UPDATE ON: Dodd, Lieberman & Isakson Amendment to Extend & Expand the $8,000 Tax Credit

The tentative tax credit agreement of yesterday has changed. At this point, the Senate is still negotiating the terms of the credit and how to proceed. A new agreement on extending and expanding the tax credit has now been introduced as a separate, stand alone bill and the Senate voting procedure on this bill is still undecided. It could be voted upon separately from the Unemployment bill. Or not. The timing of the votes is still up in the air.

The United States Senate is expected to vote, later today, on a bill to extend Unemployment Insurance benefits. This bill will contain the Dodd - Lieberman - Isakson Amendment to Extend and Expand the $8,000 First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit.

The Extended and Expanded Tax Credit will contain the following provisions:

Amount: $8,000
Eligibility: ALL HOME BUYERS (Step-up buyers will have to have lived in their current home for SEVEN* years to be eligible)
Income Limits: $125,000 for single filers/$225,000 for joint filers
Time Frame: December 1, 2009 to April 30, 2010

plus a 60 Day extension if binding contract is in place by April 30, 2010

*The 7 year ownership requirement is designed to lower the "score" or cost of the tax credit. This is still open to change. The Congressional Budget Office is going to "score" the cost of 3 year and 5 year requirements. NAR is continuing to push for step-up buyers to be required be in their
current home for three year period.

NAR will be monitoring the progress and any potential changes to the bill and will be sending out to Federal Political Coordinators a notice when the legislation is voted on tonight--regardless of how late into the night or early into the morning the debate continues.