Lower Your Federal Taxes, Every Year, For the Life of Your Loan

Maryland HomeCredit Program

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Lower Your Federal Taxes, Every Year, For the Life of Your Loan

A Maryland HomeCredit can save a homebuyer tens of thousands of dollars over the life of a home loan, and makes owning a home more affordable. Together with a home loan through the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development's (DHCD's) Maryland Mortgage Program (MMP), which offers Down Payment Assistance and the certainty of a 30-year fixed interest rate, the State of Maryland is making the dream of sustainable homeownership a reality for more Marylanders than ever.

To get started, contact one of our approved MD HomeCredit lending partners today.

You may already know about the mortgage interest deduction that most homeowners already claim each year on their federal taxes. The Maryland HomeCredit Program is different, and provides a federal tax credit to eligible homebuyers. A tax deduction reduces the homeowner’s “taxable income”. In contrast, a tax credit, such as the Maryland HomeCredit, provides the homeowner with a reduction in their actual federal tax liability.

DHCD's Maryland HomeCredit Program provides eligible homebuyers with a federal tax credit that may be claimed annually, the value of which is equal to 25% of the value of mortgage interest payments (up to $2,000) paid each year, for the life of the loan (i.e. until payoff, sale, refinance or transfer).

How to Get a Maryland HomeCredit

Homebuyers apply for a Maryland HomeCredit through an approved mortgage lender.  The Lender will confirm the borrowers' eligibility for this program, and submit an application to the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD).

Who Can Get a Maryland HomeCredit?

To get a HomeCredit, you must be purchasing a home in Maryland and meet borrowing criteria that include:

• You must meet the same income limits and home purchase price limits as the Maryland Mortgage Program;
• You cannot have owned a home during the past three (3) years, UNLESS you are purchasing in aTargeted Area;
• The home  you purchase must be your primary residence.

 NOTE - the Maryland HomeCredit Program is not available for refinances or existing homeowners

Calculating the Value of an Maryland HomeCredit

The size of the tax credit received by a homeowner with a HomeCredit is 25% of that year's mortgage interest payments, up to a maximum credit of $2,000 in any single year. 

Note that the actual net savings due to the HomeCredit are likely to be less than the face value of the tax credit, since the value of the of interest payments associated with the tax credit (25% of total interest payments) cannot also be used as a standard mortgage interest deduction. 

The following example shows a typical calculation:

 

 

Our downloadable calculator can help you estimate how a Maryland HomeCredit can provide you with savings over the life of a loan. 

Maryland HomeCredit Fees

 

 

GET STARTED - Talk to an Approved Maryland HomeCredit Lender

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USDA Home Loan Eligible End Unit Townhome in Marlton Community

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KELLER WILLIAMS PREFERRED PROPERTIES | 9701 Apollo Drive, 102 | Upper Marlboro | MD | 20774

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About Good Neighbor Next Door by HUD

About Good Neighbor Next Door

Law enforcement officers, pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade teachers and firefighters/emergency medical technicians can contribute to community revitalization while becoming homeowners through HUD's Good Neighbor Next Door Sales Program. HUD offers a substantial incentive in the form of a discount of 50% from the list price of the home. In return you must commit to live in the property for 36 months as your sole residence.

How the Program Works

Eligible Single Family homes located in revitalization areas are listed exclusively for sales through the Good Neighbor Next Door Sales program. Properties are available for purchase through the program for seven days.

How to Participate in Good Neighbor Next Door

Check the listings for your state. Follow the instructions to submit your interest in purchasing a specific home. If more than one person submits on a single home a selection will be made by random lottery. You must meet the requirements for a law enforcement officer, teacher, firefighter or emergency medical technician and comply with HUD's regulations for the program.

HUD requires that you sign a second mortgage and note for the discount amount. No interest or payments are required on this "silent second" provided that you fulfill the three-year occupancy requirement.

The number of properties available is limited and the list of available properties changes weekly.

To learn more, please see our Good Neighbor Sales Frequently Asked Questions!

Directly from the HUD web page.

Contact me, Angel S. Brown, directly to get qualified to view homes for this program.

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KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY | 9701 Apollo Drive, 102 | Upper Marlboro | MD | 20774

Add frank@frankgodfrey.com to your safe senders list. Click here for directions.

THE PROPERTY TAX ASSESSMENT APPEAL PROCESS

Property owners sometimes feel that the department's estimate of their property value is wrong. The assessment appeal process is available to allow property owners the opportunity to dispute the value determined by the department. Property values rise and fall to reflect the market. A property owner should file an appeal when they believe that their property is not valued at its current market value.

Appeals may be filed on three occasions:

1. upon receipt of an assessment notice;
2. by a petition for review; and
3. upon purchase of property between January 1 and June 30.

APPEAL ON REASSESSMENT

Property owners will normally receive a Notice of Assessment every three years that shows the old market value as well as the new market value. The new value reflects the market influence and other conditions affecting the property from the time of the last assessment.

If you decide to appeal, the first step is to reply to the Notice of Assessment by signing and returning the appeal form within 45 days of the date of the notice. Following this, a personal or telephone hearing will be scheduled. Appeals can also be made in writing, eliminating the need for a hearing.

PETITION FOR REVIEW

You may file a petition for review by January 1 in the two years your property is not valued when events have occurred since your last regular assessment that you believe have caused your property value to decline.  If you fail to respond to the Notice of Assessment within the required time frame, you may file a petition for review by January 1 for the following year.  Click here to obtain a Petition form. The completed form should be mailed to your local assessment office.  After filing the petition, you will be scheduled for a hearing, or, if you prefer, your written submission can be reviewed eliminating the need for a hearing.  

APPEAL UPON PURCHASE

If you purchase a property and the property is transferred after January 1 but before July 1, you may file an appeal within 60 days of the transfer. After filing a written appeal, you will be scheduled for a hearing; or, if you prefer, your written appeal can be reviewed instead of having a hearing.

FIRST STEP - SUPERVISOR'S LEVEL

The first level of the appeal process, known as the Supervisor's level, is informal. You will present your case to an assessor designated by the Supervisor of Assessments. Typically, hearings at this level take approximately 15 minutes.

You can obtain a copy of the worksheet for the property free of charge from your local assessment office. The information on the worksheet will be reviewed at the time of the hearing to assure its accuracy.

For assistance in estimating the value of your property, you can obtain sales data from various sources, including: sales listings located in the local assessment office; commercially available sales reports and other information available at local libraries; local Real Estate offices; personal surveys of recently sold comparable properties in the area; and local listings of sales transactions in the newspaper. For a nominal fee, worksheets of comparable properties may be obtained from the assessment office.

To be most effective, you should:

• Focus on those points that affect the value of your property.
• Indicate why the Total New Market Value does not reflect the market value of the property.
• Identify any mathematical errors on the worksheet or inaccurate information describing the characteristics of the property (such as the number of bathrooms, fireplaces, etc.).
• Provide examples of sales of comparable properties which support your findings as to the value of the property.
• Avoid the following issues since they are not relevant to the value under appeal: comparison to past values, percent of increase, additional metropolitan costs, the amount of the tax bill, properties in other taxing jurisdictions, and services rendered or not rendered.

Your first level hearing should be viewed as an opportunity to present evidence which would indicate that the department's value of the property is inaccurate.

SECOND STEP - PROPERTY TAX ASSESSMENT APPEAL BOARD

Following the hearing, you will receive a final notice. If you disagree with the decision, you can appeal to the next step which is to theProperty Tax Assessment Appeal Board. The second step appeal must be filed within 30 days from the date of the final notice from the Supervisor of Assessments.

There is an independent appeal board comprised of 3 local residents in each of the counties and Baltimore City. Property owners generally need no assistance at this step, no fees are required, and they are free to present any supporting evidence. You can obtain a list of the comparable properties that will be used by the assessment office before the Board if you file a written request to the assessment office at least 15 days before the scheduled date of the hearing.

THIRD STEP - MARYLAND TAX COURT

If you are dissatisfied with the decision made by the Appeal Board, you can file an appeal within 30 days of the date of the board's decision to the Maryland Tax Court. The Maryland Tax Court is an independent body appointed by the Governor. Although the proceedings are more formal than the first 2 levels, it is still considered to be an informal, administrative hearing. Property owners who are in disagreement with the Tax Court's decision can appeal further through the regular judiciary system. Here you will probably need legal counsel.

RECAP

The assessment appeal process is a mechanism intended to assure an accurate property valuation. If you believe that the value placed upon your property is higher than it should be and if you can provide supporting evidence (such as sales information for properties comparable to your own), then it is in your best interest to appeal.

Want To Qualify For First Time Home Buyer Grant Programs?

There are plenty of grant programs offered by different Counties within Maryland.  In order to qualify for those programs you must take a Home Buyer class that teaches you, not only the components involved with buying your home, but also what it takes to keep your home.  Some of these grant programs provide upwards of $40,000 so it would be advantageous to do whatever is necessary to partake in these grant programs.  We recommend joining the Home Buyer's Club with Hope Financial.  They also offer a Fast Track class but we know there's no fast way to learn what it takes to achieve the American dream of home ownership.  See the comparison below.

HOMEBUYER’S CLUB VS. FAST TRACK BENEFITS CHART

Keller Williams Preferred Properties has invited Hope Financial into our office to offer the Fast Track class on January 11, 2014 from 9 - 5 pm.  You must call Hope Financial directly in order to register, 301-567-3330.  We thought this would make it easy on our wonderful clients who have already know where our office is.  Register to get your grant money today.  As I always tell my personal clients, if we don't use the money they'll stop offering it.  So use the money. 

FILE FOR THE HOMESTEAD TAX CREDIT BEFORE 12/31/12

COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS ON
THE HOMESTEAD TAX CREDIT APPLICATION 

Learn more about the Homestead Tax Credit program at www.dat.state.md.us/sdatweb/homestead.html

1.  What is the law that requires homeowners to apply for the Homestead Tax Credit?  
Legislation enacted by the 2007 session of the General Assembly requires homeowners to submit a one-time application in order to continue their eligibility for the homestead tax credit.  The homestead credit limits the amount of assessment increase on which a homeowner will pay property taxes in that tax year on the one property actually used as the owner’s principal residence.  See Section 9-105 Tax-Property Article of the Maryland Annotated Code.

2.  Why is the Homestead Eligibility Application needed?
The reason why the application process was needed is because some property owners were improperly receiving the credit on vacation homes and rented properties.  County and municipal governments were losing tax revenues needed to provide important services to their residents. 

 3.  Why should I want to submit the application?
Because of assessment increases and because of the low assessment caps adopted by the county governments, many homeowners in the State have been receiving substantial homestead credits each year on their property tax bills. View a listing of homestead caps for each local government

 4. Were property owners notified about the Homestead application requirements? 
The Department of Assessments and Taxation included the application in the Assessment Notices mailed to property owners during the regular reassessment cycle from December 2007 through December 2011. New purchasers of properties will be mailed a homestead application by the Department.5.  How do I file the Homestead Eligibility Application? 
a.  File electronically: Request an application from the Department by sending an email to Hcredit@dat.state.md.us
The application mailed out to you will contain an Access Number so you may file electronically on our site athttps://sdathtc.resiusa.org/homesteadb.   Mail the application: You may mail in the completed paper application the Department sends you. You may also print and mail the completed PDF copy of the application available on our web site.  Applications must be postmarked by December 31, 2012.

c.  Fax the application: You may also fax in the completed paper application to the Department at 410-225-9344. 
          Emailed applications will not be accepted.

Mail completed application to: Department of Assessments and Taxation Homestead Tax Credit Division 301 West Preston Street, 8th Floor Baltimore MD 21201

Contact the Homestead Division Telephone: 410-767-2165 1-866-650-8783 Fax: 410-225-9344 Email: homestead@dat.state.md.us Request an application: Hcredit@dat.state.md.us

 You can find out if you have already filed an application by looking up your property in our Real Property database

 6.  What is the Department of Assessments and Taxation doing to insure the confidentiality of my Social Security number that I am required to provide on the homestead tax credit application form?
The Department has a 30-year history of receiving and absolutely protecting confidential Social Security numbers and income tax return information received from hundreds of thousands of homeowners applying for the Homeowners’ Tax Credit Program based on income.  These same protections and additional protections will be provided to protect the confidentiality of Social Security numbers supplied on homestead tax credit applications.  For those homeowners who submit applications electronically, the Department’s website is an “encrypted” protected site that uses the unique 8-digit security "Access Number” and scrambles the individual Social Security numbers.  For those homeowners who submit a paper application, there is a series of administrative procedures and protections under federal law that the Department follows in accordance with the strict non-disclosure and safeguard activities required of the agency because of our receipt of federal income tax information.

Revised: November 2012

Free Grant Money for First Time Home Buyers - Buy in Suitland

Buy Suitland

Important Events HQS Workshop (PDF) Lender/Realtor Training Schedule (PDF) Homebuyer 203k Workshop Schedule (PDF) Map of Buy Suitland Target Areas (PDF) Download Brochure Download Brochure (PDF)

Buy within walking distance of the Metro, walk to work at the Suitland Federal Center, be a part of the revitalization of Suitland. The Buy Suitland Program offers an exciting opportunity to purchase a home in the Suitland Neighborhood Stabilization target area, anchored by the Suitland metro station, the Suitland Federal Center, and the planned mixed-use Suitland Manor Redevelopment Project. Through the Buy Suitland Program, income eligible, credit worthy, first time home buyers can receive up to $40,000 in down payment and closing costs assistance, to purchase a foreclosure or short sale property. Take advantage of this great program, become a homeowner and be a part of the Suitland renaissance!

This website outlines specific guidelines for the homebuyer, realtors and lenders. It also provides a self-assessment test to determine if you are ready to apply to the Buy Suitland Program.

Use this link to ensure your property is located in one of the eligible census tracks:
www.ffiec.gov/geocode/default.aspx