Housing program assists servicemembers, federal civilians Published March 18, 2009 VANDENBURG AFB, Calif. -- The Department of Defense Homeowners Assistance Program entitles members to government assistance if they lost money or cannot sell their homes due to the Base Realignment and Closure process, which began in the 1980s and shut-down approximately 20 installations in 2005, according to www.defenselink.mil/brav. Recently, this program expanded to include servicemembers affected by the housing market that had to permanently change their station. Eligibility criteria are: - Permanent reassignment requires move of more than 50 miles. - Reassignment ordered between Feb 1, 2006 - Sept. 30, 2012, or earlier date as designated by the Secretary of Defense. - Property purchased or contract to purchase signed before July 1, 2006 - Property sold by owner between July1, 06 - Sept. 30, 2012, or earlier date as designated by SECDEF - Property was the primary residence of the owner - Owner has not previously received benefit payments All paperwork and applicable payments are processed through the Army Corps of Engineers. For more information, visit htt://hap.usace.army.mil. There are field offices listed on the Web site to process applications; the appropriate office is determined by the location of the affected house. For example, a house in Arizona would be processed by the Sacramento office even if the customer is stationed closer to the Atlanta office.