I would like to share an email I received from Congressman Lee Terry about the

 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009...

Hope you find the information helpful:

-----Original Message-----
From: "Representative Lee Terry" <talk2lee@mail.house.gov>
Sent 2/26/2009 4:26:15 PM
To: jwulff@npdodge.com
Subject: A message from Congressman Terry

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Dear J. Wulff:

      Thank you for contacting me regarding the housing provisions  that are part of the  American  Recovery  and Reinvestment  Act of 2009  which the President signed into law on February 17, 2009.  The current slump in the U.S. housing market is the epicenter cause of our current economic situation.  In order to pull our economy back to where it belongs, we must address housing.

      Although the final bill did not include the $15,000 tax credit for home buyers as originally proposed by Sen. Isakson, the bill does include an $8,000 tax credit for first time homebuyers who purchase a home between January 1, 2009 and December 1, 2009.  The credit would need to be repaid to the government if the homebuyer sold the home within 3 years of purchasing it, otherwise it would not have to be repaid.  A first-time homebuyer is defined as a taxpayer who did not have an ownership interest in a principal residence in the previous three years.  

      It is important to note that homebuyers who qualified for a refundable tax credit and purchased a home between April 9, 2008 and December 31, 2008, under the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention of 2008 enacted last year, are still subject to the recapture provision and those loans will need to be repaid.   Stabilizing housing prices and revitalizing the housing industry is essential to our country's economic recovery. I will continue to push for a homebuyer tax credit of $15, 000 which I have proposed for several years. 

Other housing provisions included in the bill are as follows:

o   For 2009, FHA and GSE loan limits will bring limits back up to the 2008 levels.  Congress raised the loan limits in 2008 to reflect higher housing prices in different parts of the country, and to reflect the fact that some prices have fallen in many areas-- and in some cases significantly. 

o   In 2009, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development will have discretion to set higher FHA and GSE loan limits in subareas. 

o   For 2009, the bill raises FHA reverse mortgage HECM national loan limit from $417,000 to $625,500. 

o   $2 billion for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program ("NSP") to rehabilitate abandoned and foreclosed properties in communities hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis. Requires states, localities and nonprofits to use these funds in a timely manner.  NSP housing rehabilitation activities will also help to spur economic recovery by generating skilled and unskilled jobs and preserving the local tax base. 

o   The Neighborhood Stabilization Program also includes important renter protections.  Bona fide tenants in properties acquired with NSP funds are given a minimum of 90 days notice before eviction and the right to remain in the property for the remainder of the lease, subject only to the right of the new owner to occupy the property. 

o   $1.5 billion for Emergency Shelter Grants for short-term rental assistance in finding housing to keep families and individuals from becoming homeless. 

o   Low Income Housing Tax Credit program.  To address market dislocations that threaten to prevent the construction and rehabilitation of tens of thousands of affordable rental housing units, the bill provides $2.25 billion in grants to supplement the housing tax credit program and offers states the flexibility to exchange up to 40% of tax credits in 2009 plus unused credits from 2008 for upfront cash grants 

o   $1 billion in CDBG formula grants to states and localities for use for housing and community development 

Again, thank you for contacting me and please feel free to do so again in the future.

Sincerely,

LEE TERRY
Member of Congress
11717 Burt Street, Suite 106
Omaha, NE  68154
Phone: 402-397-9944

http://leeterry.house.gov

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