Schumer Urges Administration to Protect Soldiers From Eviction, Financial Burdens While Serving on Active Duty
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 29, 2005
SCHUMER URGES ADMINISTRATION TO PROTECT SOLDIERS FROM EVICTION, FINANCIAL BURDENS WHILE SERVING ON ACTIVE DUTY
Senator Urges Gonzales to Levy Tough Penalties on Offenders, Urges Rumsfeld to Educate Troops, Appoint Overseer, and Provide Legal Assistance Immediately
Military Men and Women Should Not Be Doing Battle with Creditors at Home While Fighting a War Abroad
Congress Should Increase Penalties after Recess, Clearly Current Penalties Not Stiff Enough to Prevent Creditor Abuses
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) released letters today to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld urging them to protect soldiers and their families from eviction and other financial burdens under a law that was passed last year and signed by President Bush. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act is supposed to protect military men and women on active duty and their families from unscrupulous creditors by preventing foreclosures, evictions, and other financial penalties due to their military commitments.
Schumer's letter to Secretary Rumsfeld said, "It seems that soldiers are not being properly advised of their rights, and many go off to war unaware that they and their families can prevent forfeitures, repossessions, and default judgments while serving their country on active duty. Our soldiers deserve to be armed not only with the best weapons but also with knowledge about their legal rights."
Schumer urged Secretary Rumsfeld to "immediately adopt a standard, service-wide system of notification that clearly advises all military personnel called up for active duty of the legal rights afforded them under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. And to appoint an official overseer to be responsible for assisting soldiers who are being victimized by creditors acting unlawfully.
Schumer said, "There is no reason that our military men and women should be doing battle with creditors at home while they are fighting a war abroad. I hope that Secretary Rumsfeld and Attorney General Gonzales will address this awful problem facing our troops and their families.
"Congress should seriously consider making the penalties for this Act's violation much higher forcing unscrupulous creditors to pay if they prey on our active duty military men and women and their families," Schumer continued.
All on active duty should receive a simple, plain-English advisory of:
1. The existence of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act;
2. Their and their family's rights under it;
3. Their dependent family members' rights under it;
4. Their entitlement to remedies and damages upon a violation of their rights; and
5. The name and number of the official designated to assist soldiers in vindicating their rights.
Schumer said in his letter to Attorney General Gonzales, "To deter such unseemly actions by banks, credit card companies, and other creditors, the Act called for criminal penalties for knowing violations of certain of the Act's provisions. For example, knowingly attempting to foreclose on an active-duty soldier's property is a criminal misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison.
Schumer also urged the Attorney General to conduct a review of the use of these criminal statutes enacted to deter unlawful behavior by banks, credit card companies, and other creditors and "provide a report of the number of pending and concluded investigations within the Department of Justice under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, the number of successful prosecutions brought under the Act, the sentences imposed (if any), and any recommendations for improved enforcement of this vital legal protection for active-duty military personnel, including stiffer penalties for violators."
Schumer concluded, "The advisory to all military personnel should be as standard-issue as military boots."
http://schumer.senate.gov/SchumerWebsite/pressroom/press_releases/2005/PR41551.Soldier%20Credit.032905.html