December 19, 2014

Lawmakers unanimously approved legislation late last week by Senator Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla) to protect servicemembers from foreclosure.  

The measure extends until January 2016 a provision that ensures troops who serve on active duty are protected against losing their home for one year following the completion of their service.  

In 2008, Congress first extended the period of foreclosure protection under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) from 90 days to 9 months in response to a report by the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves. The report found that “the threat of foreclosure is a stressor that need not be placed on members of the armed forces during the first months of their return to civilian life.”  

The original bill sought to make the one-year protection permanent law in the SCRA, an objective still sought by MOAA and our partners in The Military Coalition.  

The extension largely affects members of the National Guard and Reserves called to active duty.  As of December, almost 29,000 Guard and Reserve members are serving on active duty and over 902,000 have served on active duty since September 11, 2001.