Not sure how I missed this announcement, particularly since I am a Vet (armor platoon leader), but the day before Veteran's Day (11-10-11), the Department of Justice announced that it had arranged for Bank of America to settle with a number of Service Members whose homes were illegally foreclosed upon, as per the rules under the Service Member Civil Relief Act (SCRA). This law was designed to protect active duty service personnel from losing their homes to foreclosure while serving on active duty in the military. Each claimant under the settlement will receive $116,785 plus payment for any lost equity as a result of the wrongful foreclosure. Overall, this will cost BofA $20 million covering 160 wrongfully foreclosed service members. These foreclosures happened between 2006 and 2009, and were done by Countrywide Bank, subsequently purchased by BofA. Thus, BofA must cover the former Countrywide liability.
While no criminal charges have been filed against BofA, although they theoretically could be, a number of states have commenced civil legal action (suits) against the bank to further hold it liable for actions related to this and similar situations. Bottom line: if you're military active duty and/or were from 2006 onward and have been foreclosed upon, sit down with your JAG officer, or call a civilian attorney and check out your situation as regards possible compensation under an SCRA violation.
As always, Good Luck. Happy Thanksgiving.
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