Congress Extends Mortgage Cancellation Relief
By McCoy Freeman Group // January 2, 2013
REAL ESTATE NEWS FLASH
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – As you probably know, the final act by the 112th Congress was to avert the “Fiscal Cliff.”
As part of the fiscal cliff deal Congress extended the cancellation of mortgage debt relief provision for 1 year, through the end of 2013.
The bill would extend mortgage cancellation relief for home owners or sellers who have a portion of their mortgage debt forgiven by their lender, typically in a short sale or foreclosure sale for sellers and in a modification for owners. Without this extension, any debt forgiven would be taxable, which for underwater households, would represents a financial burden.
“This should be wonderful news for all of homeowners that are short selling their home,” said Shawn Fortenberry, co-owner of Prestige Title of Brevard.
Many believed that if the tax break was not extended, home owners would not approve the short sale because they would then face a tax bill.
“Please also note that there is always fine print and I strongly recommend that every short sale seller consult an accountant to see how this will affect them moving forward,” said Fortenberry.
Thanks to streamlined procedures and a more aggressive stance by the big banks short sales also surged toward the end of the year. Over 98 thousand short sales were completed in the third quarter of 2012, according to RealtyTrac.
Last year 2,134 short sales were sold in Brevard County. Currently there are 1,368 waiting for bank approval and 565 available for sale according to our local MLS.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bobby Freeman, a life-time resident of Brevard County, has been a top Realtor in the area for two decades. In his first year as an agent, Freeman received a Rising Star award from his Brokers. Since then he has achieved numerous sales awards and has recently been presented with the prestigious RE/MAX Hall of Fame Award.
Freeman, Jennifer McCoy and Nikki McCoy Freeman are family partners for RE/MAX Elite’s McCoy-Freeman Group. Together they have more than 30 years of extensive experience in all aspects of the real estate industry and have sold over $150 million. Among McCoy-Freeman Group’s achievement are RE/MAX Hall of Fame, RE/MAX 100% Club, Certified Distressed Property Experts (CDPE), Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR) and voted Best Realtor in Brevard County. The group has been featured in many news publications including CNN Money Magazine, CNNMoney.com, WFTV 9 ABC News, Coastal Condo Living, & Hot Retirement Towns Magazine and SpaceCoastDaily.com.
For more information log on to BrevardRealtyConnection.
