By James T. Bork, J.D., LL.M.
On December 10, 2015, the U.S. Senate passed without amendment S. 2393, the Foreclosure Relief and Extension for Servicemembers Act of 2015. This bill would amend Sec. 710(d) of the Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012 by extending until December 31, 2017, the one-year period after a service member's military service during which: (i) a court may stay proceedings to enforce an obligation on real or personal property owned by the service member before such military service; and (ii) any sale, foreclosure, or seizure of such property shall be invalid without a court order or waiver agreement signed by the service member.
An analogous bill, H.R. 4252, was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on December 15, 2015, and was referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and then to the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity. As of this writing, the U.S. House has not passed that bill, nor has the legislation been presented to the president for his signature. As a result, the mortgage proceedings and mortgage foreclosure protection period provided by Section 303 of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 USC 3953) reverted to 90 days as of January 1, 2016.
Legislative Review. Prior to passage of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, Section 303 of the SCRA provided for a 90 day mortgage proceedings and mortgage foreclosure protection period. Sec. 2203(a) of the 2008 Act changed that to a 9 month protection period, effective until December 31, 2010. That expiration date was extended until December 31, 2012 by Sec. 2 of the Helping Heroes Keep Their Homes Act of 2010, which was signed into law just before the end of the year.
On August 6, 2012, the Honoring America's Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012 (i) substituted a one-year protection period in place of the 9 month period, and (ii) extended the protection period expiration date until December 31, 2014. In December of 2014, the Foreclosure Relief and Extension for Servicemembers Act of 2014 extended the expiration date through December 31, 2015. As of that date, the SCRA's mortgage proceedings and mortgage foreclosure protection period reverted to 90 days, pending possible further extension if the U.S. House of Representatives approves the bill that is currently before Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Further information regarding S. 2393 is available online through this link: https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/2393
Further information regarding H.R. 4252 is available online through this link: https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/4252
James T. Bork, J.D., LL.M., is Senior Banking Compliance Analyst with Wolters Kluwer Financial Services. Prior to joining WKFS, he practiced law for several years with a focus on financial institutions, consumer banking issues, commercial lending, and business law. He was also Assistant General Counsel and Senior Compliance Attorney at a billion dollar institution. Jim has written articles and spoken on regulatory and compliance developments affecting financial institutions. He received his law degree in 1989 and earned a Master of Laws degree (LL.M.) in banking law in 1993 from the Morin Center for Banking and Financial Law at Boston University School of Law.
