Mortgage Foreclosure & Refinance Resource

In addition to the foreclosure prevention provisions, the new law offers a one-time tax credit of up to $7,500 for first- time homebuyers.

It’s not exactly free money, rather an interest-free, 15-year loan. The homeowner would repay 1/15th of the amount to the government each year, $500 if they qualify for the full $7,500.

No single borrower with an adjusted gross income of more than $95,000 or married couple that makes more than $170,000 will be eligible, said Eric Smith, spokesman for the Internal Revenue Service.

Effectively, “This makes the IRS the lender of last resort,” said Robert Strauss, an economics and public policy professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh who has advised the U.S. Treasury and Congress on taxes.  All stops have been pulled out in an attempt to stimulate the economy and prop up the housing market.