House Passes Md. Bill That Will Protect Military Families From Foreclosure
BALTIMORE (WJZ)—More help is coming to military members who find themselves struggling to keep their homes.
Monique Griego has more on new legislation protecting them from foreclosure.
From fighting overseas to battling another war back home, some military members were hit hard by the housing crisis.
"Service members while they were on the battlefield fighting were getting messages or emails from wives saying 'We're about to be put out,'" said Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings.
Cummings couldn't believe how many soldiers were losing their homes, so he created the Military Family Home Protection Act.
"We felt that there was a way, that America was better than that," Cummings said.
The new legislation will prevent soldiers from being foreclosed while they're deployed and for up to a year after. Previously they only had nine months.
The bill just passed in the House by an overwhelming margin.
"It's going to give a chance for service members to work through the process and hopefully that process will be to save the house and get their finances in order," said Mark Walker, the American Legion.
The new legislation will also expand protection to surviving spouses of military members who serve overseas and to military members who've been declared 100 percent disabled.
"It just seems like the right thing to do, ensuring that they're being protected while they protect us," said Shaun Rieley, The American Legion.
The bill also cracks down on illegal foreclosures and protects soldiers from discrimination by banks.
A similar bill still has to go through the Senate. Once passed there, this new legislation will become law.
Cummings is very confident that is going to happen.
