowed to obtain a free copy of his or her credit report each year from each of the three major companies handling credit reporting, namely the Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. However, in case you have already obtained a copy of your credit report this year, you may be required to pay an additional fee if you want another copy.

Once you have obtained your report, review it carefully. Every detail must be inspected since bureaus can sometimes confuse names, addresses or employers. Most often, people who have common names have credit reports that may contain information on other variations of their name.

Additionally, it is important to perform a periodic check on the credit report. It is advisable to order a copy of the report once a year and dispute any possible inaccuracies. Always take careful steps in handling your payments and make sure not to make any late payments. Time is of the essence and even minimum payments should not be neglected. Remember that carefully managing your credit can add as much as fifty points to your credit score per year.

Credit Repair Kit For Dummies (For Dummies (Business & Personal Finance))

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A warning for Frequent Debit Card Swipers

It may be time to defrost my frozen credit cards. It turns out that using a debit card for every purchase—which I’m so guilty of!—is a bad idea.

From the smarty-pants over at ShopSmart, here are the do's and don’ts of using a debit card:

DON’T use debit cards for big purchases. They don’t offer the same protection that credit cards do. Credit cards allow you to reverse or dispute charges, and some will even extend the length of warranties.

DON’T use a debit card online. If you use a credit card, your liability for unauthorized charges is capped at $50, no matter what. If your debit card is lost or stolen, it must be reported within two business days to limit liability to $50. If a lost or stolen debit card is reported within 60 days, liability can go up to $500. If an unauthorized transaction is not reported within 60 days of the statement date (and the card hasn’t been reported lost or stolen), you’re on the hook for charges made after the 60th day until the report is made.

Related: 7 Little Bargain Shopping Tips That Will Save You Major Money

DO click on “credit” and sign for payments instead of giving a PIN. Card companies might extend the same zero-liability protection to debit cards as they do to credit cards if the debit cards are processed like the latter, but PIN transactions might not have that protection.

DON’T link your debit card to an account with a lot of money. Thieves can empty your debit-card-linked checking account, so keep just enough in the account to cover current purchases.

Eek! I’m guilty of all of the above! Regularly!
How ’bout you guys? Who else has broken these rules?

I better not be the only one!

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/life/a-warning-for-frequent-debit-card-swipers-531472/

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How to Repair your Credit Score?

Negative remarks on your credit report can cost serious money. You do not have to despair though, since it is never too late to become credit worthy again. However, always remember that credit repair do not happen overnight. It requires serious dedication and perseverance to start in a clean slate once more.

How to Get Started

You should know what the three credit bureaus are and what they are saying about you. Since creditors do not have to report to Equifax, TransUnion and Experian all together, they generally only report to one or some to which they are subscribed to. This only means that each report from each bureau is slightly different from one another.

The first thing you need to do is to order your credit report. Remember to order it from each bureau because you would only waste time and money if you only order a credit report from one bureau. The cost of the credit report might vary from state to state though it is estimated that the cost of your credit report is around $9.

However, you are entitled to a free copy of your credit report from the agency if you have been denied of employment or credit due to your credit report. You can ask the company to provide you with the name of the credit bureau, telephone number and address.

Once you get a hold of your credit report, examine it carefully. Since the credit bureaus create your credit report basing on the information they receive on your creditors, they are never verified. It is your job to maintain your credit report a good reflection of you. Be on the lookout for errors on typing, incomplete information, and outdated and inaccurate histories of your account. After examining the report correctly, list all the errors you want to dispute and the reasons why.

Since bad reports cost money, remember to be thorough. You have two choices, which is to either complete the argument form supplied with your credit report or write a letter. It is also recommended to send a photocopy of your report with the errors circled to the credit bureau who supplied the report. Additionally, do not forget to include supporting documents with your report.

After sending the documents and report, do not forget to keep copies of all the forms and the date you sent it. Normally, the bureau will investigate the dispute in the span of thirty days prior to receiving your letter. More so, any item that is proved to be inaccurate is removed.

Stability in Your Credit Life

Another way to repair your credit is to show that you can still work on adding positive information and stability in your credit life. Even if you have the credit, there can be a time when you get denied of credit due to insufficient credit file. There are several creditors that do not report your credit history to the credit bureaus. What you can do is to try asking the grantors to report the information of your account and the history of your monthly payment to the credit-reporting agency.

You can also try building a solid credit history through the use of secured credit cards. These kinds of credit cards are offered to those with no credit or in the process of repairing their credit. Additionally, it is advised to open a savings account in your bank. Doing so, would show your creditors that you are trying to save and that you are reserving money to pay off your debts.

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