After months of waiting the Department of Defense has published the guidelines for the processing of applications for military families who are eligible for the DoD Homeowners Assistance Program (HAP).

The guidelines provide for different processing rules for the three major categories:

Wounded Warriors
Surviving Spouses
Active Duty with PCS Orders

Homeowner Assistance Program Guidelines

If you have applied for relief under the HAP program make sure you check out the new guidelines and contact your counselor at the appropriate field office to make sure your file is in line for processing. 

The biggest concern for homeowners is the tax consequences of the funding.  Currently the ruling specifies that the homeowner will have to cover the benefits received as taxable income and the tax liability will be deducted from the funds at settlement.  If you would like to support H.R. 3590 to remove this from the bill contact your representative as well as Rep. Pelosi and Rep. Rangel to request the support of expediting the passage of H.R. 3590

Current I have four military families with contracts on their homes and finally seeing the guidelines published is a big relief.  It was interesting to note that the guidelines suggest "if a home sells in its first marketing week, it was probably under priced."  They are obviously not aware of the Northern Virginia real estate market where anything that is priced right and in good condition may get multiple offers in the first week.

If you are a military family station in the Northern Virginia area and you qualify for the Homeowners Assistance Program call Cindy Jones at 703-346-2213.  I've been working with military families stationed at Fort Belvoir, the Pentagon, Quantico and other Military District of Washington installations this year to help them to market their homes under the HAP guidelines.