In response to a June 2008 joint letter from NAR and Washington RESPA attorney Jay Varon, HUD General Counsel, Helen R. Kanovski, provided informal answers to questions regarding what are often referred to as administrative fees or similarly named fees charged to consumers in real estate transactions. The January 22, 2010 letter discusses the ways to account for charges and circumstances where charges are appropriate or less appropriate. The letter notes that all charges to sellers and buyers must be disclosed on line 700 of the HUD-1 and that RESPA does not prescribe how an agent or broker determines the charge, noting it could be a flat fee, percentage, or combination of both. The letter c ...
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©CNNMoney.com 2009 Sick of sending big checks to the IRS? For some business owners, this tax season will bring a rare reversal: A stimulus-fueled tax change is putting cash back into the pockets of qualifying entrepreneurs.   Bill Hewitt, who owns several real estate ventures in Denver, recently collected a $150,000 refund check from the IRS thanks to the new tax rules. "Without that money, I probably would have gone under," he says. "When you can't get any loans from anybody, it kept me alive." Hewitt took advantage of a tax maneuver called "loss carryback." When a business books a profit, it pays income tax on its earnings. But if ...
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The Arizona Association of REALTORS® and the Arizona Department of Real Estate are pleased to present this advisory as a resource: Short Sale Seller Advisory   REALTORS®: To ensure your clients receive only the latest version of the Short Sale Seller’s Advisory, we recommend that you copy the link below and paste it into an email to your client.  When your client clicks the link, they will automatically read the current version on our website.  Use this link: More >>

On January 28, 2010, the U.S. Departments of the Treasury and of Housing and Urban Development released amended rules for the HAMP Program. As of the end of 2009, more than 900,000 homeowners had begun trial modifications, but only 110,000 had received permanent modifications. First, to expedite the program, the new guidelines require that homeowners document income and other information before the servicer may consider the borrower for a 3-month trail modification (effective for trial modifications on and after June 1, 2010). Second, the guidance clarifies procedures for determining eligibility of borrowers currently in trial modifications for permanent modifications (effective immediately) ...
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The Supreme Court of the United States considered the constitutionality of a ban on corporations making independent expenditures in federal candidate elections. To review a summary of the decision’s impact, click here. To download the Supreme Court’s decision, click here. Citizens United (“Corporation”) is a nonprofit corporation supported by donations. In 2008, the Corporation released a film entitled Hillary: The Movie (“Movie”), a 90-minute film critical of then-Senator Hillary Clinton. The Corporation released the film during the Democratic primary in which Clinton wa ...
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Throughout 2009, tax professionals insisted that Congress must act on the estate tax. Efforts for a compromise failed at year-end, however, so the scheduled repeal of the estate tax has now occurred. Repeal, however, is a mixed blessing. During 2010, those who die with substantial estates will transfer their assets to their heirs tax-free. However, the value of the assets in the hands of the heirs (their "basis") will be the same as the original owner's basis. If the heirs later sell those assets, the heirs will pay capital gains taxes on any gain at the rate in effect at the time of the sale. No guidance has been provided for heirs who are unable to determine the basis of the ...
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Democratic leaders in Congress have begun the tenuous process of reconciling the House and Senate health care reform bills, though delivering a final bill before the president’s State of the Union address in mid-January could prove overly optimistic. In a White House meeting this week, President Obama and Democratic leaders discussed possibly forgoing the traditional House-Senate conference committee to minimize opportunities for Republicans to slow the approval process. Under the strategy discussed, the House would pass the Senate bill amended with compromise provisions and then send the bill back to the Senate for one final vote. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is expected to face ...
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© Los Angeles Times 2009President Obama told top Democratic House members on Wednesday that he favored a tax on insurance companies offering more expensive healthcare plans as a means of extending insurance to millions of people who are not covered, according to a person familiar with the meeting.The "Cadillac tax" is a feature of a healthcare bill that cleared the Senate before the Christmas holiday. But the House has chosen another financing method -- a tax hike on the wealthy.Powerful labor unions at the core of the Democratic base are opposed to the Cadillac tax, saying that in some cases union members gave up wage increases in return for richer healthcare benefits. More >>

© MSNBC.com 2009How do the House and Senate bills differ? What do they mean for you? Now that the Senate has passed a hotly debated health care bill, Congress is headed to the next step: House of Representatives-Senate negotiations in January to hammer out a final version. Read more. ...
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© FoxNews.com 2009   With Sen. Joe Lieberman apparently on board the health care reform train and the public option off the table, Senate Democrats are turning their attention to what could be the last remaining hurdle to passing a bill out of their chamber -- abortion funding.   The abortion issue, and to a lesser extent Medicare cuts, remain major points of contention as at least one Democratic senator -- Ben Nelson of Nebraska -- indicated he'd break from party lines to strike down the sweeping legislation if the bill does not toughen restrictions to ensure taxpayer dollars don't fund abortion. More >>