The housing crisis causing so many foreclosures nationwide has found a new victim — the military.
“What we are hearing anecdotally is that service members … are experiencing a number of instances where they are being forced to move from homes that they are renting when the homeowners are foreclosed on,” said Lt. Col. Les Melnyk, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Defense.
In response, the DOD recently changed its travel guidelines to pay for the moving expenses of service members if their landlord forecloses on their rental home.
However, the policy does not cover service members who are homeowners and foreclose on their property.
The DOD didn’t have a statistical figure on how many service members are affected by landlord foreclosures, but enough instances have occurred to warrant changes, and officials see this move as more of a proactive measure.
Fort Meade in Anne Arundel has not had any issues with landlord foreclosures, officials said.
“But if it does happen, our legal and housing offices are ready to assist,” said Chad Jones, the fort’s spokesman.
Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford and the Maryland National Guard, under the Maryland Military Department, also haven’t experienced similar issues, though APG officials said the directive is relatively new to them.
The relief was approved Aug. 8, but is retroactive to July 30, when President Bush signed the Housing and Economy Recovery Act, defense officials said. The DOD has ordered the military branches to develop guidelines and awareness programs. Military officials say service members are more likely to rent houses because of frequent moves.
Kathleen Moakler, government relations director of the National Military Family Association, said there hasn’t been a large rash of service members falling victim to rental foreclosure, but the military maintains a list of disreputable landlords.
