Personal Finance: Ask the Experts: Military urged to seek relief for mortgage troubles

Personal Finance: Ask the Experts

Get advice on money matters from The Bee's Claudia Buck and a panel of local experts

November 13, 2012

Military urged to seek relief for mortgage troubles

In honor of Veterans' Day, military veterans and active service members are urged to file a complaint if they're having trouble with their mortgage lender.

The outreach is part of this year's $25 billion federal settlement with five major mortgage providers - Ally, Bank of America, Citi, JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo - to provide relief to millions of homeowners who struggled to keep their mortgage during the recent recession.

That National Mortgage Settlement, announced in March, has specific provisions for military members. Among them, mortgage lenders:

--Must repay service members for a wrongful home foreclosures made after Jan. 1, 2006;
--Give refunds of at least $500 if service members were wrongfully charged more than 6 percent interest on loans after Jan. 1, 2008;
--Cannot foreclose on a property within 9 months of a military member receiving "Hostile Fire/Imminent Danger" pay, unless a court order is obtained.

Attorney Joseph A. Smith, Jr., the settlement's monitor, said he wants to know "if any of our nation's veterans are experiencing wrongful treatment from their mortgage service, as it will help me better oversee the settlement and ensure they find appropriate counsel for their issue."

Smith cannot intervene on an individual's behalf, but is overseeing compliance with the nationwide settlement.

Any service member having mortgage trouble should call
Military OneSource at (800) 342-9647 or file a complaint with the Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight.

Additional help for borrowers - military or not - who lost their home to foreclosure between Jan. 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2011, is available through the National Mortgage Settlement office or by calling (866) 430-8358. Assistance is for those with loans through the five banks named in the settlement, not loans owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

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Claudia Buck is The Sacramento Bee's personal finance columnist. Read all her columns here. Contact her at cbuck@sacbee.com

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