Embracing soldiers needs when they come home

Dear Readers,

We send our young men and women

to war and, sadly, as a society, we often fail to embrace the need for healing,

when they return from War.  History is replete with instances where, maybe

with the exception of our World War II “greatest generation,” we fail to truly

embrace and honor the sacrifices our military servicemen and women made for us.

Laws are often discussed or passed to either provide protection or some

benefits to our veterans.  For example, if you want a government job, you

receive preference for having served in the military.  VA loans have far

more  generous terms than a private market loan.  Medical benefits

and even VA disability benefits are also far more generous than what is

available for the non-military.  GI Bill benefits have been expanded, post

9-11, to make it easier for service members to capitalize on the significant

college education benefits offered in exchange for serving our country.

But, it is not just as veterans that our military personnel receive additional

protections.  There is something called the “Service Members Civil Relief

Act” (SCRA), which offers active duty military, reservists, and guards men and

guards women, significant protections from civil suit and credit and contract

limits.  In one form or another, the principle (of providing protection

from suit during miliary service) traces back to the Civil War, when soldiers

were immune from suit during that great conflict.

The current iteration, the SCRA, continues a modern tradition of offering

service members more than just protection from suit.  In certain

circumstances, service members may have the right to terminate leases

(residential and motor vehicle), commercial credit (such as credit cards) may

be capped at no more than 6%, automatic life insurance benefit increases, and

forms of tax relief.

In addition to the SCRA (which is a national law), many states are starting to

look more closely at predatory lending practices known as “payday” loans, where

exorbitant interest rates are charged for short-term loans until paychecks

arrive.  These types of loans are particularly popular around military

bases, probably because paychecks are once-a-month.  Georgia, thankfully,

has a pretty strong statute, yet, even here these loans are only capped at 60%

annually.

When it comes to the justice system the SCRA provides that if a civil lawsuit

is filed and notice given the member, the member can request that the court

action be “stayed” (or stopped, if you will “for a period not less than 90 days”).  This is not mandatory, although

such a request will routinely be granted if the member has been sent to a “war

zone”.

 

 Additionally, active duty military members are protected from

things like “default judgments,” and evictions.

This part of the SCRA has recently been in the news, as we learn more about the

bank foreclosure mess.  As many of you may have seen, the mortgage crisis

was such a disaster, banks had no idea what type of mortgage paperwork they

had.  Signatures were falsified, paperwork was missing, and, when laws

were passed designed to avoid foreclosures, rules were violated.

It turns out it was even worse.  In conducting audits required by the

Federal Reserve in settlement of claims against major banks, relieving the

banks of possible criminal penalties, over 700 instances were discovered where

service members had their homes foreclosed upon (in direct violation of the

SCRA), while they were overseas protecting our country.

One such instance involved Sgt. James B. Hurley and his home outside Hartford,

Michigan.  While he was in Iraq, Deutsche Bank foreclosed on his home.

 Yes, that’s correct our Government sent him to Iraq, with no way to come

back here to defend himself against a foreclosure, and, when he returned, his

home was gone.  Years later, he finally settled his lawsuit with the Bank,

but at what cost to him and his family?

This is completely unacceptable.  Our service members should not have to

endure what Sgt. Hurley did.  We have laws in place and maybe they need to

be enforced; maybe this idea of a “bank settlement” needs to involve some bank

executives going to prison.

Local attorney Jim Rockefeller owns the

Rockefeller Law Center and is a former Houston Co. Chief Assistant District

Attorney, and a former Miami Prosecutor. Visit www.rockefellerlawcenter.com

<http://www.rockefellerlawcenter.com/>to submit confidential legal questions,

and to review former articles and  Frequently Asked Questions.

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