Housing: Homeowners Assistance Program - Military Housing, rentals, home buying, real estate, VA home loans - Navy Times

Housing: Homeowners Assistance Program

With the implementation of the 2005 base realignment and closure decisions now in full swing, service members and federal civilian employees who own and reside in homes near a base that is shutting down or being reduced in size may get some aid from the Homeowners Assistance Program.

The Army Corps of Engineers, which administers the program for the Defense Department and Coast Guard, must determine that real estate prices in the area have dropped as a direct result of a BRAC announcement.

Since 1988, the program has approved more than 50 communities and helped more than 17,600 homeowners. The latest area is the community surrounding Naval Air Station Brunswick, Maine, which was approved in September 2007. Other areas are under consideration.

To be eligible for the program, the service member or civilian must be the owner and occupant of a home at the time a base closure or cutback is announced, including those who were transferred or terminated within six months of the announcement. That means service members assigned away from the home are not eligible, unless they were transferred within four years and their military specialty and assignment plan anticipated repeated assignments to the installation.

This requirement can be waived for service members and civilian employees on overseas tours.

To qualify for benefits, service members must have a one- or two-family dwelling; mobile homes do not qualify unless they meet strict guidelines.

The program provides four options to reduce losses on a home sale when the real estate market has declined because of a base closing or cutback.

The government can reimburse the homeowner for part of the loss, assist the homeowner if there is not enough money from the proceeds of the sale to pay off the mortgage, buy the home by paying off the mortgage or help if the homeowner has defaulted on the mortgage.

If you think you may be affected when you try to sell your home, apply for the program before you put your house on the market, officials say. A lot of information must be collected, and the process takes several years in some cases, so you may qualify after leaving the area, and HAP officials want to be able to contact you.

Payments from the Homeowners Assistance Program are taxable. Service members who think they may be eligible should contact their personnel office and get a copy of DD Form 1607, “Application for Homeowner Assistance.” The application is available online.

Contact: (888) 363-4271 http://hap.usace.army.mil; e-mail: dodhap1@usace.army.mil