Bill would protect survivors from foreclosure - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Bill would protect survivors from foreclosure

Surviving spouses of service members killed in Iraq or Afghanistan would be guaranteed one year of protection against the foreclosure or forced sale of their homes under legislation introduced Tuesday by Rep. Frank Kratovil Jr., D-Md.

Kratovil’s bill, HR 4664, was referred to the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, which oversees the legal and financial protections provided by the Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act. The committee is working on a package of changes to that law that could be passed later this year.

In 2008, as foreclosures in the U.S. were on the rise, Congress included in a broader economic recovery bill a new protection for mobilized National Guard and reserve members that prohibited foreclosure for up to nine months after their release from active duty.

That provision, set to expire at the end of 2010, was approved as part of a compromise. Banks and lending institutions had expressed concern to lawmakers about Guard or reserve members being given a way to potentially use military duties to avoid financial responsibilities.

Separate legislation pending in the House would extend the foreclosure moratorium for another five years.

Kratovil’s bill, the Mortgage Foreclosure Moratorium for Surviving Spouses Act of 2010, would extend the same foreclosure protection to surviving spouses of service members killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. The moratorium would remain in place for one year following the death, and would apply only to deaths directly related to service in Operations Iraqi Freedom or Enduring Freedom.

In a statement, Kratovil’s staff said the legislation is one of several ideas that came from recent meetings he had with veterans.