Homeless Vets

Atrios brings us this story from eStars and Stripes which echoes something I posted about several months ago: that we're already seeing homeless vets from our current round of wars standing in food lines after they lost their homes through foreclosure when they couldn't meet their court-ordered bankruptcy payments.

And before someone corrects me to say that military folks are exempt from foreclosure, think again. First, many of our vets are not protected because once they come home, they aren't exempt any longer. Second, foreclosures are drastically up everywhere in the U.S. and many of our soldiers bought homes that require low or no down-payments using their signing bonus only to lose them again. Third, I've read of several soldiers - including the reservists - who have indeed lost their homes while on active duty, laws or not.

In fact, because of a nasty situation here at home, I'm learning how easy it is for banks to yank financing. Many people are filing for bankruptcy now to protect their homes - what an awful predicament - because when the revised law takes effect in October, they stand far less of a chance of qualifying and even less of a chance of holding onto their homes anyway. Mortgage holders are much less eager to allow someone in arrears to catch up on payments, even if they can do so before the home is sold at a loss through sheriff's sale.

In my home state of Vermont, which has a statistically low bankruptcy rate, they're seeing double the numbers they have in recent years.

At the same time, malpractice insurance for bankruptcy attorneys is jumping exponentially which will have as the added measure that even those who may qualify for bankruptcy (either Chapters 7 or 13) will have a much tougher time finding a lawyer to represent them. While you can in theory get through bankruptcy without an attorney, the success rate is much lower that you will a) get a ruling in your favor and b) devise a plan that's apt to let you get through the bankruptcy period and come out solvent.

It's quite a system the Bushies have worked out. I'm not sure, but I suspect George will be reinstituting debtors' prisons again real soon now.

Care to donate to a program helping a homeless vet? Here.