Chase Donates 100 Foreclosed Homes to Military Veterans

At least 100 homes will be donated by the bank Chase to wounded military veterans under a new program run by Operation Homefront, a national non-profit organization that helps military families to secure emergency assistance.

The first priority of the program is to find homes for families that are currently staying at transitional housing in Operation Homefront Villages. To be eligible for a home from Chase’s inventory, military families need to be on active duty, capable of meeting the financial demands of owning a home, and not a current homeowner. Spouses of military personnel who have been killed in action are also eligible to apply for a new home.

Operation Homefront CEO and President, Jim Knotts, said that the gesture was an incredible gift from Chase to members of the armed services:

"Chase's imaginative, nation-wide approach to providing quality homes to deserving service members and their families will make a huge difference in how these heroes can make that difficult transition and adjustment into productive civilian lives."

Frank Bisignano, JPMorgan Chase Chief Administrative Officer and CEO of Mortgage Banking, added that he hoped the gesture help military veterans to ease their way back into civilian life:

"These individuals have made tremendous sacrifices for our nation, and as they move back into civilian life in a tough economic environment, we hope that a mortgage-free home will make that transition a little easier.”

The donation of homes by Chase comes just months after the bank announced steps to assist military veterans with a new foreclosure prevention and assistance program. Earlier, Chase admitted that it had wrongfully evicted 14 military families, and these cases were followed by similar wrongful evictons of military personnel from other banks. Several banks, including Chase, are now being reviewed by the Justice Department for violations under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.

For military families interested in applying for a home under Operation Homefront’s new program, they can sign up on the organization’s official website.