$8,000 Tax Credit

Although, in my opinion, it is still more likely than not that the tax credit will be extended past the November 30, 2009 deadline (and perhaps expanded to include all primary home purchases), there is a disturbing article on page A3 of today's Wall Street Journal.

$139 million was paid out on fraudulent claims regarding the credit to, at minimum, 19,000 people. The most common scam was for people who did not qualify because their income exceeded the cap to use their children's names and social security numbers to file. Although there are simple remedies to ensure this will not continue - such as requiring a copy of the HUD settlement statement - no such measures are currently in place. With that said, many of the proposals to expand the credit include such safeguards. (Source: WSJ)

Let's hope that the negative press attributable to the fraud as referenced above is insufficient to derail any possible extensions of the credit.