Real Estate Sales from Hell: What You Don\'t Want To Do When Buying or Selling Homes, Repos, Probates and Short-sales Congress gave homeowners facing financial distress some good news last week. The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation that would end the controversial practice of imposing federal income taxes on borrowers whose mortgage lenders forgive a portion of their debt as part of a pre-foreclosure short sale arrangement. The House-passed bill (HR 3648) would prohibit income tax levies on home mortgage debt discharges. Similar legislation is pending in the Senate (S 1394). The House bill is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2007, thereby assisting borrowers who received debt relief any time this year, and in future years. It would not apply, however, to transactions closing in 2006 or earlier.

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