The Department of Defense (DOD) is proud to offer the Homeowners
Assistance Program (HAP) to eligible service members and federal
civilian, including non-appropriated fund, employees. The program is
authorized by law, and administered by the US Army Corps of Engineers
(USACE) to assist eligible homeowners who face financial loss (short
sale), when selling their primary residence homes in areas where real
estate values have declined because of a base closure or realignment
announcement.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) temporarily
expands the HAP to assist service members and DOD employees who are
wounded, injured or become ill when deployed, surviving spouses of
service members or DOD employees killed or died of wounds while
deployed, service member and civilian employees assigned to BRAC 05
organizations, and service members required to permanently relocate
during the home mortgage crisis.
The military is a frequent cause of relocation, therefore, there are
special programs for short sales and other assistance for the military.
It is important for members of the armed forces to use a knowledgeable
HAP Realtor to represent them through the short sale process.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), program was
originally designed to apply to members of the military or federal
employees who owned a principal residence in an area where a base
closure or realignment caused the values of the homes to decline.
However, it has been extended to military personnel who were reassigned
and had to move more than 50 miles during the mortgage crisis. These
military homeowners qualify if they were reassigned between February 1,
2006 and September 30, 2012, they purchased the principal residence that
they are selling before July 1, 2006 and they sold it between July 1,
2006 and September 30, 2012.
It also applies to members of the military and federal employees who
were wounded in the performance of their military related duties after
September 11, 2001, as well as the surviving spouse of someone who was
killed in action after that date. The DOD encourages people who may not
fit all of the requirements to apply anyway to see if they can get
benefits.
The DOD says that “HAP provides assistance in four ways. For eligible
applicants, the Government may:
Reimburse you for part of your loss from selling your home.
Assist you, if you don’t have funds from the sale of your home to
pay-off your mortgage.
Purchase your home by paying off the mortgage.
Help, if you default on your mortgage. “
Armed forces in need of short sales, the private sale reimbursement
program is the most applicable. Under the HAP program, the military
member or qualified government employee sells their home and gets
reimbursed for some of the losses on the sale of the home. This
reimbursement is used to pay off the lender so that if there are enough
proceeds the lender gets fully paid. If not, it is a short sale that is
partially reimbursed. The HAP program indicates that the amount of
reimbursement can be 95% of the difference between the value of the
house before the base closure and the current value (or sales price),
but it also indicates there can be a payment of 90% of the original
value of the home, with the added value of any improvements to the home.
The seller can also be reimbursed for closing costs, including the real
estate commission.
The home is sold with a short payment to the lender, but with an
agreement to reimburse the lender later when these benefits come in.
This is an excellent use of the short sale process, as it gets the
seller moved gracefully and may get the lender fully paid. At a minimum,
the lender will get more than just the sales proceeds of the short
sale, as the reimbursement is in addition to what the buyer will pay for
the purchase price.
For full information, go to
http://hap.usace.army.mil/homepage.html
If your in the Marines, Army, Navy or Air Force in need to relocate or
short sale, contact John M. Cameron - Broker (206) 910-0200. We know how
to handle your relocation and short sale.
Call John M. Cameron 206-910-0200 for more info and help
or visit me at
http://www.finditorsellit.com
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