York County Pennsylvania here!
FHA did indeed release a directive late yesterday (not the best day to be releasing important info!) detailing the procedure for using the $8,000 tax credit for closing costs and/OR extra downpayment. The tax credit funds are "purchased" by the lender and shown as a 2nd lien on the home and a payment must be shown and used to qualify the borrower. If the payment on the tax credit loan is deferred out 36 months, the payment will not be counted. And--there may be fees associated with this lien.
So, if you have someone who is getting enough seller help to only need their minimum 3.5% downpayment, this really is no help at closing. (remember, each $1,000 in downpayment only saves $5.37 per month, so most 1st time buyers would rather have $8,000 in the bank than $45 lower payment) If there is no seller help, this could be a huge assistance as it may eliminate the need for gift funds or saving for closing costs. As with any new rule like this, there will undoubtedly be further discussion and possible changes as issues emerge. (Inevitably, someone will try to "circumvent the system" in some way on this, so clarifications will probably occur)
The funds cannot be used for the first 3.5% downpayment.
So this should work much like a "refund loan" that many firms offer on tax refunds. Since this was just released yesterday, I'm sure it will be a few days before we know how this will be implemented as this directive seems to leave it open to each institution as to how they will provide the funds.
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