Everyone is talking about falling home prices, and a growing percentage of home owners are finding themselves owing more for their homes than they are worth. You’ve heard the terms: “under-water” or “upside down”, or maybe even “up the creek without a paddle” all, of course, denote a tone of helplessness.  Many homeowners who are in this situation can simply choose to stay put and “weather it out”, but what about Military homeowners who get deployed or get orders to transfer via a Permanent Change of Station (PSC) to other parts of the country or the world? How do military homeowners facing this dilemma get out of this housing market mess without damaging their credit or completely losing whatever savings they might have?  There is a way!

If you are a military homeowner, and you have been given orders to move you may be eligible for a program designed specifically for you. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act includes a provision to help Military homeowners in this situation. By expanding the existing authority under the Department of Defense’s Homeowner Assistance Program (HAP), the federal government will now cover a percentage of a loss if a service member is forced to sell.

The program applies to Members of the Armed Forces who purchased their homes prior to July 1, 2006 and whose reassignment, through a PCS of 50 miles or more was ordered between February 1, 2006 and September 30, 2012.

The sellers responsibility is to have the home aggressively marketed, and be able to demonstrate they sold the home at current fair market value. Realtors who are familiar with this program will document all marketing and advertising, show a log of MLS listings and pricing history, provide detailed showing activity including prospective buyer feedback, and provide comparable sales to support the sales price.

Under this program the government pays all of the normal selling fees, including Realtor fees.

In rare cases the government will purchase the property for 75% of the purchase price, or the mortgage payoff amount. Provisions for this program also include, for most properties, the home must have been marketed for at least 120 days before being considered for government purchase.

For more information, or a HAP application, contact Don DeHanas at DeHanas Real Estate Services at 301-870-1717 x106.  DeHanas Real Estate Services is family owned and operated and serves clients in Maryland, Virginia and Washington DC.