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Active service members are insulated from foreclosure and other obligations under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.
There seems to be no end to the sacrifices we expect from our military service members.
They face hardship and danger, financial insecurity and separation from family, all in the name of duty and country. When they return from serving all of us, they shouldn’t also have to face sacrificing their homes.
And yet more than 20,000 veterans, active duty service members and reservists lost their homes to foreclosure in 2010, according to RealtyTrac. Foreclosure filings rose 32 percent over 2008 levels in communities near military bases.
Thankfully, active duty personnel are shielded from some civil and financial obligations because of their service. These protections are spelled out in the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, or SCRA, which President Bush signed into law in 2003.
The legislation, which built upon the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil Relief Act, provides relief to military members and their families in a number of areas, including:
Under the SCRA, qualified veterans can get a lower interest rate for up to 12 months, and recently discharged service members can also push back evictions or foreclosures for up to nine months.
In order to qualify for certain protections available under the Act, a veteran’s obligation must have originated prior to the current period of active military service.
The SCRA actually provides many more protections than those listed above. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled the SCRA must be read with “an eye friendly to those who dropped their affairs to answer their country’s call.”
Mortgages backed by Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and some private mortgage lending companies also have programs in place to assist active duty service members in financial trouble.
Active duty borrowers and veterans alike should contact their mortgage lenders as soon as difficulty arises, whether it’s difficulty in making payments now or anticipation of financial problems in the near future.
Service members with and without VA-backed loans can also contact their nearest VA Regional Loan Center for help.
Photo courtesy of USAG-Humphreys
2 Comments
How do we (the people affected) find out if we are on the list of those foreclosed on by Saxon Mortgage? We need to be notified that we are on the list or how to plead our case to get on the list.
@Michael: Contact the Justice Department at 1-800-896-7743, mailbox 995 for Saxon.
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[...] against foreclosure and other civil obligations for active military and their families.The SCRA already provides protections for active military members, from foreclosure prevention to caps on interest rates and other [...]
[...] Act would help military homeowners hammered by a flailing housing market and broaden the scope of the SCRA, which already provides active service members with protections against foreclosure, interest rate [...]
[...] These policy updates come on the heels of huge financial settlement this winter involving military homeowners who were illegally foreclosed upon over the last five years. The country’s largest mortgage servicers agreed to pay nearly $ 117,000 plus lost equity and interest to active military whose rights were violated under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. [...]
[...] The government says that “under its 2011 settlements with BAC Home Loans Servicing LP, a subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation, and Saxon Mortgage Servicing Inc., a subsidiary of Morgan Stanley, 316 service members whose homes were unlawfully foreclosed upon between 2006 and 2010 are due to receive over $39 million in monetary relief for alleged violations of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA).” [...]