Many homeowners who use foreclosure alternatives such as short sales or mortgage modifications in order to have a portion of their mortgage debt forgiven face the question "am I going to have to pay taxes on the amount of mortgage debt forgiven." In most instances that answer is no! The Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007 was enacted to help homeowners who were trying to escape toxic mortgages and the accompanying debt by not taxing the amounts forgiven as taxable income.
Homeowners who intend to claim the exemption must fill out Form 982 and attach it to their individual tax return in order to be eligible for the relief. Types of eligible debt are debts forgiven in connection with a foreclosure, debt forgiven due to a short sale as well as debt forgiven through a mortgage restructuring such as a HAMP modification. The Act was originally intended to only affect mortgage debt forgiven in 2007, 2008 and 2009 but was recently extended to include all forgiven mortgage debt through 2012!
If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and want to explore foreclosure alternatives that may reduce your mortgage debt and take advantage of the extension of the Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today.
