$8000 tax credit extension coming ???

Sounds like there is a chance credit may be still be available after November..... SAN DIEGO (MarketWatch) -- The expansion -- or, at a minimum, extension -- of the $8,000 first-time-home-buyer tax credit that is set to expire Nov. 30 is at the top of the legislative agenda for the Mortgage Bankers Association, with one of the MBA's leaders saying the trade group is "very close" to winning that battle in Congress. "We are pushing for expansion of the tax credit, and we are very close to winning this one," said David Kittle, MBA's outgoing chairman. The tax credit has been credited with boosting home sales, and mortgage applications, as first-time buyers came out in force this summer. "Hundreds of thousands of home buyers have come off the sidelines because of the credit, and if we lose it we risk losing the stability that is creeping backing into the housing market and the economy overall," said Robert Story Jr., a Seattle mortgage banker and the incoming chairman of the MBA, which opened its annual convention here Monday. Political analyst Paul Begala, an adviser in the Clinton administration, predicted the credit would be extended, in part because of a feeling among a lot of the American people that they have gotten little out of the financial bailout that kept large institutions afloat. "People have seen the bailout of the executives who caused these problems ... while the mom-and-pop operator is left to fend for themselves ... and that grates on people," Begala told the convention's opening session. "There is a lot of anger out there still over that." It's not clear what form legislation to extend the tax credit would take; at least 20 bills have been drafted in Congress regarding the credit. Some proposals would not only extend the first-time-buyer credit into next year but would expand it to include all buyers, remove income restrictions and raise the maximum value of the credit as high as $15,000. For those who purchase a home this year, the tax credit is for 10% of the purchase price, up to $8,000. Those who have owned a home in the past three years aren't eligible. Buyers also have to meet eligibility requirements regarding income; the current credit begins to phase out for singles who make more than $75,000 and couples who make more than $150,000. An extension on the tax credit would be a major victory for the housing industry -- the National Association of Realtors and National Association of Home Builders are also lobbying strongly for the move -- but would be of particular significance to mortgage bankers, who have taken it on the chin in the last two years as loan delinquencies and foreclosures swelled and regulators proposed thousands of pages of new rules to rein in an industry that many blame for helping create the financial crisis. John Courson, CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association, likened his industry's plight to that of Bugs Bunny being chased by Elmer Fudd. "There have been a lot of Elmer Fudds firing shotgun blasts our way -- regulators, legislators, media, consumer advocates -- in the last year. Mortgage applicants confront an array of paperwork throughout the loan process. Making the process more transparent is one goal of federal proposals. 'Regulate us, sure,' says a mortagage-industry leader, 'but don’t stop us from having the ability to make the best loans for borrowers.' "Our goal is to renew the faith and restore the confidence in our industry and we've gone a long way down that path this year." The mortgage bankers have made three major legislative proposals, trying to stay ahead of the financial regulatory reform they know is coming in the wake of the global meltdown that started in 2008. They have suggested their own set of reforms in a Mortgage Improvement and Regulatory Act, set out a new framework for the secondary mortgage market and come up with ideas for adding liquidity to the hard-hit warehouse lending business. "And we've done a darn good job of working with borrowers, with the odds stacked against us, to keep 2 million homeowners in their homes this year," he said. But major challenges lie ahead. New rules governing the Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Act are set to go into effect Jan. 1, and many mortgage bankers here are complaining that those rules, particularly modifications to the good-faith estimates that mortgage providers are required to prepare for borrowers, will complicate life for consumers and force up the cost of loans. The Federal Reserve is also soliciting comments on nearly 1,400 pages of regulations that update the Truth in Lending Act, with provisions that clamp down on compensation arrangements for loan originators and tighten disclosure requirements for consumers. "Regulation is coming," said David Kittle, outgoing chairman of the MBA. "Regulate us, sure, but don't stop us from having the ability to make the best loans for borrowers." Steve Kerch is assistant managing editor and personal finance editor of MarketWatch in Chicago.