The current housing situation in the United States continues to affect our Soldiers and Families who have purchased homes; those living in rentals in the local communities surrounding our posts, camps and stations; and Government directed moves for Permanent Change of Station and BRAC 2005 directed relocations. The Army, the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), and other Federal and private sector agencies have been aggressively working programs to provide help, information and support during these challenging housing times.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 includes the following program to assist homeowners challenged in today's market.

The Homeowners Assistance Program (HAP) is an OSD program with the Army as the Executive Agent, and executed by the Corps of Engineers. The HAP program legislation in the ARRA, has a sunset clause of September 2012. The program is for eligible personnel who meet certain qualifications in the following categories:

1. Our Warriors in Transition/Surviving Spouses,
2. BRAC Relocations for Civilians and Military personnel, and
3. Soldiers in a permanent change of station status.

This is just one of the many programs available for Soldiers and Families. Individuals wanting more information should go to http://myarmyonesource.com/SoldierandFamilyHousing . This link is the point of entry for information with additional links to Army websites (Army Housing, ACS, HAP, OTJAG), OSD, Veterans Administration, and other Federal agency links for financial, legal, and housing information.