First of all, the credit has not been extended yet despite all the rumors floating around. Here is the latest information from Washington as well as a projected timeline for further action from www.FixHousingFirst.com.

The Status – From www.TheHill.com “…Under the agreement struck by Sens. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), the credit will last until the end of April and can be applied to homes worth up to $800,000. Dodd and Isakson said that as many as 70 percent of Americans will be eligible for it.

The home credit’s backers, which include Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), have said that it can help the economy recover and has already led to the jump in home sales seen around the country in recent months.

Isakson called the provision a “once-in-a-lifetime” credit that can “bring the housing market back to some sense of vitality and values.”

Though the previous provision could only be used by individuals making up to $75,000 and couples making up to $150,000, the extended credit can be used by individuals with incomes of up to $125,000 and couples of up to $225,000.

The deal also provides a new $6,500 credit to homebuyers looking to move out of their current homes into more expensive ones….”

The Timeline: From an email from www. FixHousingFirst.com comes this projected schedule:

As you may know, last night the Senate reached a deal on extending and expanding the home buyer tax credit, and they plan on attaching it to the unemployment insurance bill. You can see a copy of the bill here. The tax credit provisions begin on p. 14.

Near as we can tell at this moment, the process from here will go like this:

1. There will be a cloture vote at 5 pm on Monday in the Senate on the new Baucus substitute. If it succeeds, it takes 30 hours to “ripen,” i.e., before the bill can be brought to the floor.
2. Thirty hours later it’s Tuesday night. There will likely then be a cloture vote on the full unemployment insurance bill, as amended.
3. Thirty hours after that, it’s Thursday morning, when the Senate will vote on final passage of the bill.
4. The House could take up the bill as early as Thursday afternoon or Friday.  They likely will just accept the Senate bill and vote on that.  If their bill differs from the Senate bill, then the whole thing has to back through Conference. That’s unlikely at this point – and undesirable.
5. The plan/hope is to have the bill on the President’s desk as soon as next weekend.

Obviously, this is all subject to change without notice. This is the Congress, after all.

You can see from the above that it is important to keep weighing in throughout the week – and sending this link to your network of friends, colleagues, family, neighbors, customers, employees, suppliers and urging them to do the same.  The amount of emails being sent through the Fix Housing First site has been fantastic – keep it up!”

Summary: So hang in there, be patient, something is coming in the near future. What the final product will be after both Houses get done with it, no one can predict. Keep checking back or subscribe to the RSS feed for updated information as it occurs. peace.

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