Help save the Mortgage Interest Deduction (MID)!

Addressing the National Association of Realtors in 1984, President Ronald Reagan said, "I want you to know that we will preserve the part of the American dream which the home-mortgage-interest deduction symbolizes."  I cannot believe that, less than thirty years later, any Congressperson would even think of proposing a limit to the Mortgage Interest Deduction.  If you are not sure of your understanding of the MID, or would like to know more about the history of it, the San Francisco Chronicle has a well-written, easy to understand article about it here.

While we all support efforts to reduce the deficit, further undermining the housing recovery cannot be the price that is paid. 

Click here to contact your Congressperson to ask him or her to defend the Mortgage Interest Deduction from any cuts or reduction as described in the Deficit Commission Report.

Here are some suggested talking points for you to use when you call or write your Congressperson:

• The mortgage interest deduction helps middle-income families, who already pay nearly all U.S. income taxes.  More than 60% of the families who claim the mortgage interest deduction have household incomes between $60,000 and $200,000 (estimate from the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®).
   

• A large number of high-income taxpayers live in areas where housing is very expensive, such as California and New York. In high-cost housing markets, lowering the $1 million cap would add a tax burden on families who already must pay high prices for homes.
   

• Home owners already pay 80% to 90% of the income tax in our country.
   

• Getting rid of the mortgage interest deduction would hurt home prices.  Home values would be likely to fall, due to buyers who lower the amount of their purchase offers that consider the loss of the mortgage interest deduction.
   

• It's wrong thinking to blame the mortgage meltdown to the fed’s support for home ownership. The meltdown was caused by lax underwriting and faulty ratings by credit rating agencies of the securities backed by the mortgage.