Hearings on Your Local Conservation District:
The Joint Sunset Committee is holding public hearings in each of the three counties on the local Conservation District. The hearing on the Kent Conservation District was held on February 21st at Legislative Hall. The New Castle hearing will be on February 27th at 5:00 p.m. at the Carvel Building and the hearing to take comments and concerns on the Sussex County Conservation District will be held on February 28th at 6:00 p.m. at the Lewes Public Library. Anyone interested in speaking should contact Julie Abbott at 302-744-4309. For more information, contact Debbie Puzzo, Executive Director of The Joint Sunset Committee at 302-744-4088.
Brandywine 100 Community Yard Waste Demonstration Site:
To help homeowners comply with the New Castle County yard waste ban, DNREC opened the demonstration site located on the north side of Cauffiel Parkway on February 15th. The site is open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. For more information visit DNREC's web site,
www.dnrec.delaware.gov or contact Jim Short or Bill Biller at 302-739-9403 or
James.Short@state.de.us or
Bill.Miller@state.de.us.
Help for Homeowners, THANKS TO YOU!
Over 85,000 REALTORS
® contacted the Senate on the Economic Stimulus Package. The legislation included the requested GSE and FHA limit increases strongly backed and lobbied by NAR. To find the NAR ACTION CENTER visit
www.naractioncenter.com.
Temporary Increases in FHA and GSE Mortgage Limits:
The Stimulus Bill President Bush signed in to law makes seven temporary changes to the FHA and GSE loan limits including: raising the base FHA loan limit to $271,050 (65 percent of the current GSE limit); setting the base GSE loan limit at $417,000; raising the maximum FHA loan limit to $729,740; for all areas where the FHA limit exceeds $417,000 the GSE limit will be the same and increases the factor used to calculate FHA limits from 95 to 125 percent of area median sales price. HUD is required by law to publish the new mortgage limits by March 14, 2008. Estimates of the temporary FHA and GSE single-family loan limits can be found at
www.delawarerealtor.com/legislative/docs/FHA_GSE_loan_limits.pdf. For more information on FHA Programs, please contact Jerome Nagy at
jnagy@realtors.org or 202-383-1233 and for information on GSE Programs, contact Jeff Lischer at
jlischer@realtors.org or 202-383-1117.
National Party Conventions:
NAR is working on compiling a list of REALTORS
® who may be delegates to the National party conventions or who are party activists or attendees in either Denver or Minneapolis this summer. NAR would like to include you in their events. If you think you might be attending, please contact Charlotte Herbert at DAR at
charlotte@delawarerealtor.com or 302-734-4444, ext. 12.
Joint Finance Committee Hearings Continue:
This week DAR kept an eye on the Joint Finance Committee Hearings with the Delaware Department of Transportation and the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. Secretary of Transportation Wicks reviewed her budget request, discussed the department's 2007 accomplishments and outlined transportation challenges which included finding a mechanism to create sub regional master plans with local governments to ensure that roads are available to meet comprehensive plan needs. DNREC Secretary Hughes and his team provided a comprehensive program update. During the hearing there was discussion about raising permit fees for septic systems and a request for legislation to adjust all permit fees and establish automatic increases based on a cost of living adjustment or a tie to the Consumer Price Index. There was a lot of interest from the General Assembly in resolving the tax ditch issue. Interest was expressed by Co-Chair Oberle (R-Beecher's Lot) in legislation to allow wind turbines in developments.
DAR to meet with Commissioner Denn:
DAR will be meeting to discuss concerns in the insurance arena, including homeowner insurance cancellations for claims or premium increases for inquiries, as well as lack of insurance coverage in coastal communities. If you have any insurance issues you would like us to address, please contact Charlotte Herbert at
charlotte@delawarerealtor.com or 302-734-4444, ext. 12.
DAR to meet with City of Wilmington on Eminent Domain:
DAR will share with the City of Wilmington its draft legislation on eminent domain. The legislation seeks to increase fairness and consistency by ensuring truly just compensation, clarifies and tightens the definition of blight and requires all communities to follow the same procedures. The legislation increases procedural and substantive protections by requiring in-depth planning prior to condemnation, places greater responsibility on government to demonstrate need for condemnation as a tool of last resort and provides meaningful opportunities to challenge the proposed condemnation.
Flood Protection Grants Available From FEMA:
FEMA has implemented the Severe Repetitive Loss Program available to property owners who have submitted multiple large claims on their flood insurance. DNREC's Division of Soil and Water Conservation will serve as the point of contact for applicants and assist FEMA and communities in determining the specific flood risk at properties and in developing projects that meet the program's criteria. Property owners who qualify will receive notification from FEMA. Deadline for application for this year's funds is April 30, 2008. For more information, contact Michael Powell, Division of Soil and Water Conservation at 302-739-9921.
Mortgage Forgiveness Tax Relief Instructions Available:
The IRS has released a
document (IR-2008-17) to educate taxpayers on complying with the mortgage cancellation tax relief provisions enacted at the end of last year. Borrowers who had some portion of their mortgage debt forgiven in 2007 should receive a
Form 1099C from the lender identifying the amount of forgiven debt. Borrowers must also file a newly created form to report to the IRS that the debt relief was for a qualified mortgage. The new form,
Form 982, and its instructions are available online from the
IRS.
