Real Estate Marketing - Taxes on Short Sale, Loan Modification and Foreclosure - Part 5

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Real Estate Marketing - Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, one exception to paying cancellation of debt income - Produced by Dan Havey of Real Estate Marketing This Week

Part 5 - Welcome back to the Velocity of Money I am Michael J. Barnes Arizona's and I'm with Velocity Financial and were here every week talking about all matters financial, regarding real estate as well as finances. Brett Fallon is back on the air with us again along with Mike Patenella who is a certified public accountant for the last 20 years and amazing brain, were glad he's back on.

Mike we were talking before the break about loan modifications, my point before going off the air was that people think they're going to get this huge amount of money waived on a loan that they have, realistically what most loan modifications are going to look like is extended term, significantly lower interest rate, generally a fixed interest rate for the entire time, and in some cases they will do some principal reduction, and there is some exclusions for people having to pay tax on that, is that correct?

Yes, there is, before I get into that keep in mind that with taxes normally not one rule applies to everybody, were going to talk general but everyone's going to have their own specific situation, that they're going to have to really check with somebody and make sure they're doing the right thing. In 2007 in response to the economic situation, they passed a mortgage forgiveness debt relief act which essentially allows people to not pay tax on $2 million dollars debt forgiven on their principal residence. Thats in regard to be principal reduction, loan modification.

Right, so in your example if $50,000 of your loan is being reduced, if your situation fits, under this new law, we might be able get you to avoid the tax on that.

Once again a very good reason for you to go to a professional CPA like yourself for that help, not something the average person is going to be able to figure out on their own. You have to keep up on the tax law and that's almost a full-time job.

Hey how many pages is that tax code now? On last count I heard you say it was something like 9000 pages.

I don't know the exact number of pages I know it's in the several thousand and as Mike knows quite well, and I am aware of also is the tax code has been morphing and changing more than I have ever seen in my entire career here recently. Going back to the tax act of 2003 to the present there have been literally hundreds of changes. So for the average person whos listening to this broadcast who is considering a loan modification, trying to take care of a portfolio, and take care of their taxes at the same time, WOW! Good luck to you

So exclusions to the income, can we talk about a few different ones?

Sure bankruptcy is one exclusion, if you're filing bankruptcy; the other one is if the taxpayer is insolvent which essentially means that their liabilities exceed their assets. When you factor in assets you factor in retirement accounts and all that, its not that easy to fall under that one.

Oh so the value of my 401(k) goes into that on the other side of the balance sheet. So for the most part if you dont fall into one of these two youre going to try to rely on this new tax law to exclude some of the debt forgiven.

How long ago was that past? I am sorry I don't remember, was that August of 2007? It's called the mortgage forgiveness debt relief act of 2007 and it only applies to qualified principal residences. Is that ongoing? Is there a cap on the time?

Well originally it was set to expire at the end of 09. Then in 2008, since the economy kept getting worse they extended that another three years or so through 2012

Well we hope were all well through of this mess sooner and we won't have to need this any longer after 2009. Actually I want it gone now... http://realestatemarketingthisweek.com/mortgage-forgiveness-debt-relief-act-e...

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[REMarketingThisWeek]

If it truly is a short sale, and it is listed by a real estate agent, I'd offer less than the $49k. In a short sale the bank is working with the home owner and the real estate agent to sell the house in a reasonable amount of time on market. Generally they are priced near what the bank believes is the fair market value. I'd make an offer quickly and see what the bank does. Be aware when dealing with short sales and banks that it may take a very long time to close escrow.

[demolitionbarbiedoll]

Dude! Just a simple question, I came upon a home in Florida that originally went on the market for $149,000.00, now its at short sale for $49,000.00 - what is the guidelines is far as value when making an offer m- would it be smart to ffer 60,000? or more? So you make sure you get the home - or offer lets say, 50,000? Or less?