"This has already affected homeowners on Long Island," said John Calagna, spokesman for the New York State Insurance Department, which regulates the New York insurance industry.

The extension of the Wantagh to the Expressway would be of practically no inconvenience to present traffic, would affect few homeowners and would be a rather cost-effective expenditure of taxpayer money.

Other changes affecting home buyers or homeowners include a $100,000 limit on the amount of an equity loan that is tax deductible and the elimination of the medical and educational exemptions that had applied to such loans.

The tax would not affect homeowners or small businesses.

The phenomenon is hardly just affecting current homeowners, or the already affluent.

Some twists in the law affect older homeowners in particular.

The land claim happened to include most of downtown Vancouver and the Fort Vancouver Reserve, affecting homeowners, businesses, churches (like St. Luke's Episcopal Church at the time), and governments.

They rejected the homestead exemption but favored a bill that would have affected homeowners in more towns and cities.

The fixed-price contracts for oil primarily affect homeowners in the Northeast and the Middle Atlantic states, where more than three-quarters of all houses depend on oil for heat.

The action affects homeowners in all towns applying for the basic tax exemption.