Vermont Housing Finance Agency and other organizations that fund mortgage loans using tax-exempt housing bonds have a little something to cheer about.
VHFA loans are now eligible for a Home Buyer Tax Credit, as part of the recently-passed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
First-time homebuyers who buy a home on or after Jan. 1, 2009, and before Dec. 1, 2009, and finance their purchase with a VHFA loan might be eligible for a tax credit equal to 10 percent of the home's purchase price, up to a maximum of $8,000.
Buyers financing through VHFA and other HFAs across the country previously were not eligible for this tax credit. But the new recovery act includes loans made from mortgage revenue bonds (MRBs) as well as increased the ceiling of the tax credit to $8,000.
Ask your VHFA participating lender for details.
Photo: President Obama signs the ARRA Feb. 17, by White House photographer Pete Souza.