With homeowners carrying much of the burden of the current recession, lawmakers in Richmond are exploring ways to help stimulate the housing sector and provide assistance to homeowners during this year’s General Assembly Session. Here’s a brief look at a few of the bills before the General Assembly that homeowners should be paying attention to:
* Virginia First Time Homebuyer Incentive Program—Introduced by Del. Chris Peace in the House of Delegates and Sen. Don McEachin in the Senate, this legislation would offer a tax credit—$1,250 for individuals and $2,500 for married couples filing jointly—to first time homebuyers who purchase a home between January 1, 2009 and January 1, 2010. To qualify, homebuyers must not have had principal ownership in a residence for three years prior to their new purchase.
* Plat Validity Extension—To help stimulate new home construction and prevent housing costs from skyrocketing when demand for new homes returns, Del. Glen Oder introduced this bill in the House of Delegates to extend the approval and validity of all new housing construction plans for a period of five years. This will prevent builders from having to obtain additional, costly approval to resume delayed construction projects.
*State Housing Trust Fund—Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple is sponsoring this bill in the Senate that would establish a housing trust fund to respond to housing needs throughout the Commonwealth and induce more construction of affordable housing and mixed-income communities. Sen. Whipple’s legislation would also offer matching funds to existing local housing trust funds.
For more information about these and other housing related bills, visit the General Assembly’s Web site at http://legis.state.va.us/.
Source of Article:ClientDirect
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