While it is a little known fact, the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act was extended through 2016 when President Obama sign a package of “tax extenders” into law in December 2015. This Act had previously expired December 31, 2014. This is important for any clients wishing to short sale property because without this extension any forgiven debt in a short sale would be included in taxable income. The extension of this act provides relief to homeowners who had qualified mortgage interest forgiven by lenders.
Any homeowner who has qualified debt forgiven should be issued a 1099-C. This is extremely important for homeowners because when a lender forgives their debt, their deficiency is waived. This means they no longer owe the balance on their loan.
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