During 2008, a harsh bill was introduced that would change the taxation of the carried interests that general partners might have in a real estate partnership. Under current law, those interests are taxed at capital gains rates (currently 15%). The legislation changed the rule so that carried interests in real estate partnerships (and many other investment arrangements, as well), would be taxed as ordinary income. The 2008 bill was incorporated into a larger bill and did pass the House in 2008. The Senate never took up the underlying bill. During the week of December 9, a significantly modified, but still very harsh, version of the carried interest changes passed the House. The provision did ...
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Under current law, the cost of making improvements to leased space may be recovered over 15 years. This rule will expire as of January 1, 2010, however, unless Congress acts to extend it. If Congress were to fail to extend it, the cost recovery period would revert to 39 years, with the improvements being treated as part of the cost of the underlying real property. The House of Representatives has passed HR 4213, a bill that extends this and dozens of other expiring provisions on a mostly party-line vote of 241 - 186. The bill is "paid for" by changing the tax treatment of real estate partnership carried interests from capital gains rates (currently 15%) to ordinary income treatment ...
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© WSJ 2009 Senate Democrats gathered at the White House on Tuesday for a final appeal on health-care legislation, with President Barack Obama urging them to overcome intraparty disagreements on key parts of the measure.  "It's clear that we are on the precipice of an achievement that's eluded Congresses and presidents for generations," Obama said after the session. "We simply cannot allow differences over individual elements of this plan to prevent us from meeting our responsibility to solve a longstanding and urgent problem for the American people."  The meeting comes as Democrats appear ready to drop a proposal to let people between ages 55 a ...
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Governor Jan Brewer is expected to call Arizona legislators back to work for a one-day special session tomorrow to work on the state's budget crisis.  Agenda items for the special session could include spending cuts and special-election ballot measures to both temporarily raise the sale tax and loosen voter-approved spending mandates.  The special session would be the fourth this year on the state's fiscal troubles. The most recent, held in November, produced $452 million spending cuts and other budget changes that lowered the projected shortfall in the current fiscal year to $1.6 billion. ...
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© CBSNews.com 2009  President Obama, in an interview that aired Sunday on "60 Minutes," said the Senate is well on its way to passing a health care bill before Christmas. Meanwhile, on CBS News' "Face the Nation," Sen. Joe Lieberman said he agrees -- if his fellow Democratic caucus members are willing to throw out their latest public option compromise. The Democrats' latest plan to unify their party around the health care bill may thus be falling apart - and Republicans are hardening their resolve against the overall bill. As Congress heads into a midterm election year, the days that can feasibly be spent on health care reform are beginning to run s ...
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© WSJ 2009 The biggest threat to the outlook for commercial real estate in the U.K and U.S. is excess debt, with some $247 billion of distressed real estate debt globally, ING Real Estate Investment Management said Monday.  "We expect a significant amount of distressed property to come to the market on a foreclosure basis but it will be orderly," said ING REIM's head of research and strategy, Timothy Bellman. He said distressed property won't all come to the market at once, with lenders taking three to four years to work it all out.  ING REIM, a real estate lender, developer and investor, said in a presentation in London that 60% of distressed debt is lo ...
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© Washington Post 2009   House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) said Friday that the government needs to borrow at least $1.8 trillion more next year to avoid defaulting on its debts.   Such an increase in the nation's debt ceiling is much larger than Democrats had contemplated earlier this year. Hoyer's comment came as senior White House officials and House and Senate leaders planned to resume negotiations over the debt limit, with the three camps at odds over how to chart a course toward fiscal solvency.  Read more. ...
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© Bloomberg News 2009 The U.S. House of Representatives rejected a mortgage “cram-down” amendment that would have given federal judges the power to lengthen mortgage terms, cut interest rates and reduce loan balances for homeowners in bankruptcy court.  Lawmakers voted 241-188 today to strip the amendment from a broader package of proposed laws to rein in excess on Wall Street. All but four of the Republicans who voted opposed the amendment, pulling with them support from 71 Democrats to defeat the measure.  The cram-down provision was identical to legislation that passed the House in March and then failed in the Senate amid opposition from the banking industr ...
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On November 30, 2009, the Treasury Department released guidelines and forms for its new Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program (HAFA). HAFA is component of the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). NAR has been urging the Obama Administration to take action to address the many problems with short sales. HAFA provides incentives in connection with a short sale or a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure (DIL) used to avoid foreclosure of a loan eligible for modification under the HAMP program. HAFA applies to loans not owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, which will issue their own versions in the coming weeks. Program features include: pre-approving sales terms before list ...
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© Washington Post 2009  While confusion reigned on Capitol Hill on Wednesday over the prospects and details of a Senate deal to replace a government-run insurance plan with other measures, it is not too soon to ask what the proposal would mean for regular people.  The short answer -- subject to Senate revisions -- is that those without employer-provided insurance would have more options for buying coverage, but if they are younger than 55, their money would go to a private insurer, no matter what. Rates would be more competitive than what they are offered now, but possibly less so than under a "public option." And if they are between 55 and 64, they might be abl ...
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