The House Veterans Affairs Committee passed legislation designed to protect military members, disabled veterans and military spouses from wrongful foreclosures this week, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., reported.
The committee's acceptance of the bill merely sets the legislation up to reach the full House for a vote.
The bill, which was added to the Military Home Protection Act, prohibits banks from foreclosing on service members fighting overseas and veterans with disabilities.
Those protections extend to military spouses as well. The legislation is supported by various veterans groups and comes on the heels of Holly Petraeus testifying in front of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee earlier this week.
Petraeus, who serves as assistant director for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Servicemember Affairs office, claims that in two years time, about 49% of the complaints from veterans involved mortgage issues.
The CFPB Servicemembers Affairs office issued a semi-annual report to Congress, noting 58% of mortgage complaints involved issues related to loan modifications, collections and foreclosures.
