Deadline Nears for Expanded Homeowners Assistance Program

By Amaani Lyle

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 3, 2012 – Eligible military members and federal civilian employees who face financial loss when selling their primary residence may receive compensation, provided they apply for the Expanded Homeowners Assistance Program by Sept. 30.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers manages HAP on behalf of the military branches. The HAP, initially created by Congress in 1966, provides financial assistance to qualifying homeowners when a closure or significant change in operations at a military base leads to severe losses in the local real estate market.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Public Law 111-5, expanded the HAP to provide assistance to:

-- Deployed wounded, injured, or ill members of the Armed Forces (30% or greater disability) and forward deployed wounded, injured, or ill Department of Defense and Coast Guard civilian homeowners (including employees of non-appropriated fund instrumentalities) reassigned in furtherance of medical treatment or rehabilitation or due to medical retirement in connection with their disability;

-- Surviving spouses of the fallen;

-- Base Realignment and Closure 2005-impacted homeowners relocating during the mortgage crisis; and

-- Service member homeowners undergoing Permanent Change of Station moves during the mortgage crisis.

“The amended law now includes HAP relief for surviving spouses of the fallen, BRAC 2005-impacted homeowners relocating during the mortgage crisis, and service member homeowners undergoing permanent-change-of-station moves during the mortgage crisis,” said Michael McAndrew, director of facilities investment and management office for the deputy undersecretary of defense for installations and environment.

Key expanded HAP deadlines and qualifying timeframes have already passed, McAndrew said, further escalating the urgency of swift benefit distribution and program closure.

“Reassignment order dates must range from Feb. 1, 2006, through Sept. 30, 2010, and qualifying property purchases, or signed contracts to purchase must have occurred prior to July 1, 2006,” McAndrew said. “BRAC reached its full implementation by Sept. 15, 2011.”

The total benefit calculation, capped at $729,750, is based upon the home purchase price, McAndrew said.

“We’ve made every effort to try and make funds available to pay as many of these applications as we can, and so far we’ve been very successful in doing that,” McAndrew explained, adding that the program is designed to minimize the housing market’s impact, not negate it altogether.

“It’s a great program, but we can’t help folks if they don’t apply,” McAndrew said. “We need to know who is out there because there’s no magic database in the department that tells us who may have been impacted.”

Wounded, injured and ill and surviving spouse applications take priority and are not be subject to the Sept. 30, 2012, deadline for claims.

All applications are now centrally processed through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Savannah District. To apply, visit the HAP web site and follow application instructions.

New Financial Guidance May Help Troops as They Move

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 21, 2012 – New guidance to mortgage servicers may help tens of thousands of military homeowners moving to new duty stations, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau officials said today.

The bureau, along with mortgage service industry regulators, is issuing joint supervisory guidance to address mortgage service practices that pose risks to military homeowners, Richard Cordray, the bureau’s director, said at a news conference.

“We want to make sure that mortgage servicers comply with the laws that prohibit unfair or abusive practices” when service members have orders to move, he said.

Roughly a third of active-duty military personnel move each year. Of these, about 185,000 are homeowners who have to sell their houses and move to another community. Many find themselves owing far more on their homes than they’re worth in the current market.

Service members cannot sit on a property and wait for the market to recover: they must go to their new base, Cordray noted. “They have to move, even if that means taking a big financial hit or leaving their families behind to pay their bills,” he said.

“I have heard over and over from military homeowners whose houses are underwater and they don’t know what to do,” said Holly Petraeus, director of the bureau’s Officer of Service Member Affairs. “They are terrified that a foreclosure will ruin their finances as well as putting their security clearances at risk, and they are looking for answers.”

But in too many cases, she said, mortgage service providers have not given that help. In her travels to military bases, Petraeus said, service members have told her of mortgage service providers giving them inaccurate information and stringing them along.

“We’ve heard from service members that they were told they had to be delinquent to qualify for help, and advised to skip a couple of payments,” she said. “They’ve been asked to sign waivers of their rights under the Service Members Civil Relief Act just to have their cases evaluated. They’ve been stalled by repeated demands for their loan documents and given a new loan official with each call, … and they have even been listed as not responding to requests for documents during deployment despite the fact that spouses had powers of attorney.”

Edward J. DiMarco, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, spoke of the changes to policies to help military homeowners. “These changes will make it easier for members of the armed forces with mortgages owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac to honor their financial commitments when they are issued a permanent change of station order,” he said. The agency classifies the order as a hardship, he noted.

Homeowners with transfer orders will be immediately eligible for a short sale, even if they are current in their mortgages, DiMarco said. They also will be “exempt from deficiency judgments from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac when receiving permission for a short sale and relieved of any request or requirement for cash, contribution or promissory note so long as the property was purchased on or before June 30, 2012.”

Robert L. Gordon III, assistant secretary of defense for military community and family policy, said the Defense Department welcomes the bureau’s leadership.

“The military lifestyle poses unique challenges to our troops and their families,” he said. “Throughout frequent moves, deployments and transitions they must remain resilient and strong in order to be mission ready.”

Troops, Veterans Will Benefit From Housing Settlement, Obama Says

By Lisa Daniel
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 6, 2012 – Thousands of service members and veterans whose mortgages were wrongfully foreclosed on, or who were improperly denied lower mortgage interest rates in the national housing crisis, can receive “significant relief,” President Barack Obama announced today.

“It is unconscionable that members of our armed forces and their families are among those who were most susceptible to losing their homes due to the unscrupulous acts of banks and mortgage lenders,” Obama said during a White House news briefing.

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta issued a statement, applauding the announcement. “These new steps are the result of an extensive interagency effort made by this administration to protect and support service members and veterans, and this initiative will help military families overcome obstacles to purchasing and maintaining a home,” Panetta said.

Helping military families achieve personal and financial security “is a vital part of maintaining a strong national defense, just as home ownership is a vital part of fulfilling the American dream,” Panetta said.

“I thank the president for ensuring that our service members receive the support they need so they and their families can pursue their dreams while carrying out their vital missions around the world,” he said.

Federal and state officials announced Feb. 9 that the nation’s five largest mortgage lenders – Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and Ally Financial [formerly GMAC] – agreed to pay $26 billion to settle a government lawsuit claiming mortgage loan and foreclosure abuses. At least $20 billion is to be returned to aggrieved homeowners, according to White House and Housing and Urban Development Department news releases.

“If you are a member of the armed forces whose home was wrongfully foreclosed, you will be substantially compensated,” the president said.

The settlement also restores lower interest rates and reduces fees for Federal Housing Administration borrowers for those who were wrongly given higher rates and fees.

Under the agreement, lenders will:

--Review the records of every service member whose home was foreclosed upon since 2006 and provide any who were wrongly foreclosed upon with compensation equal to a minimum of lost equity, plus interest and at least $116,785;

--Refund to service members money lost because they were wrongfully denied the opportunity to reduce their mortgage payments through lower interest rates;

--Provide relief for service members who are forced to sell their homes for less than the amount they owe on their mortgage due to a permanent change in station;

--Pay $10 million into the Veterans Affairs fund that guarantees loans on favorable terms for veterans; and

--Extend certain foreclosure protections afforded under the Servicemember Civil Relief Act to those serving in harm’s way.

Obama also announced that the FHA will cut its fees for refinancing loans already insured by the FHA. Two- to three million Americans could save about $1,000 annually under today’s fee structure, he said.

Still, Obama said, “No amount of money is going to be enough for a family who has wrongfully had their piece of the American dream taken away from them.”

Later on a conference call with reporters, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said it was shameful of financial institutions to wrongfully foreclose on service members homes or not provide them the full financial protections that the law allows. In many cases, he said, lenders “did not review or even read the foreclosure documents they were processing.”

“That’s not only wrong, it’s not who we are as Americans,” Donovan said. The settlement, he added, “ensures that the men and women risking their lives for our country get treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.”

Military families “won’t just be compensated,” Donovan said, explaining that they will be eligible for modifications to their mortgages even for homes in which they are not living.

Holly Petraeus, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s head of servicemember affairs, said the former regulation requiring service members to live a home to have a mortgage lowered, as well as the difficulty of selling a home quickly for a change of duty station, has caused many military families to live separately. Emphasizing the frequency of military moves, she told reporters she and her husband, retired Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, who currently is serving as the CIA Director, moved 24 times in 37 years.

With the “unique challenges” of deployments and frequent forced relocations, Petraeus said, “many see no other solution than to go it alone in military barracks while leaving their families behind” in their homes.

Petraeus said she would urge all financial institutions to understand the Servicemember Civil Relief Act. She also warned service members against a possible “cottage industry” of people who will claim to help them receive help under the new settlement.

Service members and veterans who believe they can take part in the settlement are encouraged to call the Justice Department at 1-800-896-7743.

Todd Perez, assistant attorney general for Justice’s civil rights division, told reporters that under the settlement, lenders must have court approval to foreclose on the home of a deployed service member; anyone who was wrongly charged an interest rate above 6 percent can receive four times that back in damages; and all negative entries to credit agencies will be repaired.

Also, Perez said, victims in the housing crisis don’t have to contact the government; the settlement requires the banks to contact them.

As for service members and veterans, he said, “they have our backs and they need to know that we have theirs.”

Family Matters Blog: Military Families Can Apply for New Home

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Feb. 23, 2012 – More than 100 wounded warriors and military and veteran families will be the recipients of a new home this year, thanks to the generosity of a nonprofit organization and one of the nation’s largest banks.

Operation Homefront, which provides emergency assistance to military families and wounded warriors, has teamed up with JPMorgan Chase and Co. to create the “Homes on the Homefront” program, which will offer deserving military families new homes.

The bank will provide the homes and other support to Operation Homefront, a news release explained, and the organization will provide ongoing transitional services to the families until the properties are deeded to the recipients.

“This is an incredible gift from Chase to our men and women in uniform,” said Jim Knotts, president and CEO of Operation Homefront. “Chase’s imaginative, nationwide approach to providing quality homes to deserving service members and their families will make a huge difference in how these heroes can make that difficult transition and adjustment into productive civilian lives.”

The program’s first priority will be to place families who currently live in an Operation Homefront Village, which provides transitional housing for wounded warrior families. Other wounded warriors, surviving single spouses of those killed in action, and post-9/11 disabled veterans also will receive priority consideration. Any veteran of any era, regardless of wounded or disability status, is eligible to apply, the release said.

Military families can apply for the Homes on the Homefront program at http://www.OperationHomefront.net/HomesOnTheHomefront.

“Every day we work to give military families financial security so that when service members are in harm’s way, they don’t have to worry about their families back home,” Knotts said. “The homes provided by Chase takes that one step further, and will provide these families with additional peace of mind concerning their futures.”

Operation Homefront also is seeking monetary and goods donations from other companies so they can provide families with a fully furnished home.

For more military family-related posts, visit AFPS' Family Matters blog.

Department of Justice Reaches Agreement to Compensate Servicemembers for Wrongful Foreclosures

Agreement Reached as Part of the $25 Billion Federal-State Mortgage Servicing Agreement

The settlement agreement with the nation’s five largest servicers announced today by Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Justice’s federal and state partners includes substantial financial compensation to homeowners who are servicemembers and establishes significant new protections for servicemembers in the future.  The financial compensation to servicemembers is in addition to the $25 billion settlement.

 JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Company, Citigroup Inc. and Ally Financial Inc. (formerly GMAC) have agreed to conduct a full review, overseen by the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, to determine whether any servicemembers were foreclosed on in violation of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) since Jan.1, 2006.   Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Ally will be required to provide any servicemember who was a victim of a wrongful foreclosure a minimum payment of $116,785 plus the servicemember’s lost equity and interest for violating the SCRA.   The servicemember’s payment could be higher as a result of the review conducted by the banking regulators.   To ensure consistency with an earlier private settlement, JP Morgan Chase will provide any servicemember who was a victim of a wrongful foreclosure either his or her home free and clear of any debt or the cash equivalent of the full value of the home at the time of sale.   In addition, servicemebers will receive compensation for any additional harm suffered.   All compensation for servicemembers wrongfully foreclosed on is in addition to the $25 billion settlement amount.

 In addition, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Ally have also agreed to conduct a thorough review, overseen by the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, to determine whether any servicemember, from January 1, 2008 to the present, was charged interest in excess of 6% on his or her mortgage, after a valid request to lower the interest rate, in violation of the SCRA.   Servicers will be required to provide any servicemember who was wrongfully charged interest in excess of 6% with a payment equal to a refund, with interest, of any amount charged in excess of 6% plus triple the amount refunded or $500, whichever is larger.   This compensation for servicemembers is in addition to the $25 billion settlement amount.   JP Morgan Chase had already compensated servicemembers charged interest in excess of 6% on their mortgage through the earlier private settlement.

 “The men and women who serve our nation in the armed forces deserve, at the very least, to know that we will protect their rights while they are serving our country,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “We appreciate that Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup and Ally agreed, through this settlement, to compensate servicemembers whose rights were violated.”

 All four servicers agreed to numerous other measures, including SCRA training for employees and agents and developing SCRA policies and procedures to ensure compliance with the SCRA. The servicers will also repair any negative credit report entries related to the allegedly wrongful foreclosures and will not pursue any remaining amounts owed under the mortgages.

 The joint federal-state agreement also includes expanded protections for servicemembers.    The SCRA prohibits foreclosures on servicemembers without court orders on mortgages that were originated before military service began. The settlement extends this protection to all servicemembers, regardless of when their mortgage was secured, if they were receiving Hostile Fire/Imminent Danger Pay and were stationed away from their home within nine months of the foreclosure.   The agreement requires all five servicers to provide certain servicemembers who are forced to move because of Permanent Change in Station (PCS) orders  access loan modifications without going into default or, in the event that they must sell their home at a loss, but are ineligible for funding from the Department of Defense’s Homeowners’ Assistance Program (HAP), with short sale agreements and mandatory deficiency waivers.   On the servicemember relief, the Department worked closely with the Delaware Attorney General’s Office, who led the servicemember negotiations on behalf of the state attorneys general

In May 2011, the Department of Justice reached a more than $20 million settlement with Bank of America for wrongfully foreclosing on servicemembers without court orders.    That settlement only resolved allegations related to non-judicial foreclosures.    The Department did not release as part of today’s announced settlement any potential claims related to judicial foreclosures or possible 6% violations by Bank of America.

The JP Morgan Chase investigation was handled jointly by the Civil Rights Division and the United States Attorney’s Office in South Carolina.

President Obama established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes.    The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources.    The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.    For more information on the task force, visit Stopfraud.gov .

Servicemembers and their dependents who believe that their SCRA rights have been violated should contact the nearest Armed Forces Legal Assistance office.    Please consult the military legal assistance office locator at http://legalassistance.law.af.mil and click on the Legal Services Locator.    Additional information about the Justice Department’s enforcement of the SCRA and the other laws protecting servicemembers is available at Servicemembers.gov .

Akron Navy Reservists Welcomed by DASN to New, Energy-Efficient Home

By Bill Couch, Naval Facilities Engineering Command Midwest Public Affairs

GREEN, Ohio (NNS) -- Navy Reservists in eastern Ohio officially brought their new headquarters to life with the help of the Secretary of the Navy's senior advisor for Navy and Marine Corps Reserve issues Oct. 23.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Reserve Affairs) Dennis Biddick praised the global contributions of Navy Reservists and thanked the construction team as he welcomed nearly 500 selected reserve and active-duty Sailors and Marines to their new, energy-efficient Navy Operational Support Center (NOSC).

"I can't say enough about how much I appreciate what [Reservists] do for this country," said Biddick. "Though sometimes it might seem over-said, our most important asset really is our people--you."

The center's Sailors and Marines deploy to conduct operational and humanitarian assistance missions worldwide, including Operation Tomodachi, which came in response to the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March.

"You support operations around the world, including in Iraq and Afghanistan, and those of you here this morning directly supported Operation Tomodachi in Japan," said Biddick. "I'm constantly amazed at how you handle two careers--your full-time civilian careers, and, as Reservists, your Navy and Marine Corps commitments as citizen-Sailors and citizen-Marines. Thank you so much for your service."

NOSC Akron Commanding Officer Cmdr. Eric Johnson echoed Biddick's recognition of the service of the assembled Reservists.

"As a Reservist, you wear the uniform part-time, but every day in every community across the country, you are the face of the Navy, sharing our core values with your families, in your churches, places of employment, and with everyone you meet," said Johnson.

"Here at NOSC Akron, we are committed to supporting the fleet and our Reservists by preparing them for mobilization, supporting their families--especially while their Sailors and Marines are deployed--and assisting demobilized Sailors and Marines in reintegrating with their families, employers and community," added Johnson. "We are committed to maintaining the 'equilateral triangle' of balance between family, career and Navy."

The new NOSC replaces the units' previous home in nearby Akron, a 1950s-era building that had exceeded its design lifespan and could no longer adequately support the unit's operational requirements. The new facility improves the unit's ability to conduct training and administration activities for Reservists, most of whom live in the local area.

"I always like to see progress, and, especially compared to your previous 1950s home, this is definitely a great facility," said Biddick. "Its design is in line with the Secretary of the Navy's desire to 'go green.'"

The 50,000-square-foot building is designed to be energy efficient and sustainable, meeting at least the "silver" standard under the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. Now that the building has been completed, the independent council will evaluate the LEED features incorporated into the design and determine a rating, which can range from "certified" through "platinum."

The building's LEED features maximize durability and sustainability over the building's planned 20-to-30-year lifecycle. Examples include the one-story design itself, which reduces expenses such as those associated with an elevator, egress stair towers, upper-story window cleaning, and suspended flooring. Steel-reinforced concrete masonry bearing walls are durable and require little maintenance, and they reduce the structure required to support the durable, standing seam metal roof.

Energy efficiency measures include a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system that recovers heat from restroom and locker exhaust air to be reused before venting. The system will also allow maximum use of outside air for "free cooling" when outside temperatures allow. The masonry walls will also support energy efficiency by slowing the release of heat from the sun to the interior. In addition, the building's windows are placed to maximize natural lighting without allowing excessive heat gain.

The construction contractor's plans promoted resource conservation and environmental responsibility by recycling half of the project's non-hazardous construction debris and choosing at least 10 percent construction materials that contained recycled material. In addition, at least 10 percent of the construction materials were produced from within 500 miles of the site, in order to reduce fuel consumption and emissions during shipment.

The site was also planned to manage storm water runoff, using catch basins and grass pavers to reduce impact to the local drainage system.

"The men and women of NAVFAC Midwest, and our partners at Better Built Construction and Clark Construction are proud to have completed this project," said Lt. Cmdr. Leticia Soto, public works officer for Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Midwest's Public Works Department Central, which supports Navy and Marine Corps reserve centers throughout the Midwest. "This ceremony not only gives us a chance to take satisfaction in a completed project, but more importantly, it allows us to stand with the men and women of the Navy and Marine Corps Reserves and say, 'Welcome to your new home. We've done our best for you, and we're confident it will serve you well.'"

Established in 1946, the current NOSC Akron organization includes former members of NOSC Cleveland, which was disestablished in 2007 and consolidated with nearby NOSC Akron. The move was mandated as part of the military's 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process to consolidate facilities and improve operational efficiency across the Department of Defense.

Middletown, Ohio,-based small business Better Built Construction was awarded the $11.4-million project in February 2010 along with its Lansing, Mich.-based partner Clark Construction.

NAVFAC Midwest provides civil engineering, public works, and environmental support to Navy, Marine Corps and other Department of Defense activities across the 16 states that comprise Navy Region Midwest. The command's 900 professionals include civilian architects, engineers, acquisition specialists, environmental specialists, public works trades people, and administrative personnel, as well as active-duty Civil Engineer Corps officers, Seabees, and Reservists.

New Year Brings Higher Housing Allowance to Most Recipients

By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service

Dec. 12, 2007 - Most servicemembers receiving a housing allowance will see more in their 2008 paychecks. The average increase more than doubled for 2008 at 7.3 percent over last year's 3.5 percent average increase.

The Defense Department will pump an additional $600 million into the housing allowance program, for a total of $17.5 billion for 2008. This is paid out to 1.2 million servicemembers receiving the allowance.

Overall, members with dependents will see an average increase of $83 a month, according to a Defense Department release. An E-4 with dependents will see about a $63-per-month increase, while an E-8 will pocket about $79 more.

Not all rates saw increases, though. Rates are based on average current rent, utilities and renter insurance by market. In markets where those costs decreased, allowances went down accordingly. But a DoD rate-protection feature locks in rates for servicemembers already living in an area to protect their current rental leases. The cost of buying a home is not included in the data.

Officials collect data on 369 military housing areas in the United States, including Hawaii and Alaska. They then calculate 48 different rates per area based on pay grade and dependant status, to come up with more than 17,000 different rates. Of those, just under 12 percent of the allowance rates saw a decrease, according to officials.

Not surprisingly, cities in California, New York and Hawaii took most spots on the top 10 highest allowance rates in the United States. San Francisco saw the top rates for allowances with dependents at an average of $2,853 monthly.

Military housing allowances have come under heavy scrutiny by Congress and senior department officials since the 1980s and have increased historically since 2000.

In 2005, housing rate increases represented a final phase of a DoD plan to eliminate servicemembers' out-of-pocket housing expenses. Out-of-pocket expenses were estimated at nearly 20 percent in 2000, according to DoD releases.

"It's come a long way. It just gets better and better every year. The members are seeing increases in most locations every year, so the program is doing what it's supposed to do," said Susan Brumbaugh, director of the Basic Allowance for Housing, Per Diem, Travel and Transportation Allowance Committee.