Providence, RI – Last night, President Barack Obama signed into law Senator Sheldon Whitehouse’s Foreclosure Relief and Extension for Servicemembers Act, extending key foreclosure protection to those who serve. The legislation had passed both houses of Congress with unanimous support. Whitehouse released the following statement on the bill’s signing.
“Those who serve in our armed forces keep us safe. They should have as much financial security as possible as they transition back to civilian life from active-duty service. That’s why I have been fighting to protect servicemembers from foreclosure during that transition,” said Whitehouse. “I am proud to have passed this bill to extend these important safeguards for another two years. Now I will continue to push to make these protections permanent.”
Whitehouse has been fighting for years to ensure that those who have served our country and their families are protected from foreclosure as they transition from active-duty service to civilian life. Thanks to legislation Whitehouse authored in 2014, servicemembers were protected from foreclosure for a full year after leaving active-duty service. That provision expired at the end of 2015, causing foreclosure protections to revert to just 90 days. The Whitehouse bill that was just signed into law extends the 12-month grace period through the end of 2017.
In 2008, Congress first extended the period of foreclosure protection under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act from 90 days to nine months in response to a report by the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves. The report found that “the threat of foreclosure is a stressor that need not be placed on members of the armed forces during the first months of their return to civilian life.
In 2012, Senator Whitehouse fought successfully to extend the period of foreclosure protection even further, extending it to one year. Since then, Whitehouse has succeeded in extending that protection, while also fighting to make it permanent.
