Capt. Dayne Nelson, who recently completed his six-year residency at Madigan Army Medical Center, knew that he would be PCSing this summer and that he would need to sell his family's home. Nelson and his wife Quinn purchased their home in DuPont back in March 2006, when the real estate market was running high. Sadly, the difference between what they paid for the house then and what they were listing it for this past February was close to $60,000.

Luckily, Nelson had heard about the Homeowner's Assistance Program run by the Department of Defense and knew that he qualified under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's Expanded HAP, which was instituted to assist servicemembers who are required to permanently relocate during the mortgage crisis, among others.

"To successfully work with the HAP program, it is imperative to be organized and proactive with HAP's qualification process prior to listing your home," advised Nelson's realtor, Angie Sherman of RE/MAX Professionals Tacoma. "If realtors and their clients do their homework and have an understanding of the components and complexity of the program, they can be successful ... in time. It is not a quick or simple process."

Knowing that it is not necessarily a quick process can certainly help eligible servicemembers decide if HAP is worth pursuing or not.

"I think a lot of people submit applications but then get tired of waiting or get discouraged, so they just drop it," Nelson said.

Submitted applications are ranked by category and given priority based on that; for example, wounded warriors, surviving spouses and those affected by a Base Realignment and Closure and placed ahead of those who are just PCSing.

One HAP hurdle resembles that of a short sale, in that a buyer must be secured first, before the transaction is actually approved. Once the transaction is approved by HAP, the government then buys out the mortgage for the seller and the buyers purchase the home from the government. However, waiting for the final approval can take much longer than many sellers can spare. The solution is to rent the property forward, meaning the current owners/sellers collect rent from the future buyers until a closing date is set. The Nelsons will be doing this until the end of the summer, when they hope to finally close.

"One random issue we had stemmed from our desire to provide the buyers with a letter telling them their offer was acceptable," said Nelson with a laugh. "Apparently that is not a typical HAP practice."

Nelson accomplished it, however, through persistence and some phone calls to his senator and congressman.

"Renting forward is the recommended action with HAP transactions, but it can be difficult because both sides need to agree," said Sherman. "It helped that our buyers are also military."

"Personally, it was worth the work. I am grateful that the program exists," added Nelson. "Without it, we'd be losing quite a bit."

In addition to buying the mortgage, HAP also covers the realtors' fees, excise taxes, title and escrow and the buyer's closing costs.

For more information, visit http://hap.usace.army.mil.