Chorus of Homeowners Who Took $7,500 Credit Grows Angrier

• February 19th 2009

by Will Smith

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While would-be homeowners that have sat on the sidelines of the housing market might have been pleased by the Obama administration’s announcement earlier this week of a $8,000 tax credit, one group appears decidedly displeased. Those that were induced to buy a home by last year’s $7,500 tax credit are now crying foul that the new credit isn’t fair. Remember, it’s not the $500 difference between the two credits that bothers them so much, it’s that their $7,500 credit has to be paid back while the new $8,000 credit does not.

After we reported on the new credit earlier this week, a flurry of readers expressed their anger in the comments section. Following are some examples:

“Those who bought a home before Jan 1, 2009 are getting the shaft, twice. $500 less AND you have to repay.”

“So is it official? Those who bought Dec 31st or prior (me personally Sep 2008) have to repay, and those who bought Jan 1st or later get it free? Can someone direct me to a government site that spells this out? And also, how can we organize and fight this obviously unfair ruling?”

“All of us that were first time homebuyers in 2008 must immediately start writing our congressman. This is totally unfair. We helped the economy by buying in 2008, and now are getting screwed. It should have been retroactive. Let’s all ban together and fight this horrible oversight in legislation.”

“Yes it is unfair, and just plain stupid. I’ve been bombarding my congressmen for the past week with my thoughts on this change. There was nothing wrong with the original credit, except that it didn’t encompass all of 2008 and 2009. So instead of fixing that, they turned it into ‘free money in 2009’ financed by taxpayers. Unbelievable. Completely unbelievable. I’m already voting against every single person that voted for this mess come elections… and I’m a Democrat… and I voted for Obama. But this debacle has me disgusted, and I don’t care if I have to vote for a one-eyed chipmunk running for senate… I’m not voting for any of them ever again.”

The question is, will the chorus from the $7,500 crowd grow so loud that the government has to address it? Given that there are many constituencies feeling irked by this week’s raft of housing-related announcements, it doesn’t seem likely that the administration will be able to please everyone.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/chorus_of_homeowners_who_took_7500_credit_grows_angrier/562.