Homeowners’ Assistance available

For several months, Soldiers and their Families have waited for the Army Corps of Engineers to begin the Homeowners Assistance Program.

“They just started processing paperwork,” said Mary Scott, Fort Gordon’s Housing Program Director.

On Sept. 30, the Army Corps of Engineers began processing 4,300 HAP claims which had already been filed. Started in 1966, the HAP program was originally designed to help those negatively impacted by Base Closure and Realignment.

“The law provides some monetary relief to eligible service member (including Coast Guard) and federal employee (including non-appropriated fund) homeowners who suffer financial loss on the sale of their primary residences when a base closure or realignment announcement causes a decline in the residential real estate market and they are not able to sell their homes under reasonable terms or conditions,” according to the HAP website, http://hap.usace.army.mil.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provides an expanded list of beneficiaries to include wounded, injured or ill service members or surviving spouses also those service members negatively impacted in the housing crisis.

Service members who purchased homes and were unable to sell them or had to sell them at a loss when they relocated to a new duty station can benefit from the program.

The program has a set of strict guidelines of who may receive benefits. All of them are outlined at the website.

Scott’s office has been proactive in getting word out about the HAP program. In June, the housing office sponsored a seminar on the program, bringing in a representative to ask questions.

Service members who had moved from other installations and had homes in other cities were concerned about how the housing crisis had negatively impacted their home values and were facing losses as they relocated.

To learn about HAP benefits and see if you are eligible, visit http:// hap.usace.army.mil