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Housing assistance checks finally in the mail

About 20 checks have been cut under the newly expanded Homeowners Assistance Program, aimed at helping military homeowners caught in the housing market downturn.

Air Force Maj. John Orchard of Colorado Springs, Colo., received the first check issued under the new program on Oct. 13, two weeks after the Army Corps of Engineers got the green light to start processing applications.

“This is a huge gift from our country,” Orchard said.

He was among the first of more than 4,500 homeowners who have applied for assistance under the expanded HAP, which was signed into law Feb. 17 as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 with $555 million in funding.

Eligible for assistance are people on permanent change-of-station orders, wounded warriors, surviving spouses and those affected by base realignment and closure actions. Wounded warriors and surviving spouses have priority, although the majority of applicants are in the PCS category.

There are restrictions in each category. Full details are available online.

Orchard said his check covered about 45 percent of the losses he and his wife, Alexandra, incurred in March 2008 when they sold their Las Vegas home because of a PCS move from Nellis Air Force Base to the U.S. Air Force Academy.

The program covers a smaller portion of their losses because the first 10 percent of the loss is borne by the service member, and the HAP benefit is taxable, with taxes withheld up front. Pending legislation would exclude the HAP benefit from taxes.

Susan Clizbe, a spokeswoman for the Army Corps of Engineers, said about 2,500 applications out of the more than 4,500 filed are eligible for assistance.

The checks paid so far have been to people who have already sold their homes and suffered losses, she said. It’s not certain how long it will take to process all the applications, although the Corps has beefed up its staff and had been doing preliminary work on applications before they got the green light Sept. 30.

Orchard said he moved quickly to get his application into the Corps of Engineers Sacramento office, and sent it by Federal Express Overnight Express on Feb. 20 — just three days after the expanded provision for HAP was signed into law.

Defense officials had hoped to start the program in early summer but delayed it as they tried unsuccessfully to resolve the tax issue. Unless the law is changed, taxes have to be withheld upfront.

For now, the tax requirement will limit the number of people who can be helped, because service members who are “upside-down” on their mortgages — owing more on their mortgages than the sale price of their homes — will not have enough money to take to the table to close the sale.

Go to the Web site:

Find out if you’re eligible and apply for benefits