Redwood City, Ca: Governor Schwarzenegger on Monday signed SB 401 (Wolk) into law providing distressed homeowners with state tax exemption on debt forgiven in a short sale, foreclosure, or loan modification. Effective immediately, this bill generally aligns California’s tax treatment of mortgage debt relief income with federal law. For debt forgiven on a loan secured by a qualified principal residence, borrowers now will be exempt both from federal and state income tax consequences. The tax exemptions apply, with certain restrictions, to debts discharged from 2009 through 2012. Californians who have already filed their 2009 tax returns may claim the exemption by filing a Form 540X amendment.

Taxpayers who do not qualify for the above exemptions (e.g., second home or rental property) may nevertheless be exempt under other provisions. Most notably, taxpayers who are bankrupt are exempt from debt relief income tax. Also, taxpayers who are insolvent are exempt from debt relief income tax to the extent their current liabilities exceed current assets.

More details:

“Qualified principal residence” indebtedness is defined as debt incurred in acquiring, constructing, or substantially improving a principal residence. It includes both first and second trust deeds. It also includes a refinance loan to the extent the funds were used to payoff a previous loan that would have qualified.

The tax breaks apply to debts discharged from 2009 through 2012. Californians who have already filed their 2009 tax returns may claim the exemption by filing a Form 540X amendment.

Taxpayers who do not qualify for the above exemptions (e.g., second home or rental property) may nevertheless be exempt under other provisions. Most notably, taxpayers who are bankrupt are exempt from debt relief income tax. Also, taxpayers who are insolvent are exempt from debt relief income tax to the extent their current liabilities exceed current assets.

For more information about mortgage forgiveness tax consequences, go to California Franchise Tax Board‘s Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Extended webpage and the Internal Revenue Service’s Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act and Debt Cancellation webpage. The full text of Senate Bill 401 is available at www.leginfo.ca.gov.

C.A.R. provides REALTORS® with many legal articles covering a wide range of topics of interest. Some of the new or newly revised legal articles available at http://qa.car.org/ are as follows:

. Homebuyer Tax Credit Chart 2010.
. Internal Data Exchange (IDX).

Redwood City, CA: Redwood City’s deficit is currently at $3,600,000 and is expected to go up higher for the next few years.  The funds needed to pay this deficit are coming from an $18.7 million dollar City reserve fund.

 Are City workers overtime costs the culprit?  City payroll this year increased $1,500,000 or 2.7% compared to the Nation’s inflation rate of –0.4%.  To be fair to the City of Redwood City they have cut back on overtime costs from FY ‘08 to FY ’09 by just a tad over 1.5%

 It seem the big brew ha ha is over two City fire fighters, Patrick Cunningham (4^th highest paid City employee), and David Thielmann who both were paid over $100,000 in overtime pay above and beyond their average base pay of $106,646.  Fire captain Adrian Stuart Anderson earned over $60,000 in overtime pay above his base pay of $128,425.  No one is claiming fraud or being away at a “crap feast” like in San Francisco a couple of decades ago.  However, it appears these few fire fighters were on the job…ready to go.  IMHO, I hope they bought real estate with the extra money.

 Here are some other Redwood City employees’ salaries:

City Manager – Peter Ingram – $238,919

City Attorney – Stan Yamanmoto – $229,289

Police Chief – Louis Cobarruviaz – $213,874

Captains – $196,752 base

Sergeants – $153,837 base

Senior Building Inspector – Jerry Schell – $101,125

Senior Accountants:         Cecilia Lucas – $100,979

                                                   Rajesh Servak – $99,190

H.R. Representative – Ray Yvette Williams – $100,497

City Secretary – $64,013

City Custodian – $52,454

Maintenance worker – Steve Coleman – $68,388 base $32,809 OT – (he is the guy you see out there unclogging your sewer and fixing your water leaks.)

Landscapers – $62,804

Arborists -        Maria D’Agostino – $74,421

                              Jesus Angel – $95,796 base $21,635 OT

What do you think?   With our city working in a deficit, yet having enough funds in our reserve account to offset it, do we need to watch our nickels and dimes closer? Your comments are always encouraged.

Well folks, it looks like at the end of the month, March 31, 2010, the Federal Reserve is going to stop buying mortgages backed securities. This translates to you and me: higher interest rates. If they inch up over 1% hold on tight because we could be headed towards the steepest roller coaster ride yet.

On the other hand if that happens look for the government to step in and start buying again. It will show them that they need to spend more than the 1.25 Trillion Dollars that they have already spent. BTW that’s yours and my money they are spending.

Problem is some damage will be done that could have been diverted if we start doing some smart things. You know things like transparency of lenders along with accountability to include halting those heafy bonuses they give each other. Let’s fix the process first guys and gals uh?

Recommendation: Buy your home or refinance your mortgages TODAY!

TIPS on buying a home: http://www.WoodsideRealEstate.com Please log in and click the the buyers’ button.

Click the link below and see how The Goldman Sachs Golden Boys have tricked the Amercian people once again with their new front company: OneWest Bank.