The Extended Homeowners Assistance Program provides assistance when a base closure or significant change in operations at a military base leads to severe real estate losses. According to a Pentagon news release, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 expanded HAP to include assistance to:
- Deployed wounded, injured or ill members of the armed forces reassigned for medical treatment or rehabilitation.
- Surviving spouses of the fallen.
- BRAC 2005-impacted homeowners.
- Service member homeowners underdoing permanent change of station moves during the current mortgage crisis.
“Reassignment order dates must range from Feb. 1, 2006, through Sept. 10, 2010, and qualifying property purchases or signed contracts to purchase must have occurred prior to July 1, 2006,” noted Michael McAndrew, director of the facilities investment and management office for the deputy undersecretary of defense for installations and environment.
“The total benefit calculation, capped at $729,750, is based upon the home purchase price,” McAndrew added in the press release.
The director said HAP is a great program but it will not be helpful if people do not apply.
“We’ve made every effort to try and make funds available to pay as many of these applications as we can,” McAndrew reported. “So far we’ve been very successful. The program is designed to minimize the housing market’s impact, not negate it altogether.
Wounded, injured and ill and surviving spouses are not subject to the Sept. 30 deadline to file claims, the announcement said. All applications are being centrally processed through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Savannah District
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