On June 29, the House of Representatives by a vote of 409–5 approved H.R. 5623, the Homebuyer Assistance Improvement Act of 2010. This bill would provide first-time homebuyer credit relief to taxpayers who can’t meet a key June 30, 2010, closing date.
H.R. 5623 would amend Code Sec. 36(h)(2) to provide that if a written binding contract to purchase a principal residence was entered into before May 1, 2010, the credit may be claimed if the purchase is closed before Oct. 1, 2010. Thus, this extension would allow homebuyers who signed a contract no later than April 30th deadline to complete their closing by the end of September.
The three-month extension of the closing date is intended to provide tax relief for those who couldn’t close on time because of backlogs at lenders and federal programs involved in homebuyer loans. In the words of the bill’s supporters, the three-month extension “will give time for all the new mortgages to be processed and not punish those homeowners who have been delayed through no fault of their own.”
The Senate will likely vote on the bill by July 1.
The Homebuyer Assistance and Improvement Act of 2010, signed by the President on Friday, extended the closing deadline from June 30 to Sept. 30 for any eligible homebuyer who entered into a binding purchase contract on or before April 30 to close on the purchase of the home on or before June 30, 2010.