Military hit hard by housing crisis

WASHINGTON, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Foreclosure filings near military bases jumped 32 percent since 2008 and about 12,000 families took part in a Pentagon program to save homes, officials said.

Still, more than 20,000 veterans, reservists and active-duty troops lost the homes to foreclosure in 2010, the highest number since 2003, USA Today reported.

The foreclosure-tracking firm RealtyTrac said the information came from 163 ZIP codes near military bases. It said the housing crisis hurt military personnel especially hard because of transfers and loss of jobs by reservists.

The 12,000 military families helped by the Pentagon's Homeowners Assistance Program received financial assistance when they were forced to sell their homes for less than owed because of a required transfer.

"Our demand, in terms of (military) families coming to us for assistance, went up 19 percent in 2010 over the previous year," said Bill Nelson, executive director of USA Cares.

The Veterans Administration helped 66,000 families prevent their homes from being foreclosed in 2010.

"The 20,000 (that lost homes) could have been much higher without that help," said Mike Frueh, VA assistant director for loan and property management.