Federal rules say that only a family member, employer, or charity may 'gift' a home buyer funds in order to close on a mortgage backed by the Federal Housing Association (FHA).
Several gift down payment companies, acting as charities, sprouted up over the years and essentially funneled money from the seller to the buyer (in the form of a seller contributed down payment for the buyer). I've discussed these type of programs before as they have been problematic, especially for appraisers trying to accurately value a property. The IRS finally took note of this in May of '06 because a non-profit cannot call itself such while collecting a fee for service, which many of these so called 'charities' did.
Until May 2006 the IRS didn't seem to pay these 'non profit' companies any mind, but as of that date recognized that the (majority) of these company's were collecting a fee for providing the service, therefore NOT acting as true not-for-profit charities. A year later, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) proposed a ban on seller-funded down payment assistance but a federal judge stayed the ban and the charities' continued.
Homebuilders especially have long relied on these programs to sell their listings, as have buyers with no down payment, but the new housing rescue bill includes legislation that will mean the death of these types of programs as of October of this year.
Sayonara. . .
Articles in the NY and Seattle Times have stuck fear in my heart. Apparently some granite (as in your kitchen counter tops) could be emitting harmful levels of uranium and/or radon. I learned a little bit about radon back on my exams and it's created by the decay of radium and is considered radioactive and is the second most likely cause of lung cancer. Uranium is a component of nuclear bombs and is toxic to the kidneys. What's next? I think the last 'about the house' scare was asbestos in vinyl flooring a few years back. Luckily for us in the Pacific Northwest, we have a hard level of bedrock that makes exposure to radon unlikely, but still might be worth it to have radon tests done at the time of inspection.