Nearly 180,000 home buyers would have missed out on the tax credit had Congress and the president not taken action to extend the deadline to close escrow. Estimates from NAR show as many as 17,700 home buyers in California would not have received the tax credit without the extension. Laura Oliver, Realtor® Canaday Group, RE/MAX Fine Homes President Obama signed a bill Friday extending the closing deadline for the federal home buyer tax credit to Sept. 30, 2010. The bill is retroactive and covers from June 30, 2010 to the date of enactment of the extension. To qualify for the extension, home buyers must have entered into a contract prior to May 1, 2010.