INTRODUCTION TO VERSION 3.0 of MORTCOST

In May of 1986, the IRS issued a press release stating that interest points
incurred when refinancing an existing mortgage could not be deducted in the
following year.  While they were still paid in the year that the
refinancing occurred, the deduction would instead have to be spread out
over the remaining years of the loan.  Their position is that this is
prepaid interest, and not subject to the same rules that apply for a new
home purchase or home improvement.  The IRS told us that this deduction
must be spread over that period "ratably", or in other words, in equal
amounts for each year.

MORTCOST v3.0 has been modified to properly deal with the interest points
deduction when you are analyzing the refinancing of a loan.  The previous
method of deducting points for the year that the loan is written remains in
the program for analysis of new home loans and home improvement loans.

Other improvements to v3.0 include a new menu for reviewing and changing
inputs that is easier to use.  The output was reorganized to accomodate
handling of the new point analysis, and the loan costs are presented in a
more logical order.  A number of other minor internal improvements were
made. 

A new user registration program has been started with version 3.0 that
provides you with added benefits.  See MORTCOST.DOC for details.