Earlier this week I lambasted the IRS for announcing that they would be auditing 100,000 applicants for the $8,000 tax credit. I am not a fan of the government creating honey traps and then using them to snare unsuspecting taxpayers with it or using the fear of the IRS to stop people from rightfully claiming their refunds.
However, there is no denying that there was fraud committed in the program. The Wall Street Journal does a great job of outlining some of the more egregious examples:
To encourage non-homeowners to buy homes, the credit is limited to those who haven’t owned a home in the past three years. But many cases of abuse appear to be designed by those trying to get around that restriction. Among Mr. George’s findings:
- Some 580 filers under 18 years of age had claimed almost $4 million in first-time home-buyer credits, including one that was just 4 years old. “Contract law generally exempts children under the age of 18 from being bound by the terms of a contract,” Mr. George said in written testimony. “Therefore, it is unlikely that these taxpayers would have entered into an arm’s-length transaction for the purchase of a home.”
- Some 74,000 tax credit claims worth $500 million came from taxpayers who had indications of prior home ownership within the preceding three years.
- Another 19,300 tax returns in 2008 were filed claiming the credit for a home that had not yet been purchased. Those credits totaled more than $139 million.
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Astounding! What happened to personal integrity?
American Law Firm succeeded where these programs from Obama could not. The bank Wells Fargo never offered me the program, rather they said I was not qualified for any of the programs. Funny how things change over time, because when the attorneys gave my lender a call, Wells Fargo magically worked things out for me. I cannot thank American Law Firm enough for what they have done, they saved my home when it went into foreclosure, and then proceeded to reduce my interest rate from 8% to 3.75% and my payments were cut in half.
Thank you American Law Firm.
Betsy
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