Realtors® Serving Military Families
Petition the
The National Association of Realtors® (NAR)
We the undersigned Realtors®, as members of the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) and as citizen-professionals serving the real estate needs of our nation’s Uniformed Service Members and their Families, hereby petition our NAR to engage our elected Senators and Representatives to acknowledge the following circumstances and support the following actions.
The current housing and mortgage crises have disproportionately impacted our Military Family Homeowners in a manner that threatens their financial future and impacts their ability to serve our country. This negative impact is directly related to their service to our country. Specifically, the requirement for frequent relocations (Permanent Change of Duty Station- PCS) inherent in the Military Career is in effect a condition of their employment and has resulted in catastrophic losses in the current housing market. This circumstance impacts individual military members’ credit, security clearances and careers. It is depleting their savings, causing mounting debt, and threatens the long term financial stability of a professional group who are traditionally known for their financial discipline.
Furthermore, this circumstance frequently results in additional family separation when their homes cannot be sold and families cannot accompany service members to the new duty station. Combined with frequent lengthy deployments in combat zones and extended family separations already endured by our Military Families, this circumstance has a devastating impact on their morale and family stability.
These circumstances undoubtedly have a negative impact on Military Members’ morale and retention with associated costs to the American taxpayer.
Insomuch as Military Family Homeowners represent the largest number of real estate transactions of any professional group in the world, this circumstance also has a negative impact on Realtors® who serve Military Families, the national housing market, and economy.
Furthermore, the Military Homeowner’s Assistance Plan (HAP), a part of the February 2009 Stimulus Plan is still not implemented as of September 2009 due to bureaucratic complications. To date the HAP has been completely ineffective and as written, is entirely inadequate to provide meaningful relief to Military Families. Likewise, the current Serviceman’s Civil Relief Act (SCRA) does not address most of these issues.
Because our Military Families, our clients, deserve better, we the undersigned, hereby petition our National Association of Realtors® to take the following actions:
- Form an advisory council of Realtors® with military experience to develop appropriate NAR policy and legislative agenda for Military Homeowners and future Military Home Purchasers.
- To urge Congress to provide an immediate retroactive and ongoing tax credit for Military Families who have sustained losses from Home Sales and / or Rentals incident to PSC orders.
- To urge and assist Congress in providing a meaningful revision to the parameters of the current Military HAP and removal of the bureaucratic roadblocks preventing implementation of the program and execution of the funds.
- To urge Congress to provide a program for Career Military Families similar to programs provided for other Federal Employees that reimburse settlement costs and prevent catastrophic financial loss when forced to sell (incident to PCS orders) in down markets.
We believe the above circumstance warrant our National Association’s immediate attention. We believe that addressing these issues is in the best interest of NAR and our membership, the housing market and overall economy.
However, we believe that the primary and overriding reason this issue deserves the undivided attention of NAR and our elected officials is simply that those who defend our nation and our freedoms have clearly earned their right to participate in the American Dream of home ownership without threatening their families’ financial future.
