Georgia expands its mortgage assistance program

 

The State of Georgia has expanded its mortgage assistance to certain homeowners on the basis of unemployment or other hardship through a program called "HomeSafe Georgia." The program began in 2011, but eligibility requirements were broadened earlier this year.  This information comes from the Department of Community Affairs which administers the program:

• Homeowners who became unemployed or underemployed in the last 36 months may qualify for assistance with their mortgage payment. NEW: Mortgage payment assistance is available for up to 24 months total, up from 18 months previously.
• NEW: Homeowners who can make their mortgage payments now, but have become delinquent, may qualify for reinstatement. The delinquency must be related to a military, medical, or death hardship that began in the most recent 36 months. A one-time payment of up to 12 mortgage payments is available for qualifying homeowners.
• NEW: Homeowners with a permanent reduction of income may qualify for up to $30,000 to reduce their mortgage payment to an affordable level. Income reduction due to the death of a spouse, permanent disability, or retirement due to unemployment may qualify homeowners for loan term modifications made by participating lenders. The lender must be participating in the HomeSafe Georgia program.

Tip for homeowners & last-minute filers

With federal income tax returns due tomorrow, I'm sure that most homeowners in Decatur have already completed their returns and claimed the interest paid on their mortgage loan as an itemized deduction. I ran across this article from Bankrate.com by Kay Bell who did a great job of explaining that tax breaks are also available to homeowners even if they only claim the standard deduction:

Homeownership offers many tax benefits. But recently, laws have been modified so that two home-related costs -- private mortgage insurance and property tax payments -- get special treatment at tax-filing time.

Real estate taxes have always been part of property ownership, as well as a valuable tax break for owners who itemized. Now some homeowners can add at least a part of their property tax payments into their standard deduction amount.

Another common home cost is private mortgage insurance, or PMI. This PMI is a policy that, as a homebuyer, you pay for, but it protects your lender in case you default. Homebuyers who don't put at least 20 percent down when they purchase a residence usually have to buy PMI. And some of those folks now can deduct that cost.

Property tax additions

Many homeowners itemize because they have substantial enough mortgage interest and property tax amounts to exceed their standard deduction amount. But in some cases, such effort isn't worth it.

Standard deduction amounts have increased over the last few years as part of tax-law changes. Those figures then are bumped up each year to reflect inflation. That means that some homeowners, such as longtime residents who've paid down their loan and don't have much in the way of mortgage interest anymore, don't have enough expenses to itemize.

Because it isn't worthwhile to itemize, these folks then lose the tax break offered by their property taxes. Not anymore.

Now homeowners who claim the standard deduction can add at least some of their property tax payments to their tax return's standard amount.

Single homeowners (which includes those who've never married, a married taxpayer filing separately, as well as heads of households) can add up to $500 of property tax payments to their standard deduction amounts. Married taxpayers who file a joint return can add up to $1,000 to their standard deduction.

To include the property tax amounts in your standard deduction, you'll need to file Schedule L.

Making your PMI claim

For most property owners who pay PMI premiums, the insurance is simply part of the price of owning a home. But some homeowners who purchased their primary residences or second homes in 2009 can claim a tax deduction on PMI premiums.

This tax break was tucked into the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 and originally applied to policies on home loans taken out in 2007. As the housing market continued to sag, Congress extended this tax break to certain premiums paid through 2010.

The tax deduction can be taken for policies issued by private insurers as well as insurance provided by the Federal Housing Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Rural Housing Administration.

Claiming the deduction is easy. Most homeowners are already familiar with Schedule A, the form on which itemized expenses are claimed. The second section of that form, titled "Interest You Paid," is where mortgage interest and loan points are claimed, specifically on line 13.

Your lender also helps out when it comes to reporting PMI amounts. In box 4 of your Form 1098 (or the substitute year-end loan information statement your lender uses), you'll find the amount of PMI premiums you paid last year as part of your home payments…

To read about additional restrictions and rules about claiming the PMI deduction, read the rest of the article here.

One final note about your federal income tax. We sometimes get people during tax season coming to our office asking for federal tax forms or trying to turn their income tax payment to us. Sorry, but we can only accept local taxes and fees. But the Decatur post office will be open to take all of our federal tax returns.

MLK weekend a “huge success” for local homeowners

Volunteer! Decatur coordinator Lee Ann Harvey reports that this weekend’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Service Project was a major success. The annual event helps Decatur’s senior residents by making greatly needed interior repairs and doing yard work that they have been unable to do, which helps the elderly to remain in their homes safely, comfortably, and affordably. I got Lee Ann’s permission to share part of an update that she emailed out last night (and I made some of her lines bold):

We may have had rain two out of three days this weekend, but it didn’t dampen the spirits of approximately 1,180 volunteers who came out to do home repairs and yard work for senior citizens during the 8th annual Decatur Martin Luther King, Jr. Service Project this weekend. This project is held by the Decatur Preservation Alliance in partnership with the City of Decatur and with the assistance of numerous nonprofit organizations, businesses, skilled tradespeople, places of worship, and other organizations.

We initially planned to do repairs on 11 homes. Since the weekend was progressing so well, we added two more homes on Monday that needed more minimal repairs. So, volunteers ended up doing repairs on 13 homes. All but a couple of those homes (one was a condo) also had yard work done.

Thanks to an eager workforce, volunteers did yard work on 37 additional homes for a grand total of 50 senior citizens’ homes worked on this weekend. In addition, volunteers did yard work for the people with disabilities who live in the PRI homes behind the Solarium. There was so much yard waste that approximately 2,500 yard waste bags were used and there were numerous additional piles of brush.

These seniors can now live more safely, comfortably and economically in their homes thanks to much needed repairs that include:

• Handicap ramp that was designed and built to allow a senior who had a stroke last year to be able to get in and out of her home. This 96-year-old woman was grateful that she no longer had to be afraid that she would be unable to get out of her home.
• An original front stoop had deteriorated so much that it was a health and structural hazard. It was repaired to look like new but to still maintain its original architectural integrity.
• Moisture infiltration issues were alleviated and damage repaired to prevent health issues from mold and mildew. 
• Completely rebuilt steps, handrails and landings outside two homes to allow back door access.
• Installed smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors.
• Performed numerous plumbing and electrical repairs. Many of the skilled tradespeople worked on the project the entire weekend.
• Replaced lots and lots of rotten wood. 
• Repaired and replaced caulking. 
• Replaced old light bulbs with new energy efficient ones. 
• Increased seniors’ safety by repairing and replacing doors and door hardware and locks, as well as repairing and replacing windows and fixing broken window locks.

Lee Ann also thanked many people for their hard work including all the volunteers, the Food Committee, a Girl Scouts, Southface volunteers, a large volunteer group from a homeless shelter run by an Atlanta church, city manager Peggy Merriss, the City Commission, and city staff including Paul Wells and Patrick Grier who served as house captains.

More details about the annual project are available here. Updates and photos from this weekend are available at Decatur News Online here and Decatur Metro here.