Q: You recently wrote that, for the first time ever, some homeowners who pay for private mortgage insurance will be allowed to deduct their costs on their tax return?

A: Lenders often require borrowers who make a down payment of less than 20 percent to purchase private mortgage insurance, or PMI, before the lenders will issue a loan. The policy will reimburse the bank for any losses if the account goes into default, but it can cost the borrower more than $1,000 or $2,000 a year.

Congress and President Bush approved the new PMI deduction a few months ago. To be eligible, your policy must have been issued on or after Jan. 1, 2007.

Mortgage insurance paid on loans issued in 2007 and backed by the Federal Housing Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Rural Housing Service also may qualify.

Only a portion of your mortgage-insurance payments can be deducted if you’re a joint tax-filer with an adjusted gross income of more than $100,000, or if you’re a single tax-filer with an adjusted gross of $50,000.

For more information, call the IRS toll-free at 800-829-1040 and request Publication No. 936, Home Mortgage Interest Deduction, or download the document from www.irs.gov.

I am trying to sell my home, and one of the prospective buyers asked me if my neighborhood “has a lot of minorities living here.” I am in a racially mixed area, but I didn’t know how to respond. What is the best way to answer?

The federal Fair Housing Act makes it clear that you cannot refuse to sell to a prospective buyer based solely on the buyer’s race or religion.But the rules that govern comments about a community’s racial and ethnic makeup are murkier, and the slightest misstatement can result in a fair-housing lawsuit or even criminal prosecution.

Attorneys at the National Association of Realtors suggest that sellers and landlords explain that the Fair Housing Act prohibits them from providing that kind of information and to recommend that the prospective buyer or renter “contact the school district, municipal government or local library” for the requested statistics.