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Bill would aid military homeowners

A Senate-passed housing bill aimed at trying to prevent foreclosures and help homebuyers includes a group of provisions aimed at service members.

The bill, HR 3221, would delay foreclosure action against a service member for up to nine months after they return from deployment — six months longer than under current law. It also provides one year of relief from increases in mortgage interest rates for returning service members and would establish a special counseling program for service members and veterans with financial problems.

Akaka aides said they do not know how many returning combat veterans are at risk for foreclosure, nor do they know how many have adjustable-rate mortgages and might benefit from the one-year freeze on interest rates.

Additionally, the bill — which passed the Senate on Thursday by an 84-12 vote — expands two veterans’ home programs and would allow the cap on veterans’ home loans, now set at $417,000, to temporarily rise as high as $730,000 by matching the caps of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. Loans at the higher limit would be available through the end of the calendar year.

It would also make service members eligible, while still on active duty, for grants to adapt a home for service-connected disabilities. These grants are currently available only for totally disabled veterans; totally disabled service members retained on active duty for medical treatment reasons are not eligible. The bill also makes veterans with severe burns eligible for adaptive housing benefits.

Whether the provisions will become law is not clear; the House has not included similar language in its version of the bill, and there are sharp differences between the White House and Congress over what kind of help is needed to respond to the slumping housing market and the rise in home foreclosures. Talks have begun to see if a compromise can be reached. The House Financial Services Committee plans to pass its version of the bill in late April.

Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairman, said he hopes Congress acts quickly because “veterans and other Americans are struggling with the national housing crisis.”

Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, ranking Republican on the committee, also praised provisions of the bill, noting the grants for disabled veterans “will provide important assistance like wheelchair ramps and accessible bathrooms, which are often the first step toward independence for these men and women with traumatic injuries.”