3b released member looking at homelessness

[brihard]

This is effing unconscionable. Have you reached out to your MP yet, or reconsidered going to the media? This is some shameful stuff.

 

[Hwyhtac]

This is effing unconscionable. Have you reached out to your MP yet, or reconsidered going to the media? This is some shameful stuff.

I have not and to be honest, I am not sure that is the correct route at this point. I seem to have fallen into the 'swiss cheese model' of 3b releasing\relocating and I am wondering if this has ever been encountered before. If it hasn't I think it would be unfair to go public as in my opinion, the 3b release benefits are pretty outstanding overall. I would like to see the policy dealt with now that this has been identified. Immediately. If this doesn't occur, or if has already been identified and not dealt with, then I would think media involvement would be valid. Two different representatives from the military have touched base with me through army.ca so we will see what they have to say once I hear from them.

I won't be dropping this and I will be informing my MP, the ombudsman and the VAC ombudsmen to hopefully push change. I would not want to see anyone else go through this.

Media is an absolute last resort.

 

[hambley92]

I suggest contacting VETS Canada (www.vetscanada.org)

 

[Pusser]

To be honest, I think most of the blame for this lies on an intransigent lending institution.  That's not to say that VAC/DND couldn't handle this better, but whatever institution you're dealing with is being stupid.  For one thing, they're losing a customer.  Have you demanded to speak to higher authorities within the institution?  Sometimes the mortgage officer's hands are tied, but the branch or regional managers may have more leeway to be sensible.

Have you talked to the Bank of Montreal?  They currently have a military package that is really good (you essentially get employee rates on mortgages and no-fee bank accounts).  I found dealing with my branch at Hunt Club and Bank here in Ottawa really easy and their mortgage officer (Joseph Khouri) really stepped up to make the transition easy.  I had been with Scotiabank for many mortgages over 25 years and they couldn't even come close to what BMO ended up giving me.  In fact, I was really disappointed with the lack of respect I was shown.  I'm a real BMO fan now!

 

[Hwyhtac]

To be honest, I think most of the blame for this lies on an intransigent lending institution.  That's not to say that VAC/DND couldn't handle this better, but whatever institution you're dealing with is being stupid.  For one thing, they're losing a customer.  Have you demanded to speak to higher authorities within the institution?  Sometimes the mortgage officer's hands are tied, but the branch or regional managers may have more leeway to be sensible.

Have you talked to the Bank of Montreal?  They currently have a military package that is really good (you essentially get employee rates on mortgages and no-fee bank accounts).  I found dealing with my branch at Hunt Club and Bank here in Ottawa really easy and their mortgage officer (Joseph Khouri) really stepped up to make the transition easy.  I had been with Scotiabank for many mortgages over 25 years and they couldn't even come close to what BMO ended up giving me.  In fact, I was really disappointed with the lack of respect I was shown.  I'm a real BMO fan now!

I agree 100% with our comments on the mortgage institution.  We have not spoken with any other banks as we were focusing on porting our mortgage to keep the same rate and terms we currently have. We have reached out to a broker in case the port falls through but were restricted by time...which incidentally we may have more of as of last night. There have been some developments with regards to our hail mary and a glimmer of hope remains.

Also, I will be following up later today with a post that will clear the air with regards to VAC, SISIP, JPSU and the release section and the support that they have given.  It has been above and beyond what I had hoped for and needs to be commended.

 

[Pusser]

I hope it works out for you.

 

[Hwyhtac]

Just thought I would give a quick update. Our mortgage was approved last night thanks to the individuals and organizations below. I have learned a lot through this process and now realize that the organizations that assist releasing members are truly there to help. Yes, there may be loopholes but the people behind the scenes are working tirelessly to fix any issues and ease the transition of all military members. I would like to publicly thank all who were involved in working on my file. I touch on all of their actions below if you have time for a read.



JPSU/SISIP/DPSP – I was contacted by Staff Weenie here on army.ca WRT to my situation and we spoke the phone shortly thereafter. I won’t get into exactly what occurred, but I need to public thank him, his team, SISIP, and the DPSC (Pensions) here on army.ca for the urgent and collective work they did on my file that literally helped us avoid homelessness. I am humbled by the care and speed with which they addressed my family’s issue and it has given me a new outlook on organizations that are often ostracized.

Staff Weenie and his staff did a bit of digging after we spoke about my mortgage issue. I am posting the following from our email conversation (with his permission) as I think it demonstrates that there are people working behind the scenes to rectify problems once they are identified.

"We’re also finding that this issue is bigger than we thought. My supervisor talked to his mortgage broker, who noted that he deals with a very similar situation about 3-4 times per year. That probably means that across Canada, this has to be happening at least a hundred times per year. We’re now starting to look at how we can find a fix to prevent this from ever happening to another member.”

These organizations often have a thankless job, however, I can tell you with certainty that they are dedicated people who are working hard and they truly do care about releasing members.


VAC – The manager of my local Veterans Affairs Office went above and beyond to help us out. She wrote letters, spoke to our mortgage institution multiple times and was sympathetic to my rants of homelessness when I’m sure she had a pile of other things to get done. I can’t name her as I have not asked her permission to do so, but her actions played a very big role in us getting our mortgage approved. I have seen VAC often be villainized and think it’s important to say that my experience was quite the opposite. Give them a chance. They are there to help.


Jean-Yves Plouff of Remax in Gatineau – There are realtors, and then there is this guy. He has been fantastic throughout the whole process from his honesty on our HHT to the uncertainty of financing approval. He has gotten us multiple extensions with some very hesitant sellers that allowed us the time needed to prove income through the work of others. He has sacrificed his personal time and worked late into the night on multiple occasions to make things work for us. You won’t go wrong with Jean if you are moving to the Gatineau area. This guy is getting a BBQ on us once we arrive.  https://www.remax-quebec.com/en/courtiers-immobiliers/jean-yves.plouffe/index.rmx


Susan Woolsey - Mortgage Agent Ottawa – Susan is a Mortgage broker that I contacted in Ottawa with the intent of starting a second application as our financial institution was being a bit difficult. Susan is very well versed in military moves and is educated on the release process(both medical and normal). This made it exceptionally easy to discuss all aspects of our situation from SISIP/VAC/Pension income streams to BGRS regulations. Susan took the time to advise me on how to proceed and even checked in on the progress of my file at our mortgage company. We did not end up needing her services as our institution finally granted us a mortgage. I cannot say enough about her character and how much I wished I had contacted her months ago.  I can’t recommend her enough for military members. Give her a call if you are looking for a mortgage. http://susanwoolsey.ca/

 

[Rifleman62]

Very glad the situation was resolved successfully.

 

[OldTanker]

Very happy it worked out for you and thank you for taking the time to acknowledge those who helped you.

 

[brihard]

Class act, dude, really good of you to follow up like this.

I'm not the least bit surprised that once Staff Weenie got involved, there was a noticeable turn for the better. He's one of the good ones.

 

[Infanteer]

Great post - I've followed this since you started it and I'm glad things worked out for you.  Shows the value of social/professional networking and helps highlight all the good people who can help if they know there is a problem.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Great news!

And thanks to Mr. B et al for continuing to make this a forum where we  can help each other out as required (as well as go on and on endlessly about far more trivial stuff)

 

[dunlop303]

I was in the exact same boat, released back in 09, was buying a house half in cash with a small 50k earnings loss benefit, NOPE didnt fly as income, I ended up getting a BS job for 90 days just to check the box of income, then quit once the mortgage was finalized.

Long story short, count on these "Kind people" for nothing if its important or urgent.

Ok, the title may be a bit dramatic but it isn't far off.

I was just released 3b last week. At the same time we are in the middle of trying to purchase a house at our 'retirement' destination. My wife has secured a job in the public service(starting in Sep) and my son is attending university with plans to live at home. I am going to school and intend to re-enter the work force. The new house is modestly priced and we have 47% down payment available. We have no debt, good credit and spare cash. Our intention was to port our mortgage as we have a great rate locked in for another 4 years.

The mortgage was going to be approved if I could provide proof, in a dollar amount, of what my income will be under pension/sissip/VAC.  I assumed VAC would be able to do this as they top up to 90% of your pre-release gross pay as the last step in the process (after pension and sissip). I have an official letter from the the military stating my pre-release salary and a letter from VAC approving me for Earnigs Loss Benefit (the 90% topup). I figured some simple math (pre-release salary x 0.90) would provide a number that VAC could give to my mortgage company.

But that isn't the case.

They will only state that I am entitled ELB and provide the ELB documentation found online. No dollar amount will be provided and they will not budge on this until my pension and sisip income is established. This is months down the road. Incidentally, my 90% is north of $75,000.

So now my family is two weeks from moving out of our current home, which is sold, and our deal on the new house will fall apart today due to financing. We spent the day yesterday trying to secure a 'decent’ rental option with no luck, mostly due to the short timeframe.

VAC told me not to worry as they have ways to get vets into emergency shelter if required. Awesome. That makes everything better.

I am absolutely dumbfounded that my family and I are in this position. This is not how I envisioned my first weeks/months as a civilian after 21 years in the CF.

Anyone have any ideas?