Latest news with #HomeSafe
CNBC
31-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
The 5 best alternatives to a reverse mortgage
If you're an older homeowner looking for an infusion of cash, a reverse mortgage could seem like a no-brainer. there is no minimum credit score requirement and — as long as you stay current with your insurance premiums, home repairs and property taxes — no payments is due until you sell the house, stop living there full-time or pass away. But there are some major restrictions: To qualify for a government-backed home equity conversion mortgage (HECM), the most common reverse mortgage, you must be at least 62 and have 50% equity in your home. There are also unique risks: When you leave the house (or if you fall behind on upkeep), the loan and interest come due in full. That could leave you or your heirs with a thorny financial mess and even the prospect of foreclosure. So, before you apply for a reverse mortgage, consider these alternatives. Offers in this section are from affiliate partners and selected based on a combination of engagement, product relevance, compensation, and consistent online for personalized ratesHECM, HomeSafe Standard jumbo, HomeSafe Second second lien, EquityAvail Terms applyApply for personalized ratesHECM reverse, HECM for purchase, Platinum Mortgage (proprietary loan with larger limits and a low age requirement of over 55) Terms apply Like a reverse mortgage, a HELOC lets you access cash by borrowing against the equity in your home. It's a revolving line of credit, so you can borrow only what you need during the draw period, which typically lasts 10 years, and only have to make payments on the interest. After the draw period ends, however, you'll need to make monthly payments on the principal and interest, typically over a 20-year timeframe. You can use the funds for whatever you want, but if you invest in significant home renovations or repairs, a portion of the interest is tax-deductible. Minimum credit score: 620Home equity: At least 15% to 20%Debt-to-income ratio: 43% or less for the best rates, 50% at the most. A home equity loan is another way to get cash using the value of your home. Your lender will provide you with a one-time lump sum payment that you'll start repaying immediately and continue for a period of anywhere from 5 to 30 a HELOC, a portion of the interest on a home equity loan is tax-deductible if you use the money for home improvement. Minimum credit score: 620Home equity: At least 15% to 20%Maximum debt-to-income ratio: 50% at most, 43% for the best rates If you want a significant payout with less risk, cash-out refinancing replaces your existing mortgage with a larger loan that allows you to take the excess as cash. You can typically get approved for up to 80% of your home's value, and in some cases, as much as 100%. If your home is worth $400,000, for example, and you have $100,000 remaining on your mortgage, you could refinance with a loan for $320,000 (an 80% loan-to-value ratio). The first $100,000 is applied toward your existing mortgage, and the remainder is turned over to you for whatever you want to spend it on. The repayment terms are similar to a purchase mortgage: Typically, you'll have a 30-year term with a fixed interest rate. There's still the risk of losing your home, but you'll be making smaller monthly payments rather than one big one. Minimum credit score: 620Home equity: Typically 20%, but as low as 0% with some loansMaximum debt-to-income ratio: 50% at most, 43% for best rates With a home equity sharing agreement, an investor pays you cash in exchange for a portion of the value of your home. Like a reverse mortgage, you repay their investment when you sell the property (or after a term specified in your contract). One benefit of a home equity sharing arrangement is that the credit requirements are much more flexible than a HELOC, home equity loan or cash-out refinancing. Minimum credit score: 500Home equity: 25%Maximum debt-to-income ratio: None Offers in this section are from affiliate partners and selected based on a combination of engagement, product relevance, compensation, and consistent availability.15 to 30 years50025%10, 15 or 20 years68020% If you don't want to take out a home loan or sign away a portion of your equity, you could downsize to a more modest property. Existing homeowners are sitting on an average of about $310,000 in home equity, according to ICE Mortgage data, which would be money in your pocket if you sold. You could even relocate to an area with a lower cost of living and save on homeowners insurance, property taxes and other housing expenses. A reverse mortgage allows borrowers to access cash through a loan backed by the value of their home. Unlike a home equity loan or line of credit, the borrower does not need to make any payments until they sell the house, move out or die. Then, the loan and interest is due in full. Reverse mortgages require a balloon payment 30 days after the borrower sells the property, stops using it as their primary residence or dies. In addition, the loan will come due in full if you fail to stay current with property taxes or homeowners insurance. A home equity conversion mortgage, or HECM, is the most common type of reverse mortgage. It is backed by the Federal Housing Administration and, in 2025, is capped at $1,209,750. Home equity loans and HELOCs are harder to be approved for than a reverse mortgage, but they have fewer risks, lower costs, and more tax advantages. In addition, they don't have age requirements and require less home equity. Money matters — so make the most of it. Get expert tips, strategies, news and everything else you need to maximize your money, right to your inbox. Sign up here. At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every mortgage article is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of mortgage products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘It's only getting worse': Hegseth issues changes to fix military moving issues
Top brass at the Department of Defense is weighing in on the way the military moves its members after an Action News Jax investigation. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has directed the U.S. Transportation Command to implement sweeping changes amid the busy moving season. Hegseth issued a list of changes, starting with slashing the number of moves the new program through HomeSafe Alliance receives, saying, 'We know it's not working and it's only getting worse.' Action News Jax has been covering the military moving nightmares for months, talking to military families who wait weeks, even months, to receive their goods, movers who can't afford to work at HomeSafe's rates, and more. INVESTIGATES: After the military switches to a new company, moving issues continue 'The stress does not end from start to finish,' one Navy sailor told us. Experiences like those with are the reason Hegseth said he is changing the plan. All moves will now be split between the new program with HomeSafe at the helm and the old system with multiple vendors, like Jacksonville-based Stefan Cordeiro of Stewart Moving and Storage Memorandum directing immediate modifications to the personal property program 'Everybody has been spewing their concerns for at least the last two years now,' Cordiero, whose business took a major hit with the new program, said. Now, the DOD is taking action. Earlier this month, it relieved the program's director of his duties. Hegseth also just ordered TRANSCOM to come up with new, more competitive rates for moving companies, increasing the amount military families are reimbursed if they move themselves, and developing a task force to review the entire moving process and see how it can be improved, as well as tracking weekly progress. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] In response to the memo HomeSafe Alliance sent us this statement: 'HomeSafe Alliance is grateful for Defense Secretary Hegseth's attention to the Global Household Goods Contract and the directives he has issued, which will greatly improve moving experiences for military service members and their families. DoD raising our rates to account for significant inflation from the last four years would substantially benefit our ability to facilitate world-class moving services for our nation's heroes. We look forward to working with the PCS Task Force to demonstrate how our program modernizes and digitizes the move process and resolves decades-long issues with military relocations.' [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Problems with Privatized Household Goods Shipments Prompt Hegseth to Order Immediate Changes
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered immediate changes to address a multitude of problems this year with domestic military permanent change of station moves under the Global Household Goods Contract, or GHC. In a memo Tuesday to senior leaders and combatant commanders, Hegseth announced that he has ordered U.S. Transportation Command to address what he called "recent deficiencies" in performance by HomeSafe Alliance, the company that manages the $7.2 billion contract to run the department's moving process. Military families with PCS orders this year have reported numerous issues with scheduling and executing moves, such as packers who don't show up, delayed pickups and deliveries, and cancellations. Read Next: GOP's 'Big Beautiful' Bill with $8.5 Billion for Military Quality-of-Life Boost Passes House Hegseth outlined six steps Transportation Command will take to better support military personnel and their families when they move. "Relocating our personnel is critical to the military mission, putting human resources and expertise where they are needed to defend the nation," Hegseth wrote. According to the memo, Transportation Command must immediately hold HomeSafe Alliance, as well as the legacy system, known as Tender of Service, accountable in meeting performance benchmarks, providing weekly updates to senior Pentagon acquisition and personnel leadership. The command also must make sure that the GHC is fully operational and, where it falls short, moves should be transferred to the legacy program. The contract, which has been in the works for years, was designed to privatize management of troops' household goods shipments during moves -- and solve widespread dissatisfaction among military families over the handling of the shipments by Transportation Command and the military. Transportation Command must review the rates it pays to HomeSafe under the contract, and "if appropriate, implement economic price adjustments" to raise the rates, which have been criticized by industry officials as not competitive with market rates. And, most important to military families who prefer to execute moves themselves, Hegseth increased the rate the Defense Department will pay service members to move themselves -- a "personally procured move" -- to up to 130% of what HomeSafe is currently supposed to receive if the company performed the move. "As I have determined that the current GHC rates fail to reflect market rates and are in excess of 130% of current GHC rates, implement adjustments to the government constructed costs for reimbursement of personally procured moves from May 15, 2025, through September 30, 2025," Hegseth wrote. HomeSafe Alliance won the household goods contract in 2021 following a series of protests over the award by other bidders. Under the contract, the entire moving process, from scheduling, packing, pickup and delivery, is supposed to be managed by the private company. HomeSafe Alliance conducted test moves last year, and this year was supposed to handle the majority of the domestic moves. According to the publication Federal News Network, however, just 25% of domestic moves had been assigned to GHC by April and, of those, 1,600 were turned back over to the legacy system because HomeSafe couldn't handle the capacity. The DoD oversees roughly 400,000 household goods shipments each year -- 15% of all moves in the U.S. In a statement to HomeSafe Alliance officials said they were grateful for the directive, adding that it will "greatly improve moving experiences for military service members and their families." "DoD raising our rates to account for significant inflation from the last four years would substantially benefit our ability to facilitate world-class moving services for our nation's heroes," the company said in a statement. But Dan Hilton, executive director of the American Trucking Associations' Moving and Storage Conference, expressed continued reservations over the contract, which replaced a program that "continues to work well with service members." "We remain concerned over the GHC contractor's unpreparedness, due to lack of industry engagement in its program, to handle any meaningful volume during this peak season. It's been the experience of our members that the traditional ToS capacity has been unable to adequately plan for peak season due to the GHC contractor's failed implementation," Hilton said in a statement Wednesday. Megan Harless, an Army veteran and military spouse who has become an advocate for military families undergoing PCS moves, called the memo and the increases for do-it-yourself moves "a step in the right direction." "It's what we've been asking for since January. This, accountability and transparency," Harless said in a statement on her LinkedIn page. As part of the order, Hegseth also created a PCS Task Force to review the process and make recommendations for improving, expanding, transferring or terminating the contract or responsibilities of HomeSafe or the legacy system. In their statement, HomeSafe officials said they "look forward to working" with the task force to show how their program modernizes the move process and "resolves decades-long issues with military relocations." As part of the ongoing concerns with the PCS process, Transportation Command also relieved Andy Dawson, director of the Defense Personal Property Management Office, this week. He has been temporarily replaced by Army Maj. Gen. Lance Curtis. Hegseth said that the measures will help ensure that "our warriors and their families receive the best PCS move available." "The department owes them nothing less, and getting this right is part of restoring their trust in our military," he wrote. Related: Army Pulls Back Household Goods Shipments as Privatized Moving Contract Leads to Widespread Issues
CNBC
20-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Longbridge Financial reverse mortgage review 2025
Founded in 2012, online lender Longbridge Financial is the third-largest provider of reverse mortgages in the U.S. As of February 2025, it's approved more than $94 million in loans. Longbridge stands out for its lower rates and robust digital presence, which includes a reverse mortgage calculator and an easy-to-use servicing portal. Longbridge is a particularly good option for high-value homes: The Longbridge Platinum offering a line of credit of up to $4 million. Apply for personalized rates HECM reverse, HECM for purchase, Platinum Mortgage (proprietary loan with larger limits and a low age requirement of over 55) No specific minimum equity listed, but generally 50% Offers in this section are from affiliate partners and selected based on a combination of engagement, product relevance, compensation, and consistent online for personalized ratesHECM, HomeSafe Standard jumbo, HomeSafe Second second lien, EquityAvail Terms applyApply for personalized ratesHECM reverse, HECM for purchase, Platinum Mortgage (proprietary loan with larger limits and a low age requirement of over 55) Terms apply A reverse mortgage allows older homeowners to access cash by tapping into their home equity. Typically, the loan and any interest are not due until you move out of the house, stop using it as your primary residence or pass away. If you fail to keep up property taxes, homeowners insurance or household maintenance, however, the loan could come due early. Longbridge offers Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs) in all 50 states. Longbridge Platinum, a proprietary jumbo reverse mortgage, is available in about half the U.S. A HECM is the most common type of reverse mortgage, insured by the Federal Housing Administration and available to homeowners 62 or older. Borrowers must pay a mortgage insurance premium of 0.50% of the outstanding loan balance annually. Longbridge offers two types of HECM in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.: HECM Reverse Mortgage for homeowners who currently own their home and HECM for Purchase, for those buying a new home. Longbridge Platinum is a proprietary loan available in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, New Mexico, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington state. Because they're not insured by the FHA, Longbridge Platinum loans are available to homeowners as young as 55 without the need for mortgage insurance premiums. In addition, the high loan limit makes it an option for homeowners with high-value homes or condos, who are usually ineligible for HECMs. These are the typical borrower requirements for Longbridge's reverse mortgages: Unlike most lenders, Longbridge only offers reverse mortgages — so its team is particularly knowledgeable on this product. Its website is full of useful information and has an easy-to-use customer portal and application process. Borrowers can call customer service weekdays to speak to a representative in English or Spanish, but Longbridge doesn't have weekend hours. Global credit rating agency DRBS Morningstar gave Longbridge an MOR RVO2, its second-highest rating for reverse mortgages, citing its experienced management team and underwriting staff, comprehensive approval and monitoring practices and "continued investments in technology to enhance efficiencies across the platform," among other factors. In addition, the Better Business Bureau awarded it an A+, its highest grade, based on transparency, truthful advertising, and its response to consumer complaints. Here's how Longbridge compares to two major players in the market. Both Longbridge and Finance of America focus exclusively focus on reverse mortgages and offer comparable products. But while Longbridge lends in every state, Finance of America doesn't offer its services in Alaska, Arizona, Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, New Jersey, Rhode Island or South Dakota. Apply online for personalized rates HECM, HomeSafe Standard jumbo, HomeSafe Second second lien, EquityAvail 50% Finance of America is the more prolific lender, however, responsible for 22% of reverse mortgage originations in 2024. Landing at No. 3, Longbridge accounted for 12.3% of the market. Mutual of Omaha and Longbridge both have excellent customer service ratings and a solid selection of reverse mortgage options. While reverse mortgages are only a small portion of Mutual of Omaha's overall business, it has a much larger footprint: The biggest reverse mortgage lender in the U.S., it approved 6,149 loans in 2024, accounting for nearly 23% of the market. And Mutual of Omaha offers existing customers up to $1,000 off closing costs. Apply for personalized rates HECM, HECM for purchase Jumbo, HomeSafe, reverse mortgage refinancing, 50% But while Longbridge has a robust online presence, Mutual of Omaha borrowers must work with a loan officer. Longbridge also offers a $500 closing cost discount for military members. A fully digital lender, Longbridge doesn't have any physical locations but you can apply online or over the phone at 855-523-4326. You'll need a photo ID, your Social Security number, the deed to your house, home loan statements, proof of your property tax and homeowners insurance payments and documents related to the home's maintenance. You'll also have to schedule a session with a HUD-approved housing counselor, who will walk you through the reverse mortgage process and help you see if it is the right decision for you. If you continue, you'll need a home appraisal before Longbridge starts the underwriting process, which can take a month or longer to complete before funds are approved. With the convenience of an online lender combined with low rates, great customer service and nationwide availability, Longbridge would be a great fit. If you want to work with your lender in person, however, you should look at other options. In addition, the proprietary Longbridge Platinum mortgage is only available in 24 states, Longbridge is highly rated by both the Better Business Bureau and by DBRS Morningstar. It's the third-largest reverse mortgage lender in the country. There are several risks involved in a reverse mortgage, including the fact that your loan can come due in full if you fail to pay homeowners insurance or property taxes or keep up with home maintenance. In addition, you could end up leaving your heirs with a complex financial situation to unravel. Yes, if you fail to pay homeowners insurance, property taxes or upkeep your home your reverse mortgage and all interest will come due. If you don't pay, you could face foreclosure. At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every mortgage review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of financial products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and Select reviews mortgage products using a variety of criteria, including the types of loans offered, average rates, terms, fees, down payment options, availability, online experience and customer satisfaction. In addition, we incorporate findings from independent sources, including lender scores from the J.D. Power U.S. Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study and ratings from the Better Business Bureau and DBRS Morningstar.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Military Times 2025 PCS Guide
Army wife Vanessa Seals, who was five months pregnant at the time, was forced to sleep on an air mattress for more than three weeks while her family waited for the delivery of their household goods at Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia. 'As you can imagine, it's quite uncomfortable,' said Seals, mother of three young children ages 5, 3 and 14 months, on March 12. While the movers who packed and loaded their household goods at Fort Cavazos, Texas, on Feb. 19-20 were great, she said, 'now the issue is waiting for our HHG to show up — we have no idea when that is going to be.' The required delivery date was Feb. 28, and their mover, HomeSafe Alliance, told them they hadn't found a driver to deliver their belongings, she said. Ten days later, on March 22, their household goods were finally delivered. And this is early in the season. The busiest season for military moves is generally mid-May to mid-September. With the military moving season bearing down on service members and their families, the prognosis for pickup and delivery of household goods is unclear. Much of it depends on the volume of military shipments and the capacity of movers to handle the load. 'The volume of shipments in the coming peak season ultimately depends on how many people the services are moving,' said Scott Ross, spokesman for U.S. Transportation Command, the Defense Department command in charge of the physical movement of service members' belongings during a permanent change of station. Following recent reports of issues with military moves, TRANSCOM officials no longer plan to fully transition all domestic shipments into the new Global Household Goods Contract, or GHC, by the April/May timeframe, as previously planned. The GHC contractor, HomeSafe Alliance, is handling the Seals family's move. TRANSCOM officials said they are adjusting their plan, but declined to specify how much they are reducing the number of moves that will be handled by HomeSafe. The command will operate both programs — the legacy system and the GHC during the 2025 peak season, 'and hold industry accountable in both,' Ross said. 'This dual approach allows TRANSCOM to leverage capacity from both programs while also allowing HomeSafe the opportunity to improve their services.' Members of the moving industry reported that more than 1,000 shipments were picked up by movers in the legacy system after the shipments were turned down by HomeSafe when it was unable to schedule movers, according to information provided March 13 by Movers for America, a coalition of moving professionals and independent owner-operators who move military families. The coalition has asked members of Congress for a pause in the implementation of the GHC. The new GHC system, which began rolling out in April 2024, aims to fix long-standing problems with missed pickup and delivery dates, broken and lost items and issues with claims. It consolidates management under a single contractor, HomeSafe Alliance, which is responsible for overseeing all aspects of military families' moves. TRANSCOM retains oversight of the program and holds HomeSafe accountable. Under the legacy system, TRANSCOM works directly with more than 900 individual moving companies, making it difficult for the government to track and resolve issues. Those problems culminated in the summer of 2018, when moving companies didn't have the capacity to handle the number of moves. HomeSafe officials have acknowledged there have been some delays in moving families, related to the capacity of their network of moving companies. Some companies have been reluctant to do business with HomeSafe because its rates are lower than those under the legacy system. Some families are feeling the effects of the delays both at the beginning of their move and at the end, when they are awaiting delivery. An Air Force lieutenant colonel and his wife at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, are among the military families who have felt the direct impact. More than a month after his move was awarded to HomeSafe, the company was still telling him 'we are diligently working to find you a service provider,' said the officer, who asked to remain anonymous. He was in communication with his local transportation office at Ellsworth the entire time, which he describes as 'awesome.' At the beginning of March, about two weeks from his requested move date, his transportation office on base transferred the move back to the legacy system. The Air Force and Army have issued notices to their transportation offices that any service members' shipments that have no mover assigned with less than a 21-day lead time before the move must be pulled back into the legacy system. The legacy system found a mover for the officer's family. A moving company drove from Great Falls, Montana, to their home in Rapid City. 'They're loading today, so big win there — no thanks to HomeSafe or GHC,' the officer said on March 18. HomeSafe Alliance has made 'significant progress' in strengthening its network of movers, and is pursuing 'every available option for growing our capacity' for the next months of military moves, officials told Military Times. It's working with TRANSCOM to resolve issues and closely coordinating on a careful phase-in of the new program 'to ensure a smooth peak moving season,' they said. As for the broader universe of moving companies, some of which are doing business with both HomeSafe and the legacy system, there is uncertainty. In general, moving companies are struggling a bit, because business across the board has been slow during the winter, said Dan Bradley, vice president of government and military relations for the International Association of Movers. But if the number of people moving in the DOD system is similar to what it's been over the past two years, there shouldn't be a capacity concern, certainly not in the legacy system, he said. But there is uncertainty. TRANSCOM had previously touted its plan to move 100% of all domestic shipments under the GHC by the start of this year's moving season, he said. Movers have been unsure how many people to hire for the summer or whether to buy more trucks, because they don't know how business will be split between the legacy system and GHC, he said. There's also uncertainty about whether TRANSCOM will reduce competitive rate ranges that affect what movers are paid under the legacy system. Those new rate ranges go into effect May 15. 'Movers are asking, 'How far do I go right now to prepare for the summer, when I don't have real good visibility of the landscape for the summer?' ' Bradley said. All this boils down to whether there will be enough movers to move military families this spring ans summer. As soon as service members get orders to make a PCS move, they should visit Military OneSource, where they'll find a variety of tips and instructions, and a link to start setting up their move. At that point, they will be put into either the HomeSafe Alliance system or the legacy system. They'll either deal directly with HomeSafe, or with a moving company assigned by the legacy system. A number of military families who described their experience said they've had trouble communicating with HomeSafe about the status of their shipment. One soldier said he went through the system as soon as he received his orders in October 2024. HomeSafe completed his pre-move survey Feb. 7, but as of late March had yet to assign a moving company to pack and load his belongings ahead of his May 10 report date to Fort Irwin, California. Communication with HomeSafe has been 'horrible,' he said. 'This will be my fifth PCS move, and I've never had to wait this long to find out who was moving my stuff.' HomeSafe officials said they have addressed issues with communication to ensure service members get the timely updates they need. They've standardized communication between departments, improved their training program, and added more 'proactive communication to customers throughout their moves.' When service members are having any type of problem — regardless of who is moving them — they should contact their local transportation offices, Ross said. HomeSafe advises service members to set up their HomeSafe Connect accounts as soon as possible after receiving an email with instructions for using the Okta user authentication system and HomeSafe Connect. They also advise to: * Update the destination address in HomeSafe Connect as soon as possible; when the shipment is ready for delivery, it will notify the service member. * Have someone available at the residence — the service member or someone standing in — from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on all scheduled moving dates. * Separate items such as medications, important documents, uniforms and other essential items, as well as jewelry and other valuables, to carry yourself. Place them in a separate, marked part of the house, or in a locked car, so they aren't packed with the household goods shipment. Those who experience delays should contact HomeSafe or their moving company to file an inconvenience claim. 'When a claim is approved, we compensate the service member and each of their family members on the PCS order for every day that their move is delayed,' HomeSafe officials said. While the services' transportation offices are being watchful of these HomeSafe shipments, and pulling them back if HomeSafe can't find a moving company within 21 days of a move, service members should be mindful and keep in touch with their transportation office if they haven't been contacted by a company. Regardless of who is moving you, take photos and videos of your household goods beforehand so that if something is lost or damaged, you have proof of their prior condition. Before disposing of broken up or damaged belongings, check with your moving company or transportation office to see what evidence is needed for the claim to be substantiated. One military wife who just began the moving process in March expressed the hopes of many for the busy moving season to come: 'I am trying to stay positive with our PCS move this year as changes occur within the military system,' she wrote. 'As of now we are skeptical, but hopeful, things will turn out for the better with our move come this summer.'
