Veterans Fight a Losing Battle Against Foreclosure

Published October 22, 2008 @ 11:50AM PT

Veterans who survived car bombs and ambush in Iraq are fighting a losing battle on American soil, according to an article by the Kansas City Star. Areas of the country with large numbers of military personnel have foreclosures at a rate four times the national average.

For some of the veterans disability is a major factor. But even veterans without disabilities are having trouble for a variety of reasons: unemployment and repeated calls to duty, frequent relocations that limit the chance to build equity, and low pay for active service members.

Additionally, many military families were targeted by subprime mortgage sellers that opened offices near bases, leaving the families paying higher interest rates and more loan fees.

“They either can’t make a rent payment or mortgage payment, or they’re losing their car, or at least the threat is there,” said Shari Grewe, a transition patient advocate at the Kansas City Veterans Affairs Medical Center for veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. She deals with about 35 veterans a day who are having trouble making payments, among other problems.

Luckily, the VA (Veteran's Affairs) can step in to negotiate with lenders on the veteran's behalf, examining options that could save a family from foreclosure, such as repayment plans or loan modifications. But in an odd twist, the article reports that most veterans do not take advantage of these intervention resources.

Many of the Vietnam vets seen by Nicole McCrory, a certified foreclosure intervention and default counselor at Catholic Charities of Kansas City-St. Joseph, do not want to go to the VA.

“Korean and Iraq (era veterans) seem more willing,” she said.

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Author

Shannon has worked in homeless shelters and service organizations in San Francisco, the Triangle region of North Carolina, and currently in the greater Boston area. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.