Trapetes,
Appreciate your insight...speaking for hundreds of others who are behind you in the process, I look forward to hearing any updates and useful insights you have.

Sounds like there will be no delay in receiving your benefit then?...the FAQ on the Hap website said to expect 60 to 90 days. Thats' definitely good news there at least.

Trapetes,
Any word on whether the program will help with closing costs to include "upside down" costs? If not I suppose I will have to muster up about $40k in excess of closing costs to pay the difference b/t mortgage payoff and final sales price.

Posted By on 09-30-2009 09:41 AM
Joe,


Thusfar, all I've received from Wells Fargo is the runaround. Documents are being lost, and I've had to contact the Presidential offices to find out what is going on. Because they'd sat on my package, the docs are also now outdated. I now have to fax (again) everything out with updated dates and signatures.

This is interesting.  We just called USAA to see the status of our loan modification package sent 62 days ago and they too said they received it and can see it, but since the "computer didn't assign a tracking number to it", there is nothing they could do and we'd have to resubmit with new dates, sigs, etc.  Ridiculous.  I thought USAA was supposed to be HELPFUL to its military members.  They basically shrugged us off and said, "Yeah, its a glitch in our computer system and there is nothing we can do.  LOTS of people have this happen with their applications."  There is no recourse and they "can't look at it now cause its outdated."  Makes me wonder if banks are "loosing" or having "glitches" so they don't have to help. 

BOOOOO USAA! 

http://www.antiochgrove.com/2009/11/12/usaa-plays-hardball-with-short-sales-and-distressed-antioch-homes/

Wow, thanks for the article, HAPpy. This really sickens me. Once HAP comes through, we will be ending our relationship with USAA and going to a local bank in our hometown that has always treated us with respect and as valued members of their bank (military or not). I have lost a lot of faith in USAA over the years... Inflated insurance rates compared to other companies, poor customer service, etc. Apparently all their articles saying how they've "not been that effected" by the economy and are a "stable bank in tough times" are also inflated. Urgh....

http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-27373.pdf

The comment period for the interim rules have been extended to Jan 15, 2010. What does this mean for us?

Karen

Is the Corps now showing up with a check at closing or do you have to show up with the money and be reimbursed?

Sorry so late in responding and frankly, can't add much to this other than echo your disappointment to how this is calculated. 

When I initially read the Congressional language from the stimulus bill, it was so convuluted that it was almost impossible to see how this would play out.   I ran several "models" and kept coming up with really disappointing results, like yours, where those who were lucky enough to fall within the window, would still be holding the bag for large sums.   

My recommendation is that you immediately contact your Congressman / Senators and demand a personal audience with them and lay the numbers out and ask them to explain how they could let this happen!  

Please keep us posted.  Joe 

Have just read the link to the article on USAA.  I have been a member for about 35 years and have witnessed  decline of service and commitment to the military community.   This is just one more very disappointing manifestation of that decline. 

Military members tend to automatically select USAA for insurance, banking and loans.  I suspect they are still very competitive on insurance products.   As Realtors, we can say that they are almost NEVER competitive on home loans.  Their rates and lending fees tend to be higher and frankly, their service is sub standard at best.   And unfortunately, the same can be said of other well known military focused credit unions.  

Even more disappointing is that the board of directors are composed primarily of senior military officers.   They should be acutely aware of the issues facing military homeowners and develop win win policies for the USAA members.   Shame on USAA!              Joe Gladden

I couldn't have said this better, Joe! Thanks.

We certainly will not be doing any banking, investments, loans, etc. with USAA after this. They by far have the worst customer service (across the board, banking, insurance, loans, etc.) of any bank we've used. Its sad. We still hear many singing their praises though and wonder if we have the same bank or are somehow being re-routed to a different bank entirely when we call... HA HA. I guess its just the luck of the draw who you talk to and if they're helpful, and we've yet to get anyone aside from a teller making a deposit for us, that has been helpful.

Titus, Heller, Costa Amendment Helps Military Families Hit by the Housing Crisis

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Dina Titus of Nevada’s Third District spoke on the House floor today in support an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 that she sponsored with Congressmen Dean Heller of Nevada and Jim Costa of California. The amendment, modeled after legislation Titus introduced last year, makes more military families eligible for assistance when the service member is reassigned and the family must sell their home at a loss. Below are her remarks as delivered. Click here, to watch Titus’ speech.

“The purpose of this amendment is to provide the Secretary of Defense the flexibility to change the effective date of the Homeowners Assistance Program for members of the armed forces permanently reassigned during the mortgage crisis. The program, as approved by Congress last year, allows active duty service members to be partially reimbursed for losses occurring as a result of having to sell their home upon being reassigned. Under current law, a service member must have purchased his or her home before July 1, 2006, in order to qualify for assistance.

“My Congressional District is home to a number of service members from Nellis Air Force base and the Remotely Piloted Aircraft program at Creech Air Force Base. Many of these armed services members were assigned to Southern Nevada at the height of the housing boom, when prices were fueled by out of control and reckless speculators.

“They and others around the country purchased homes at what was then a fair market price. Now, due to no fault of their own, however, many of these homes have lost a significant amount of their value. A problem arises because service members are now receiving Permanent Change of Station orders and are being reassigned to a new area.

“A number of service members from around the world have contacted us, saying that this date, July 1, 2006, was set too early to achieve the intended goals of the program. Accordingly, our amendment provides the necessary flexibility to the Secretary of Defense to change this date in specific geographic areas where housing price declines trended behind the national average. It is important to keep in mind that most of these service members had no choice in the timing of their transfer and relocation and are therefore unintended victims of the arbitrary deadline.

“This amendment is modeled after legislation I introduced in December, which had 27 bipartisan cosponsors. It has also been endorsed by a number of military family organizations who recognize its importance.

“I thank Chairman Skelton for his support and working with me, and I urge my colleagues to vote for the amendment.”