I think it should be an OR myself...suppose a woman marries a man who is a homeowner and moves in with him? Then supposed they have had a child or two in the past 3 years and are ready down to trade up to a larger home? They are now a couple and will be buying together and I think they should get the credit, even if the wife may have only lived there 3 or 4 years.

Sure, eliminate the "marriage penalty". Oh, and let's also provide all those who have owned their homes for the last 5 years but are not buying a home a tax credit also. Why should they miss out on the federal giveaway?

It's all free money for us. Our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren will be paying much higher taxes to pay for this fiasco which only serves to keep home prices much higher than they should be. Nothing like unfettered greed with no care for future consequences.

@Ted: I'm not necessarily defending the credit - as I think Jamie mentioned last week, at this point it probably means that sellers are simply going to set their price higher to compensate. BUT, if you are going to put a tax credit program in place, it seems a little arbitrary to say that married couples can't simply receive the lesser of whichever credits they would individually qualify for. Maybe the question came up and they just said "hm, that's an easy way to avoid paying out quite as much money, let's make that a 'no'."

I agree with you Ted, but that said, the problem is us. As long as people persist in believing that the president and congress can do much of anything about the short term health of the economy, we will get unwise programs like this tax credit. The fact of the matter is that they can't, and yet the economy is consistently the most important issue to voters in every election. Consequently politicians are always going to focus on the near term, as their jobs depend on it. If that means continually propping up a sector like housing which fundamentally needs to decline further, they will do just that. Until people wise up and demand that we focus on education and infrastructure projects, rather than tax giveaways and bailouts, we will continue with this cycle of boom and bust.

Thought this might help...from the IRS website:

Q. I am a long-time resident (have owned and used my current home as a principal residence for five consecutive years out of the eight-year period ending on the date of purchase of the new residence) but my spouse has lived there for only three years. Can we qualify for the long-time resident homebuyer credit if we purchase a new principal residence?

A. No. Both spouses must have owned and used the same previous principal residence for five consecutive years out of the 8-year period ending on the date of purchase of the new principal residence to qualify for the credit. (12/14/09)

Q. I am a long-time resident and current homeowner and my spouse is a first-time homebuyer (has had no ownership interest in a principal residence during the three-year period ending on the date of purchase of a new principal residence) and we purchased a new principal residence. Can we qualify for either the first-time homebuyer credit or the long-time resident homebuyer credit if we purchase a new principal residence?

A. No. Both you and your spouse must be first-time homebuyers in order to qualify for the first-time homebuyer tax credit. Since you had an ownership interest in a principal residence during the three-year period ending on the date of purchase, neither you nor your spouse qualifies for the credit. Similarly, both you and your spouse must be long-time homeowners of the same previous principal residence in order to qualify for the long-time resident homebuyer credit. Since your spouse is not a long-time homeowner of your current principal residence, neither of you qualify for the credit. (12/14/09)

Q. I am a long-time homeowner of a principal residence and my spouse is a long-time homeowner of a different principal residence. Can we qualify for the long-time resident homebuyer credit if we purchase a new principal residence?

A. No. Both spouses must have owned and used the same previous principal residence for five consecutive years out of the eight-year period ending on the date of purchase of the new principal residence to be eligible for the credit. Since you and your spouse owned and used different principal residences, neither of you qualify. (12/14/09)