20,000 service members, vets lost homes in 2010

20,000 service members, vets lost homes in 2010
Foreclosure rate in zip codes near military bases increased 32 percent
By Gregg Zoroya - USA Today
Posted : Thursday Feb 3, 2011 22:24:48 EST
More than 20,000 veterans, active-duty troops and reservists who took out special government-backed mortgages lost their homes last year — the highest number since 2003.

The rate of foreclosure filings in 2010 among 163 zip codes located near military bases rose 32 percent over 2008, according to RealtyTrac, a foreclosure research firm. This compares with a 2010 increase in foreclosure filings nationally of 23 percent over 2008.

The housing crisis has hit military families particularly hard in part because of transfers and the loss of civilian jobs left behind by reservists.

About 12,000 military families applied to the Pentagon’s expanded Homeowners Assistance Program. It makes up most of the difference in price for service members who must transfer and sell their homes for less than they owe, or buys their houses outright.

“Our demand, in terms of (military) families coming to us for assistance, went up 19 percent in 2010 over the previous year,” says Bill Nelson, executive director of USA Cares, a charity that provides financial assistance to Iraq and Afghanistan war-era troops.
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20,000 service members, vets lost homes in 2010

But that isn't the only bad news for veterans

Unemployment for young vets jumps to 15 percent
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Feb 4, 2011 10:25:57 EST
The unemployment rate for veterans took an unexpected jump in January — even as the overall unemployment rate fell.

The Labor Department reported Friday that the national unemployment rate dropped 0.4 percentage point, to a new level of 9.0, but the rate for veterans climbed to 9.9 percent, up from 8.3 percent the previous month.

For Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans, the unemployment rate for January was 15.2 percent. This is a sharp increase from 9.4 percent in November and 11.7 percent in December, a clear trend of a worsening job market for younger veterans, many of them combat veterans.

“This should be a wakeup call for America,” said Paul Rieckoff, executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans of America. “We have a definite employment problem and it is getting worse.”

Labor Department statistics for January show that 15.5 percent of male veterans and 13.5 percent of female veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan era are looking for work and cannot find it. But Rieckoff said IAVA polling shows the true unemployment rate for young veterans is 20 percent or higher.
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Unemployment for young vets jumps to 15 percent