RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
A federal program designed to assist military families forced to sell their homes at a loss due to relocation will be the subject of a seminar next week at the Airman and Family Readiness Center.
The 902nd Civil Engineer Squadron Housing Asset Management Office will present the information session on the Homeowners Assistance Program Thursday at 3:30 p.m. at the A&FRC, Building 693.
The Department of Defense program was started by Congress in 1966 to provide assistance to military families and civilian personnel affected by Base Realignment and Closure actions but was subsequently expanded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, said Lois Jenkins, Housing Referral Program manager.
"This program has been expanded to provide assistance to wounded service members, DoD civilians, surviving spouses of the fallen, BRAC 2005-impacted homeowners and service members undergoing a permanent change of station during the mortgage crisis," she said.
More than $555 million was appropriated for the program, which is administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Ms. Jenkins said. Don Chapman, director of the corps' HAP field office in Fort Worth, will discuss the program and will be available after the session to answer more questions.
The program has specific eligibility requirements for each homeowner category. One of the requirements for BRAC-impacted personnel and service members affected by a PCS is that they experienced a home-value decline of at least 10 percent from date of purchase to date of sale.
For BRAC-impacted service members and civilians, the home-value loss must have occurred between July 1, 2006, and the date of application for expanded HAP benefits; PCS-affected service members must have owned the home prior to July 1, 2006, and have PCS orders dated between Feb. 1, 2006, and Sept. 30, 2012, when the program is scheduled to end provided funds are still available.
Applicants must make a "reasonable effort" to sell the home, which means it must be listed, actively marketed and available for purchase for a minimum of 120 days. The process should begin when personnel know they will relocate.
Mr. Chapman said another requirement - except for wounded service members and DoD civilians - is that the applicant "bring a buyer to the table." Otherwise it costs too much for the government to buy the home, maintain it, market it and sell it.
He said nearly 6,600 personnel - 2,280 in the Air Force - have applied for assistance and 608 applicants have been approved for funds.
Mr. Chapman said the program will pay the difference between 90 percent of the purchase price and the selling price plus closing costs. However, if the applicant's mortgage is upside down, the applicant owes more than 90 percent of the original purchase price and the home is worth far less than when it was purchased, the government will buy the home for the mortgage value and pay the mortgage off.
Ms. Jenkins said although HAP "is not designed to pay 100 percent of losses or cover all declines in value, it can help protect eligible applicants from financial catastrophe due to significant losses in their home values."
She said she hopes the seminar will make more people at Randolph aware of the program.
"The mortgage crisis has affected this area, too," Ms. Jenkins said. "Hopefully we'll be able to reach a large number of people."
For more information, call Ms. Jenkins at 652-1840.