UPFRONT: HITS & MISSES
APARTMENT FINANCE TODAY • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2007
Bill Would Penalize Owners of Large Homes
House Energy and Commerce
Committee Chairman John Dingell
has released a plan to deny mortgage
interest deductions to people
owning large homes. Pitched as an
effort to combat global warming,
the bill would phase out the mortgage
interest write-off, beginning
with 3,000-square-foot homes,
which would lose 15 percent of
their deductions. Owners of 4,200-
square-foot or larger homes would
receive no deduction. Exemptions
are included for certain historical
homes, owners who purchase carbon
offsets, and houses built to
certified high energy-efficiency
standards. In a statement, Dingell
said he is targeting big houses
because they have contributed to
sprawl and longer commutes.
HUD Bans
Downpayment Assistance
The Department of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD) has
published a final rule banning
downpayment assistance programs
financed by charitable organizations.
The National Multi Housing
Council noted in its Washington
Update that such a move would
have been “unthinkable” before the
subprime meltdown. The Internal
Revenue Service, General
Accounting Office, and the HUD
Inspector General’s Office have
criticized such downpayment programs.
They contend that sales
prices in such deals often are
inflated, and foreclosure rates for
loans involving assistance are twice
the rate of other Federal Housing
Administration loans. Nonprofits
AmeriDream and Nehemiah Corp.
have filed a lawsuit seeking to
block the HUD rule.
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