Among the questions I get from military families on the DoD Homeowners Assistance Program (HAP) is why won't DoD pay me directly for the money I lost on a short sale ?
First to clarify. Why would an active duty military member undertaken a short sale instead of using the DoD HAP program in the first place? The final approval for the DoD HAP program did not happen until Fall 2009. Prior to then active duty military families, wounded warriors, surviving spouses and mandatory retirees had to complete a short sale or rent out their home in order to make a required PCS move.
The HAP program does allow for a qualified service member to apply for the program retroactively. In the case of a short sale there are two possible scenarios. If the lender held the qualified service member liable for a deficiency between the mortgage payoffs, often in the form of a promissory note, then a payment can be made directly to the lender to pay off that deficiency judgment.
If there was no deficiency and no on going financial liability then there will be no benefit paid to the lender or the service member. A service member cannot profit from a prior short sale.
Work is underway to make clarifications and updates to the rules for the DoD HAP program that were original published in the Federal Registry in September 2009. Those new updates should be published in January 2011.
In the meantime if you live in the Northern Virginia area and meet the current eligibility rules for the program give me a call at 703-346-2213. I've settled 20 HAP transactions this year, including both Government Acquisition sales and Private Sales and understand the process thouroughly. Let me help you take advantage of the DoD HAP benefits to sell your home.
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