By KIMBERLY MILLER
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Sunday, November 01, 2009

It's practically real estate lore, a time when housing contracts slid through the approval process like residents into a new gated community and real estate agents had little more to do than pick up the phone to settle a deal.

Today's Realtors are working harder than ever to secure their clients' loans from bashful banks and seal short-sale contracts that can take months to finalize.

Giving up a smidge of commission is only the beginning.

When an appraisal is at stake, Realtor-fronted fixes to roofs, electrical systems and air conditioners are no longer taboo.

In this recovering market, agents have purchased and installed stoves - a required appliance for a Federal Housing Administration loan - paid for new carpet, cleaned up rat feces and helped landscape properties when a deal was on the fence.

If the sale ultimately falls through, the Realtor is out the elbow grease and cash.

"We used to have a market where people were just writing offers and buying homes and you didn't have to do anything because it all just happened," said Brian Paul, CEO of the Realtors Association of Palm Beach County. "Now, in this market, people are having to really work."

Palm Beach Gardens Realtor Craig Fialkowski knows all about that. He personally ripped out and repaired a moldy wall in a kitchen in October before it was appraised.

"I told the buyer, 'Just get some drywall and a sheetrock knife, and he said, what's a sheetrock knife?' I knew I had to help," Fialkowski said.

He also recently paid $350 to have an air conditioner serviced in a home where the sale eventually fell apart.

"Lately it seems like everyone is going out of their way to get transactions done," said Fialkowski, who works with Herman Group Real Estate.

The extra effort coupled with the recent rebound in the market appears to be paying off, according to a September sales report from the Florida Realtors.

Palm Beach County single-family home sales were up 43 percent in September compared with the same period in 2008. Condo sales were up 30 percent.

At the same time, median single-family home prices in Palm Beach County were down 17 percent to $242,900. Condos dropped 24 percent to $106,700.

"People who otherwise couldn't afford a home can now afford one," Paul said.

But sometimes, just barely.

That's when a Realtor has to judge risk vs. reward when it comes to putting money up to make a sale, and whether it's really the best thing for the borrower.

"If they can't buy a home for lack of a stove, can they really afford a mortgage?" asked Curtis Lowe, president of the Realtors Association of St. Lucie County. "I tend to try and help with the bottom line, but have I bought a stove? Sure, that's a good return on my investment."

Jennifer Hernann, of Exit Realty Neighbors in West Palm Beach, had clients who found a "cute little starter house" and qualified for an FHA loan.

One of the home's bedrooms, however, needed carpeting - an FHA requirement.

So Hernann bought a carpet remnant for $120 and, although it wasn't perfect, installed it herself.

"Some things are just worth doing and getting done with so you can get the deal closed," she said.

Fialkowski has trimmed trees and laid mulch to make a successful sale when a homeowners association refused to release a house for sale without yard maintenance. Fialkowski's clients had 24 hours to do the work.

"We went over to do it and Craig was already there sweating away," said client Mary Carter, who bought the home with her husband, Keith. "We're in new times and I guess you have to be prepared for a new set of rules if you're a Realtor."

FHA home loan rates for November 2nd, 2009 are higher. Current mortgage rates are up across the board with the conventional 30 year fixed mortgage rate up to 4.8% and the 15 year fixed up to 4.35%. The conventional 5/1 ARM is also up to 3.9%. FHA home loan rates are generally between .5% and .75% higher than conventional mortgage rates.

Very early on Monday morning we are seeing the 10 year treasury rate yield slightly bounce off the support level of the 50 day moving average. With it being so early and the moving being so small we cannot make any conclusions just yet. This week will be very interesting as far as the 10 year yield and mortgage interest rates go. We are likely to see a significant move in one direction or the other but no one knows which direction that will be.

Overall, mortgage interest rates remain very close to historic lows. With low mortgage rates and the Making Home Affordable plan helping home owners now is one of the best times to refinance in modern history. If you have been thinking about going through the home refinance process it might be a good idea to go ahead and get started today; make sure to do your research!

Make sure to check out Subprime Blogger on a daily basis for your FHA loan rates. We will display the current FHA loan rates as well as a short commentary similar to the above column. Bookmark the following FHA Loan Rates category to gain easier access to our daily FHA rates column:

Both the Senate and House voted yesterday to extend the current higher loan limits for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA loans through December, 2010. The resolution was attached to a continuing resolution that passed late in the day and prevented the higher limits from expiring at the end of the year.

Lawmakers had temporarily raised the loan limits back in 2008 as part of the Housing and Economic Act of 2008 and then again in 2009 through both a HUD mandated guideline and the Economic Stimulus Act up to a maximum of $729,750 for high-cost areas.

It may be a buyer's market for those looking to purchase a South Florida condominium, but a new FHA rule putting an end to "spot approvals" for home loans may burst the shopping bubble and make it much more difficult to qualify for a loan.

By extension, the same rule may also mean more bad news for condo sellers, already suffering through a bad economy which has sent property values into the Dumpster, since it impedes buyers' ability to purchase. And the financial pain could eventually spread to all Florida homeowners by way of higher property taxes, say experts.

What is happening: Beginning Nov. 1, a new Federal Housing Administration rule goes into effect that disallows a loan process called "spot approvals," which gave loan underwriters the authority to approve individual units rather than an entire building.

The reason such authority was so helpful to buyers is the cost and paperwork for a condo association to get an entire building approved by the FHA is onerous at best, costing tens of thousands of dollars for appraisals, structural engineering reports and other reports.

Spot approvals, in comparison, only require an association representative to spend 15 minutes filling out a single-page form. Those loans are prized by buyers because they generally have lower interest rates and require much lower down payments, about 3.5 percent of the purchase price compared with conventional bank loans, which may require up to 30 percent down.

Now, without spot approvals, condo buyers and owners will not be able to get an FHA loan for units in a non-approved building and will have to rely on conventional bank loans or pay cash, said Theresa M. Schmitz, a senior underwriter for Amerifirst in Fort Lauderdale.

"This poses a potential downward trend in condo values because many people can't afford to put such a large down payment down on a condo," Schmitz said. "And if there is a smaller pool of buyers, the market value of condos will decline even further and a condo unit will only be worth what a cash buyer is willing to pay for it."

Ripple effect: It also stands to compound the current real estate market problems that have caused cities to raise tax rates, Schmitz said. "Single family homeowners may think this doesn't affect them, but indirectly it will. When the condo assessed valuations plummet, our collective tax base will decline. Single family homeowners will pick up the slack with a hike in the millage rates and property taxes."

What you can do: Board members should check the federal Housing and Urban Development (the department that oversees the FHA) website https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/condlook.cfm to determine whether their condominium complex is on HUD's approved list.

Daniel Vasquez can be reached at condocolumn@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4219 (Broward County) or 561-243-6686 (Palm Beach County). His condo column runs every Wednesday in the Local section and at sunsentinel.com/condos. Check out Daniel's Condos & HOAs blog for news, information and tips related to life in community associations at sunsentinel.com/condoblog You can also read his consumer column every Monday in Your Money and at sunsentinel.com/vasquez. The Sun Sentinel is hosting a Condos & HOAs Town Hall meeting on Oct. 29 at Nova Southeastern University. Submit a question for our panel of experts online at http://www.sun-sentinel.com/condoquestions.

Source: Sun-Sentinel

In the wake of the one-year anniversary of the collapse of investment banking firm Lehman Brothers, a flurry of reforms were announced Friday that would affect the mortgage and financial services industries.

The Federal Housing Administration, which offers insurance against mortgage loan defaults, announced Friday that its capital reserve ratio is expected to drop below the congressionally mandated level of 2 percent.

The agency is changing policies that affect FHA-approved lenders in a push toward regulatory reform.

Starting Jan. 1, lenders must submit audited annual financial statements to FHA, to prove they are adequately capitalized. No one who earns a commission -- such as mortgage brokers, real estate agents or commission-based bank employees -- will be able to order appraisals or potentially influence valuations.

Also, participating lenders will be required to have a net worth of $1 million, instead of the current $250,000.

Among other pending shifts, the Securities Exchange Commission released a proposal Friday to ban "flash orders" in electronic trading systems.

Paul Schatz, founder and president of the wealth management firm Heritage Capital LLC in Woodbridge, said flash orders involve putting trades through in a matter of instants before they hit public markets such as the New York Stock Exchange or the American Stock Exchange.

"It's been going on legally for years and gives those firms a clear, millisecond advantage. Over time, that adds up to a significant amount of money, especially with fewer big players left in the industry," he said. "If we want to fully level the playing field again, we need to correct this."

Schatz also said FHA may not be asking for money right now, but could be firing a warning shot for 2010 or 2011.

"FHA is in full disclosure mode, not crisis mode," he said. "I don't think the taxpayer should pony up more money into the system. We're are much more stable than last year. Let's give capitalism and the system a chance to work this out."

(Source: New Haven Register)By Angela Carter, New Haven Register, Conn.

Las Vegas Realtor David Brownell is telling first-time homebuyers they need to be under contract within the next 30 days to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit set to expire Dec. 1.

The tax credit, authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, is fully refundable for taxpayers who have not owned a home in the past three years.

Most first-time buyers use Federal Housing Administration loans, which accounted for only 28 percent of home sales in August, Brownell said. It's unfortunate that banks aren't focused on this group with time running out on the tax credit, he said.

"Many first-time buyers are scrambling to get an offer accepted," Brownell said. "You have all these first-time homebuyers out there and if they don't get a home before Nov. 30, what if they say, 'I'll just keep renting.'? This is getting first-time homebuyers off the fence."

To claim the refund, the close of escrow and transfer of title to the new homeowner must be recorded no later than Nov. 30. A typical home sale transaction takes about 30 to 45 days to complete.

"It takes a little longer than it used to," said Sue Naumann, president of Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors. "I'm working with three or four groups looking to get the tax credit. Since housing is affordable now, we're working diligently to find a home to take advantage of this."

Brownell of Keller Williams Realty wants to see banks follow the tack of Fannie Mae with foreclosed homes. That is, for the first 15 days of the listing, they take offers only from owner-occupants, or people who will be making the home their primary residence. Investors can come to the table with cash offers after that, he said.

In August, 42 percent of escrow closings were cash transactions, 23 percent were conventional loans and 5 percent were Veterans Affairs loans, Brownell reported. Also, 80 percent of the closing prices were less than $200,000 and 12 percent were between $200,000 and $300,000.

Short sales, or homes sold for less than the mortgage owed, represented 12 percent of all resale closings in August, reported Applied Analysis, a Las Vegas-based business advisory firm. That's up from 8.8 percent a year ago.

Although short sales in Las Vegas are not significant in absolute numbers (545 in the past month), they represent the largest share in recent history. Also, nearly 7,800 short-sale units are under contract, either contingent or pending lending approval, but have yet to close.

"Short sales aren't even a consideration in this unless they already have approval," Naumann said. "They take 60 to 90 days or more for approval and then you have to work through the normal escrow."

Buyers are better off making an offer on a bank-owned home or with an individual seller who's capable of making a timely decision and getting it into escrow, she said.

Not all short-sale contracts will obtain lender approval, so financial institutions clearly play a significant role in the number of transactions, Applied Analysis principal Jeremy Aguero said.

With median existing home prices in Las Vegas less than $135,000, an $8,000 tax credit is a huge consideration for individual buyers, he said.

"A lot of those buyers may fail to qualify or may not have the incentive to close once that expires," Aguero said. "If you look at the ramping up of existing sales, it's a very close correlation with the government program. Of course, it has to go away sometime. It can't last forever."

Naumann said the Realtors association has lobbied Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., and U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., and they all suggested they're pushing for an extension of the tax credit, though nothing has come of it yet and there's no guarantee anything ever will.

National Association of Realtors lobbyist Jerry Giovaniello said there was at least a 50-50 chance of getting Congress to extend the tax credit past Dec. 1 when he visited Las Vegas in July. He's also pushing to raise the tax credit to $15,000 and expand it to all homebuyers, though that will take a lot more work, Giovaniello said.

"We are working hard on extending the tax credit," Giovaniello told the Review-Journal recently from Washington, D.C. "Many people in the pipeline might not get closed on the purchase of their home by Nov. 30 when it ends."

The group is urging members to send a message to Congress to extend the date. Giovaniello said there are "good signs" on Capitol Hill and that Reid has expressed interest in the issue.

Homebuyer interest and housing sales increased almost as soon as the ink was dry on the tax credit legislation. Lower prices and interest rates appeal to consumers, but it's been the tax credit that has attracted people to open houses and to homeownership, Realtors said.

Existing-home closings in Las Vegas increased 63 percent through July to 26,038, local research firm SalesTraq reported.

Aguero said any further increase in Las Vegas home sales depends on "banks coming to play."

"Certainly, the premature expiration of those (tax) incentives will have negative effects nationwide and more so in Nevada," he said.

Another threat to homebuyers is the tenuous status of FHA financing, which will likely be the next shoe to drop, California-based real estate consultant John Burns said.

Claims against the FHA insurance fund have climbed, with roughly 7 percent of all FHA-insured loans now delinquent, and the fund is likely running dry, he said. According to a report from mortgage finance experts, FHA will not meet its minimum requirement as of its fiscal year-end.

This financial reality will come to light about the same time that other market forces run out of steam -- just as the $8,000 tax credit expires and more of the stalled real estate-owned homes now held on banks' balance sheets come to market.

Although most observers believe that Congress would support the FHA if necessary, Burns wonders whether FHA officials will be under pressure to continue tightening their lending policies, which now allow 96.5 percent loan-to-value mortgages for people with 600 FICO scores. Already, FHA has contracted its own standards to require a 10 percent down payment for those with credit scores below 500.

"The culmination of all these factors means housing could see another leg down later this year or early next year," Burns said.

Contact reporter Hubble Smith at hsmith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0491.

Source: LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

The Federal Housing Authority announced last week that its capital reserve ratio would drop below mandatory levels for the first time in its 75-year history. The news comes just weeks after the Obama Administration launched a program to assist FHA borrowers that are behind on payments, a program that is set to only help a small percentage of those eligible.

Following its announcement, the FHA stated that it will not need government aid. “To be clear, the fund’s reserves are sufficient to cover our future losses, so the FHA will not require taxpayer assistance or new Congressional action,” said FHA Commissioner David Stevens in a press release.

The capital reserve ratio mandated by Congress for the FHA is 2 percent and with the agency now insuring about a quarter of all new loans generated this year some concern exists that a bailout may be needed if delinquencies continue to rise. Roughly 17 percent of the 5.3 million mortgages the FHA insures are behind by at least one payment.

With perceived risk increasing for the FHA, Commissioner Stevens also announced intentions to hire a Chief Risk Officer, a new position that has not existed in the agency’s 75-year history. The move will help further crackdown on shady mortgage operators that try to push bad loans.

The FHA has been key component in recovery of the home loan market the past year as borrowers who attain FHA insurance are only required to make a down payment of 3.5 percent. About 80 percent of new loans insured by the FHA have been for new homebuyers who might not have been able to purchase a home with larger down payment requirements.

“By keeping affordable loans flowing, particularly to the growing ranks of first-time homebuyers, the FHA has been critical to our nation’s economic and housing market recovery,” said U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan.

Additionally, the most recent loan modification program launched by lawmakers earlier this month has not made nearly the headway as hoped. About 850,000 FHA loans that are behind on payments are eligible for modification, but the program is only set to assist 45,000 borrowers.

That result is doing little to relieve the pressure of rising foreclosures, which will continue to place a large burden on the FHA insure reserves.

By KEVIN POST Business Editor, 609-272-7250 | Posted: Sunday, September 20, 2009

The housing slump has been characterized by falling home prices, rising foreclosures and a scarcity of buyers.

But despite collapse of the market for mortgage-backed securities and the subsequent credit crisis, financing has remained available, thanks in large part to the Federal Housing Administration.

Created to assist the housing market during the Great Depression, the FHA returned to the front lines in this severe recession by backing bigger mortgages with fewer requirements.

While it has succeeded in that battle, its own financial position has been wounded, enough to raise questions about whether it will need to raise premiums, seek money from Congress or tighten its lending support.

On Friday, the FHA admitted its finances have eroded beyond legal requirements, but insisted such steps wouldn't be needed for now. Instead it proposed increasing the net worth required of lenders and requiring them to take responsibility for fraud by mortgage brokers with whom they work.

The FHA's success has been considerable. As of midyear, it was insuring 18 percent of U.S. home purchases, up from 4 percent in 2006, according to federal Housing and Urban Development figures.
In New Jersey, FHA loans jumped from 9,724 in 2006 to 38,123 last year - and 39,881 this year so far, according to Lemar C. Wooley, HUD spokesman.

Megan Booth, a senior policy representative for the National Association of Realtors, said Wednesday that FHA is currently providing (through its guarantees) more than 30 percent of mortgage money.

"The FHA is critical to the industry right now," Booth said.

Tom Kimble, a Realtor with Balsley Losco in Northfield who has guided $350 million in sales in the past 25 years, put it more bluntly: "FHA has been our savior."

If anything reduced its availability, "it would be a dagger in the heart of our recovery," he said. Booth said a number of changes to the FHA program in the past couple of years have made it a key source of mortgage money.

The most important was an increase in loan amounts eligible for FHA insurance. Instead of a blanket $362,000 limit, FHA now sets amounts based on market prices. For the Atlantic City market, Booth said, the FHA limit is $453,750.

Other changes are not as well-known, even within the industry, she said.

Formerly, FHA had its own strict appraisal guidelines, but now only requires using an FHA-approved appraiser following conventional guidelines, she said.

FHA used to require a wide variety of repairs to be made to properties in order to qualify, she said, while now only repairs related to health and safety must be done.

Booth and Kimble both noted one chief appeal of FHA-backed mortgages: down payments of as little as 3.5 percent.

Sellers can contribute as much as 6 percent of the home's cost to cover closing costs, and there is no minimum credit score for buyers, Booth said.

But as FHA-insured mortgages have become more popular in the recession, the agency has had to pay off on that insurance more often. As of June, 8 percent of FHA loans were delinquent or in foreclosure, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

FHA's reserves to cover its insurance losses fell from 6 percent in 2007 to 3 percent in 2008 - just more than the 2 percent minimum reserve required by the legislation authorizing the FHA.
FHA Commissioner David H. Stevens said Friday that the agency's annual review at the end of this month will show its reserves have fallen below the 2 percent threshold.

Booth said the NAR will support an increase in FHA premiums to build up the reserves if necessary - even though that would add to the cost of homeownership, something the Realtors rarely support.
She said that even in the unlikely event that FHA needed to go to Congress for some sort of taxpayer-funded support, the NAR would stand behind it. "It's a very important source of funding," she said.
Kimble said he believes FHA may be moving beyond its problems.

"The defaults are probably from business written a year ago or earlier," he said. "The ones being written right now are from a solid group of borrowers."

Kimble said there are good signs in the real estate market, including the beginnings of a reduction in inventory. But there is also worry.

"We're being told that there's a whole crop of short sales and foreclosures being held back because (banks) don't want to flood the market," he said.

To ensure the nascent recovery continues, Kimble would like to see the successful $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers renewed and extended to all buyers.

But at the very least, nothing should be allowed to impair the crucial finance work of FHA, he said.
"We'd come to a screeching halt and find ourselves in trouble in a jiffy," he said.

E-mail Kevin Post:
KPost@pressofac.com

Source: pressofAtlanticCity.com

Modern home selling has gone way beyond the “for sale” sign on the front lawn. Nearly 90 percent of home buyers look online when shopping for a home, according to the National Association of Realtors. So your home-selling efforts need to cruise the Information Superhighway at top speed.

“Despite a slowdown in the housing market, real estate consumers have increased their usage of the Internet as their ‘go-to’ real estate information source in order to successfully find the home they purchase,” says Greg Healy, vice president of operations for ForSaleByOwner.com. “Consumers are becoming more independent in the home-buying process, and are educating themselves about real estate issues.” On line searches are often the best way to determine the most favorable FHA loan rate and to be sure their property is suited for FHA appraisal guidelines.

The number of buyers who ended up purchasing a home they first saw online has soared -- from just 8 percent in 2001 to 32 percent in 2008 -- according to NAR statistics. Meanwhile, the number of buyers who found their homes through a real estate agent has dropped from 48 percent in 2001 to 34 percent in 2008.

Buyers, however, aren’t the only half of the real estate equation that is turning to more independent use of the Internet to close deals. More sellers are using Internet tools to independently market their homes in an economy where keeping every dollar of a home’s sale price is more important than ever.

“Home sellers need to know how to use the Internet’s full marketing power to attract the growing number of buyers who go online to find their next home,” Healy says. They’re turning to sites like ForSaleByOwner.com that now allow them to list their homes on the Multiple Listing Service and Realtor.com, which were once only available for sellers who used full-service real estate agents. In addition, the real estate website also posts their customers’ homes on Craigslist, USAToday.com, Yahoo Real Estate, Google Base, Facebook and other popular websites.

The Internet and broader access to it have helped even the playing field between professional real estate agents and homeowners who decide to sell their homes independently. With access to many of the same tools the pros use to market homes, private sellers are able to better weigh the advantages of working with a real estate agent against the ability to retain as much of their selling price as possible.

Regardless of who’s doing the selling, a successful online home-selling campaign relies on several factors:

* Placement on the right sites, such as local MLS sites and national sites like Realtor.com and ForSaleByOwner.com.

* Comprehensive and professional-sounding descriptions of the property, including room sizes, overall square footage, selling points and neighborhood assets.

* Multiple, high-quality color images and, if possible, video tours of the home.

* Simple, easy-to-use ways to contact the seller and schedule a showing.

* Competitive pricing based on selling prices of comparable homes in the area.

NAR statistics also show that homeowners who sell their own homes are able to sell for closer to their asking price and four weeks quicker than sellers who hired a real estate agent. To learn more about how to use Internet tools to sell your home, visit www.ForSaleByOwner.com.

Homeownership and green improvements will be more affordable for more Americans in 2009, thanks to several provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The changes will put more money in taxpayers’ pockets and allow homeowners to save thousands of dollars over the next several years.

The First-time Homebuyer Credit has been extended and increased to qualifying individuals who purchase a home in 2009 before Dec. 1. First-time homebuyers are defined as those who have never owned a principal residence or who have not owned a principal residence at any time during the three years prior to the date of purchase.

For 2008 and 2009 tax returns, the credit is equal to 10 percent of the home purchase price, up to $8,000. It phases out when modified adjusted gross income is $75,000 for an individual or $150,000 for joint filers. Married taxpayers must both qualify as “first-time homebuyers” in order to receive the full credit.

Taxpayers who claimed the full $8,000 First-time Homebuyer Credit on their 2008 federal return cannot claim it on their 2009 return. Those who have not claimed the credit should determine which year to use it based on your income. If you expect your income to decrease in 2009, it will likely make more sense to claim the credit on your 2009 return rather than your 2008 return.

The only scenario in which the credit must be paid back is if the home ceases to be the owners’ principal residence within 36 months of the purchase date. Then the full credit amount must be repaid on the federal return for that tax year.

The credit was initially created to be claimed after a home is purchased, but the Obama administration is now allowing qualifying taxpayers to use it to cover certain purchasing costs. Homebuyers with mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration may be eligible to receive advances on the credit, which could be used for closing costs, fees and additional money for a down payment beyond the FHA’s required 3.5 percent minimum.

Anyone can apply for an FHA-backed mortgage, regardless of income. However, there are limits on the size of the mortgage, and lenders may charge a fee for the credit. Some states are also offering similar programs.

The new stimulus plan also includes tax credits equal to 30 percent, up to $1,500, for certain energy-efficient improvements to residential properties. The Residential Energy Property Credit can be claimed on 2009 and 2010 returns for improvements such as adding insulation or installing energy-efficient windows, doors, or heating and air conditioning systems. Bigger improvements involving alternative energy equipment such as solar hot water headers, geothermal heat pumps and wind turbines may be claimed on 2009 to 2016 returns under the Residential Energy Efficient Property Credit.

In addition to homeowner tax breaks, the 2009 act includes several new or increased credits and deductions. You can easily learn which provisions you may qualify for on your 2009 taxes by answering simple questions in TaxACT. Preview versions of TaxACT 2009 software will be available in October, allowing you to plan ahead and get a head start on your return. When you’re ready to prepare and file your 2009 return, TaxACT will help you complete the correct forms for the credits in a matter of minutes.

Read the details of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 at www.IRS.gov and learn more about TaxACT at www.TaxACT.com.