RE: http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,144498,00.html
Highway robbery! Those creditors were aware of SCRA and chose to continue fleecing service members that had gone to war. They should be severely penalized, fined and then the money from the fines split among all the members that were affected by this!!!

****ing and flaming *******s..the SCRA is there to protect our finances. The shitfaces are screwing us again. I used that during my "vacation" in the goddammed desert called the Saudi Shithole. Screw the ragheads

quote:

Originally posted by 2552375:
****ing and flaming *******s..the SCRA is there to protect our finances. The shitfaces are screwing us again. I used that during my "vacation" in the goddammed desert called the Saudi Shithole. Screw the ragheads

I agree if there were fines and penalties they woudn't play those silly games. Our troops have enough to worry about already.

It's good that a review is being conducted, but before you go burning every credit company in effigy consider the huge numbers of companies that are granting SCRA initiatives. If you read the policy - it's optional, not mandated and applies primarily to Reserve and Guard personnel.

Research and education is a major part of the equation - new SMs should be told about this in Basic training, family members should be introduced at the earliest opportunity. As a trainer and briefer I was amazed at how many senior enlisted and officers did not know about this provision.

My spouse deployed to the desert playground 4 times from 90 to 2003 and every time we were able to use the SSCRA/SCRA to our benefit. Educate not fornicate the issue.

quote:

Originally posted by 5122954:
It's good that a review is being conducted, but before you go burning every credit company in effigy consider the huge numbers of companies that are granting SCRA initiatives. If you read the policy - it's optional, not mandated and applies primarily to Reserve and Guard personnel.

Research and education is a major part of the equation - new SMs should be told about this in Basic training, family members should be introduced at the earliest opportunity. As a trainer and briefer I was amazed at how many senior enlisted and officers did not know about this provision.

My spouse deployed to the desert playground 4 times from 90 to 2003 and every time we were able to use the SSCRA/SCRA to our benefit. Educate not fornicate the issue.

Bullseye.

In the article, Kathy Moakler echoes this sentiment:

“We don’t want to create excuses for financial irresponsibility. Troops and families still need to plan ahead and do their homework..." If a lot of deadbeat troops abuse this privilege, we could run the risk of having the law weakened siginficantly.

We have many, many opportunities to educate not only our young troopers, but also those businesses they are most likely to engage with. And everyone involved needs to be focused on the idea that the relationship between the deployed servicemember and businesses must be conducted not only in the spirit of the law, but in a way that just makes good sense.

In short, the responsibility cuts both ways.

While deployed to OIF 1 my home was hit by a tornado, the engine on my truck broke and the wife had to deal with it all. Of course the insurance company said the home wasn't hit, even though the homes around us were? Needless to say we had to fix the roof to avoid further damage, outta my pocket. And the truck engine, of course extended warranty which they cancelled for us due to sludge build up. Shammed talked to many mechanics and they said that model is bad for sludge build up, due to design flaws. Anyways, nessities and avoiding further damage, that put us behind on our bills badly. When I redeployed all debts were satisfied. When I left I had a 728 credit score and when I got back it was a whopping 506. My thanks to Dodge and of course the Military insurance that supports us USAA, Eat my A**. As I have been told by many " Pay Your Bills". SCRA is a sham, no protection there.

I have already blasted and won over the credit and insurance companies.

Here's my beef! If they are going to modify the SCRA so that custody changes are not a permanent thing while the soldier is deployed they need to change it also to include the soldiers spouse.

My oldest child (my husband's step-child) was removed from my custody, mind you I am not the one in the military- I'm a stay-at-home-mom, just because my husband is in the military and "we are concerned about the child's stability in a military family setting". If they are going to change the SCRA it needs to cover that too since my child is also listed as one of my husband's dependents and should have the God-given right to grow up with his siblings. So let's define stability...roof over your head courtesy of the military, health benefits, guaranteed job...hmmmm sounds stable to me. You won't find that within the Family Law Courts though because apparently, the men and women that are fighting for their freedom (while they push paper in an air conditioned building and decide our lives) are unstable. If you can't stand behind our troops (and their families) stand in front of them!
I edited this to include the following: We have always been stationed state side. Never been over seas, and so far my husband has yet to be deployed. Now how "unstable" can that possibly be?!?!

Although my husband and I didn't have a problem with our creditors...I know that alot of soldiers have. In fact...some of the credit card companies that we use have a whole seperate department JUST for military and the SCRA. It's still pretty sad that soldiers have to fight for what's theirs when they've rightfully earned. And the SCRA rep that spoke to our family support group told us that all creditors are required BY LAW to lower any interest rate to 6% or lower. We've even had some creditors gives us lower than 6% AND suspend any future late fees during the deployment.

I agree, SCRA should be reviewed and updated.
Military personnel going through, Basic or first time Predeployment get so much information thrown at them that if they retain 50% if the it they will be lucky. A major part of the emphasis is placedon "Staying Alive". Sure they may be given the information, but do they understand it or even have time toread it?
It's about time that some feet are being pushed into the fire. Be fair to our TROOPS.

What about active duty soldiers? I was told that we do not qualify for any programs by most of our creditors because we have been in the Army for 15 years. They said it wasn't a "hardship" for us. I had one person call my husband a fool for being there, and the other lady actually said that I should just be lucky that I have a husband at all. There are a lot of single moms out there who don't have husband's and they don't get anything special.
How can we stop this and make it fair to all of our Troops?

This is one case where Congress should call up soldiers to testify about the varied situations that need to be changed in this act. Since Congress wants so much oversight and love to investigate, this should definitely be a worthwhile endeavor.

All of this is for nothing unless Congress passes legislation with some kind of penalty system that is actually ENFORCED! The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act is not enforced by the federal government because; 1) the federal government is unwilling to step on the toes of state and local governments in dealing with things like child custody, and 2)the federal government does not have an effective enough system to monitor violations of the SCRA. Unless new legislation

There are lots of companies who do right by servicemembers. When I deployed in 2004, AT&T adjusted my account and charged me a minimal monthly amount so I wouldn't violate my contract but wouldn't be stuck paying 40 dollars a month for service I wasn't using. Sears is one of the few companies who complies fully with the SCRA as well as pays salary offsets to employees who are receiving less money as a result of their mobilization and deployment. I have talked to several reservists and guardsmen who were taken good care of by smaller employers, as well.

Now, whatever kind of changes that are made to the SCRA need to have a tie-in with military commanders. When a servicemember is experiencing problems, there needs to be a rear detachment commander who is extremely well versed on the SCRA and is able to actually get things done. There needs to be a tie-in with those commanders and their supporting JAG offices so they can take action through the US Attorneys' offices to PUNISH the people who violate the SCRA to the detriment of our brothers and sisters in arms. Only then will the SCRA actually serve its intended purpose.

Yes there are lots of companies doing right, but what you don't know won't hurt them. Have any of you ever read the SCRA or the SSRA? I might be wrong but the only changes I noticed were the time you have to satisfy your debts upon redeployment, from 6 months to 90 Days. Also when I mention SCRA to creditors it is the standard to imply it is only for reservests or guard members. Once again I might be wrong, but, I remember it to state there is a difference between active duty soldiers, training and active duty soldiers deployed for war, once you recieve orders for combat your status changes. Any US citizen serving in a war zone or as part of a coalition force is qualified to the protections under this act. I attempted to get help from various places and none seem to have a total knowledge of the SCRA, yes including JAG. Even my congressman came to a halt and said there was nothing he could do.

As one who put 20 years in the military long
ago, you need to understand that Congress is
going to do nothing except set back and watch
you get screwed. I can well remember the
60% interest charges years ago by the old
HFC Corporation when you went in to borrow
money as a serviceman. They made a fortune.
These companies are nothing but a damm bunch of
scavengers who make their living from guys like you in the military, the same as they did years
ago. Congress could damm well stop it if they
really wanted to, but they don't. They only
provide lip service.

Hello All.

I am Major Kevin Neal, a Civil Support Planner for US Army North and current Command and General Staff College Student, US Army Combined Arms Center, Ft Lee, VA.

DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in this blog / forum entry are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the United States Government.

I am totally in agreement that Soldiers' rights must be protected when they are deployed for combat or other operations.
I personally did not have any issues with the reputable creditors I deal with.

That being said my issue was with disreputable creditors and these issues were the result of my now exwife's fiscal and personal dysfunction.
While I was deployed, she opened several credit card accounts; maxed out the accounts; and failed to pay them.
She opened one Capitol One credit card account in my name; maxed out the account; and failed to pay it.
She failed to pay My one credit card account bill, that was also with Capitol One, for 6 months while I was in Iraq.

Capitol One worked with me on these accounts.
The credited many of the charges back to my account and allowed me to close and pay off the account which I willingly did in the interest of paying my just debts.

The other account that my exwife had opened without my consent, Capitol One closed and wrote off under their identity theft policy.
The only other creditor I had to deal with, was a auto loan my exwife had cosigned with my name.
Yes, she forged my signature.
This creditor, Americredit, was very difficult to deal with and even after providing supporting documents such as my orders and a copy of the loan document with the forged signature, they still did not remove me from being responsible and reporting this to the credit bureaus.
I finally had to have a lawyer send them a letter requiring them to cease all communication and correct all negative reporting.

Even still, it was a supremely difficult situation.
I think soldiers should also be protected under these situations of "identity theft" by family members while they are deployed.

Major Neal,

I would first like to say that I'm sorry for the hassle you have been through. I personally had Ameri-credit and hated every single minute of the 6 months we were financed with them. Capitol one has proved to be fair in one case, yet extremely rude and unwilling to work with us when my husband was in Iraq the second time and I had several emergencies back to back to back. Finally, I got everything under control before hubby came home safe and sound, but not without a few more grey hairs lol.

My second point, or question, or comment, is about your ex-wife. Did he have these issues before you deployed? Before you were married? A lot of women, and I am by NO means trying to generalize women (I'm one myself lol) but a lot of women have a very hard time with all of the extra responsibilities involved when the husband is suddenly "taken" away. I will use my own experiences as the example here.
When my husband deployed 10 days after our PCS back to our "home base" of Ft. Bragg, in which we have owned a home here for 6 years, I had an extremely hard time. A little background would be helpful here I think. We have been married for 11 years but have been together for 13 years. I am prior military, served 5 years and ETS'd to take care of our children. We met in Korea, and married about a year after our son was born. I was used to deployments, field problems, staff duty, ect. I knew how the Army worked, and I honestly think that makes it easier now.

My husband deployed for the initial invasion of the Iraq war and all was well the entire year. He came home, and a few months later was diagnosed with PTSD, but other than that, everything went well. I handled the deployment the best I could, kept busy, spent money as I wanted, but paid everything off while he was gone, both new cards ( Best Buy was just too good to pass up) as well as all other credit cards we had opened previously.

Now, this last time (he just came home June 2nd on emergency leave and they decided he should just stay home since there was less than a month left in the deployment) I had so many issues that I had to ask myself everyday "how in the world did I do this the first time?" First, just days after he left and I was left to unpack box after box, we were missing things and a lot of things were broken. YIPEE! I get to fill out a claims form and TRY t get through that process! A few days later, while on "retail therapy" my van started "yelling" at me saying I had low tire pressure! How in the world was I supposed to know which one was low when I was in the middle of nowhere?? The van has this information readily available at the push of a button and it does in fact show that one tire was at 26 when the rest were at 40. UGH! I drove to the car wash to figure out which tire was low and to put air in it. It kept doing that every other day for a few days until finally I just went and had it repaired. Not a week after that I got the news my daughter, who was 8 at the time, had a brain tumor! OK, fine, the only thing we can do is give her meds to keep it under control. The next few months were just full of simple things that always go wrong during a deployment like lights going out, septic tank backing up into the house, sick dogs, house broken into and money stolen, rock hitting the windshield and cracking it... ect. You all know how those things go. Then I find a lump o my back. I go in to have it removed; it wasn't anything except a "swollen lymph node" so the surgeon was going to just remove it in her office. She opened me up and realized that it was more than she though so she closed me up and scheduled me for the OR the following week. Turns out I have a very painful disease called neurofibromatosis (tumors form on my nerves) I have had constant pain for 7 years, so this was a good thing in that now we know where the pain comes from. Then hubby comes home on R&R. About a month before he came home I had felt a lump in one of my breasts, but didn't want to worry him so never said anything. Half way through R&R I had my appt in which we are both 100% sure that everything is fine and we would be eating lunch in an hour or so. That wasn't the case. She came in, examined me, asked when my husband was going back, he said in about a week, she said "no you aren't, you will be helping your wife recover from surgery" and with that, another OR was scheduled and his R&R was extended 10 days. A few days after the surgery I had a follow-up and turns out I have A Typical Ductal Hyperplasia Carcinoma. Breast cancer. She was certain she got it all during the first surgery, so there was no need to go back in right away. We were told "if you are going to have Breast Cancer, this is the one to have" since it's confined. Hubby goes back to Iraq a week or so later and I am left to deal with this emotionally. It's hard. I spend a lot of time online since my body is now "deformed" and I buy just about every bra that will help even me back out. I then find more lumps, and it is confirmed that they are reason to worry, but nothing should be done until I can have another mammogram 6 months from the surgery so they can see exactly how much they are dealing with. More shopping to help deal with everything. I also joined a gym, so at least that was good. I started to feel better about myself and after about a month or so had come to term with it. Then, in May, our son was shot in the eye with a BB from a BB gun. Another kid had lured him out and when he came out the kid shot him. Fastest trip to the ER in history I think. This is when they finally sent hubby home. I had dealt with enough on my own.

Sorry for the novel, but I felt it was needed as the background. The second deployment was much harder and not only didn't pay any credit cards off, I opened more and while we were not in over our heads, we were in more debt. When my hubby left, all creditors with the exception of the mortgage and vehicle agreed to basically not have us pay anything, no late fees, no over limit fees, nothing. Needless to say, not only did I not pay them, I charged more on them.

I don't know your exact situation, so I can't make a specific comment on it, however, I think that you should take into account how your wife felt during the deployment. Also, if this was new, then it was most likely deployment related, as mine was. If it wasn't new, then you knew about it before you deployed and I'm not 100% convinced it is all her fault. I think that knowing WHY your wife charged everything and did all of that would help to understand. I feel that the creditors should help the soldiers no matter what the situation is. If it was the wife, then that shouldn't matter so much since the deployment was hard on her as well.

Basically, I think they need better legislation and more understandable resource available to the soldiers AND the spouses.

quote:

A servicemember who, prior to entry into active duty, entered an installment contract for the purchase of real or personal property (including motor vehicle), is protected under the SCRA if the servicemember's ability to make the payments is "materially affected" by the military service.

The servicemember must have paid, prior to entry onto active duty, a deposit or installment under the contract.

Send a written letter to the creditor requesting the interest rate be reduced to the 6% along with a copy of active duty orders under title 10 i also included a copy of the particular section of the scra as proof. The response was accepted and the rate was reduced starting with the following months payment due
This workedf well for many of our military members

http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/about/hudvet/library/scra.cfm

http://www.military.com/benefits/legal-matters/scra/fre...ly-asked-questions#2

It never hurts to ask the worse they can say is no

Seems to me that the military would have a deployment packet with a phone number for family members to call if they have problems like this. But what do I know.