Military Personnel Getting The Help They Need

Whether you supported the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan or not, one thing I think we can all agree upon is that we need to support the troops, both our active duty and our vets.  Unfortunately, the support system for returning military personnel is not great.  Not immune to the housing bust, a slew of  armed forces members found themselves losing their houses to illegal foreclosure.  A whopping 5,000 members may have been subject to illegal foreclosures by some major banks. Barack Obama said of the situation:  "It is unconscionable that members of our armed forces and their families have been some of those most susceptible to losing their homes through the actions of unscrupulous banks and housing lenders."

That's one thing we  agree upon. Another positive thing Obama and the current administration has done is enact the "Servicemembers Civil Relief Act" whereby:

...lenders cannot foreclose on active-duty military members and their families or charge them interest rates of more than 6 percent on preexisting debt. Some of the biggest lenders have already tried to rectify some of their violations of this law, but the administration’s announcement attempts to guarantee review and relief.

The review process would “provide any who were wrongly foreclosed upon with compensation equal to a minimum of lost equity, plus interest and $116,785,” paid for by the settlement, and provide additional protections and compensation for other abuses related to handling mortgages of military members, the White House document said.

As part of the administration's efforts to help vets and active duty members with their housing woes, it's encouraging them to refinance to lower interest rates through VA governmental loans.

The House Committee is also finally making an effort to help  vets (many of whom are now jobless) return to the work force with the "VOW To Hire Heroes Act".

There is still much more we can do to help to help the men and women in our Armed Forces. We need to make sure that the men and women who are currently fighting for and defending our freedoms, and those who served and are now stateside and back in the civilian world get the help they need.

(Brought to you by United States Military VA Loan)