Latest news with #militaryhousing
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
‘Our families are being poisoned': Military families now suing over the unsafe conditions they're living in
'Our houses are not our safe place.' That's the message U.S. military families are hoping Congress will hear, as they sound the alarm on unsafe military housing they say is making their families sick. 'Right now, our families are being poisoned,' Jackie Talarico, of Key West, Florida, the wife of a U.S. Navy cryptologic technician, told ABC News. Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now become a landlord for as little as $100 — and no, you don't have to deal with tenants or fix freezers. Here's how I'm 49 years old and have nothing saved for retirement — what should I do? Don't panic. Here are 6 of the easiest ways you can catch up (and fast) Nervous about the stock market in 2025? Find out how you can access this $1B private real estate fund (with as little as $10) Talarico and other military families are reporting shocking conditions in the rental housing provided by the United States Armed Forces. Her family is one of hundreds that are now suing a private company that manages homes for the military. Another military wife, Antoinette Reeder, from San Diego, California, who spoke to ABC News, has test results that she says show the mold found in her home was also found in her blood. 'I've had my doctor ask me several times, 'When are you moving?'' she told ABC. According to ABC, a recent poll presented to Congress said that 'more than half of the military families who responded had negative experiences, saying that they were living with mold, lead and other issues.' It's a situation Talarico calls 'a nightmare.' 'We were told there was no mold in our house. We were told there was no lead. We were told there was no asbestos — and they lied.' Her family and nearly 200 other current and former tenants in the Florida Keys are suing Balfour Beatty Communities, alleging the company "systematically failed to properly repair and remediate significant problems in the homes, including water damage, mold, structural defects, HVAC, plumbing issues, electrical problems and the presence of lead paint and asbestos." In a statement obtained by ABC News, Balfour Beatty said, 'We are aware of the complaint and intend to defend ourselves vigorously.' Balfour Beatty is one of about 14 private companies that manage military housing, under a deal that began in 1996, when the U.S. Congress approved the Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI). The MHPI gave the companies ownership of more than 200,000 military homes across the country. In exchange for agreeing to take on the military housing stock, which was at the time in need of an estimated $20 billion in repairs, the companies were given 50-year contracts. The deals also had the provision that the military could not overrule the housing companies on how properties are managed and maintained. Read more: Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says — and that 'anyone' can do it Although this situation involves military families, landlord disputes involving unsafe housing can be common for many Americans. Here's what you can do if your landlord is failing to maintain standards and you think your housing has become unsafe. Residential leases in most jurisdictions include an implied warranty of habitability. According to the Legal Information Institute, habitability is 'defined as property in substantial compliance with the local housing code,' meaning your landlord is required to keep the property in compliance. When dealing with an issue with your landlord, remember to always keep extensive documentation. Keep detailed notes about the issues that include dates and times, save copies of any notifications you send or receive in writing, and keep track of any phone calls between you and your landlord. Make sure that if you are documenting phone calls, you check the laws in your state for recording phone conversations. Notifying the landlord in writing is often required, and you can contact your city or county code enforcement office to learn more about what standards landlords must meet. You can also seek out help from local tenants' rights organizations or legal aid clinics. The National Low Income Housing Coalition has a database of state and local tenant protections. The military families taking their landlord to court are a reminder of the collective power tenants can have. If your neighbors are also facing similar issues, consider banding together as a tenants' association or tenants' union — your collective power may sway your landlord to meet your demands for safe housing. 'Our service members give so much every day, and put so much on the line for our country,' Talarico said. 'One thing they should not have to sacrifice is their children's and their families' life, health and safety — when they do that every day for the rest of America.' Rich, young Americans are ditching the stormy stock market — here are the alternative assets they're banking on instead Robert Kiyosaki warns of a 'Greater Depression' coming to the US — with millions of Americans going poor. But he says these 2 'easy-money' assets will bring in 'great wealth'. How to get in now This tiny hot Costco item has skyrocketed 74% in price in under 2 years — but now the retail giant is restricting purchases. Here's how to buy the coveted asset in bulk Here are 5 'must have' items that Americans (almost) always overpay for — and very quickly regret. How many are hurting you? Like what you read? Join 200,000+ readers and get the best of Moneywise straight to your inbox every week. This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Some military families want further housing reform
Moving cross-country from the Carolinas to California, the Reeder family looked forward to its next assignment in San Diego in the summer of 2022. The couple had originally met in California. But in the first week, after the Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant and his family had settled into their new home, they had to move out and into a hotel temporarily. "The first thing you know, military families want to see is, where can my furniture fit?" Antoinette Reeder, whose husband has served for nearly 19 years, told ABC News. Before they unloaded any furniture, Reeder said she started to notice an ant infestation and a strong musty smell coming from the bathroom. She said that was her first hint that mold could be in the home. Reeder said she knew the smell because she faced similar issues in their former military housing on the East Coast. MORE: Some military families say they face unsafe conditions in privatized housing "I already knew the protocol," Reeder said. "[...] When we moved in here, though, we were given a card that said that our home was inspected by a military housing inspector. And it was passed off. It was checked with the box that it passed. And it was just astonishing to me." "If it's happening in all of these different places, this has gotta be a really big issue," Reeder said. Issues, such as water intrusion and mold, within their privatized military-provided housing has caused eight home remediations for the family in nearly three years, Reeder said. The repairs are often disruptive. The family says their children have suffered from rashes and respiratory issues. Reeder said she feels healthier and breathes easier when she leaves her home. She has had her home tested independently for mold and used moisture meters to monitor conditions firsthand. "My husband's command has been very helpful, but they're not involved," said Reeder, outlining the rigorous process to file disputes involving a series of offices with both the military advocates and private companies that extends beyond servicemembers' direct leadership. Some families dealing with similar issues say they often have to pay out of their pockets for expenses that result from displacements. This is a problem currently for Shae Anderson, another military spouse of a Navy chief petty officer, also located in San Diego. Anderson said her family is in its third housing remediation in a home they moved into in October 2024. They have lived through the disruptions of other home repairs while stationed at military installations. She said her youngest child struggles with rashes and conjunctivitis, which she believes may be caused by exposure to mold in their military homes. Other members of her family have struggled with respiratory symptoms, Anderson added. "Our experiences have been traumatizing, and we have had so many disruptions to our quality of life," Anderson told ABC News. "Our children have had to move schools, my husband's career has been impacted and our family has suffered so much financial loss due to it all." While living in San Diego, Anderson and Reeder met and bonded over a common problem, mold in their homes. Along with the two women, Audrey Kray, the wife of a Marine Corps Staff Sergeant, has also been involved in bringing awareness through the nonprofit, "Safe Military Housing Initiative." The military wives have binders documenting deteriorating conditions and what they describe as substandard housing. MORE: Georgia family fights centuries of history and US law to keep their home Anderson's son drew a heart on her notebook binder, which she says, "it's just a little reminder, every time I go to my notebook and I'm going through and reliving the horror experience we've been through, the reason that I'm fighting. And that's for my kids. I also want every service member and their family to have a safe home." These families have lived in homes managed by Liberty Military Housing, the largest employee-owned and Navy and Marine Corps housing provider. "In my instance, it shouldn't have taken four homes, three moves, two displacements over 15 months. That should have been day one for us," said Kray. "It's very challenging when husbands are deployed or off on training and you're going through these housing experiences," Kray said. All three women have worked with military advocates who lean on the private housing companies that own these homes to come and fix the problems. Liberty, their landlord, have offered each family new housing while remediating their properties, but they keep facing similar housing issues, the families said. The military spouses also told ABC News that the disruption of having to pack again and change homes alone is a challenge after moving bases and assignments. In one instance, Reeder said she noticed mold behind vanities that were being replaced by contractors, alarming her and prompting assistance from the district office and an environmental team to conduct tests. The issues date back nearly three decades, to the Military Housing Privatization Initiative of 1996. When the Department of Defense got out of the housing business with the MHPI, it was trying to solve a major problem. Government reports from the time showed that a majority of military homes already needed significant repairs. The agreements with the private industry were made because those housing companies offered better expertise than the U.S. military to renovate or replace inadequate housing. And according to congressional research, the government gave the companies contracts that are sometimes 50 years long, to incentivize the massive undertaking. In creating the agreements, the privatized contracts affect how far the government can push these companies to take certain actions today. In 2023, the U.S. Government Accountability Office identified several unresolved concerns with the Military Housing Privatization Initiative. One of them was the need for a more formal dispute resolution process. GAO also raised that some of the private housing companies may be lacking compliance with elements of the Tenant Bill of Rights established in 2020, among other recommendations. "I know firsthand that our warfighters cannot deliver if they are sidelined by problems at home, especially those that can negatively affect health and quality of life," Assistant Secretary of Defense Dale Marks said in a statement to ABC News. "Secretary Hegseth and I are committed to rebuilding military readiness and appreciate the support from Congressional committees to make much-needed housing reforms." Today, there are about 14 private companies with MHPI contracts that provide about 200,000 homes for service members and their families. Through what's called the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH), the majority of servicemembers receive a tax-free housing allowance, which helps them cover the cost of rent. BAH rates vary due to rank, whether the servicemember has dependents, and the geographical location of the current duty assignment. Current BAH policies are intended to cover 95% of estimated home costs in the civilian market, but in most cases, the money stretches the farthest in military housing, compared to housing for rent in the civilian world. Some DOD officials and military families have questioned whether the BAH rates for some locations are enough, according to congressional research conducted in 2023. For many of these families dealing with mold and other issues, they feel they can't afford to leave military housing. MORE: Alabama accused of 'highway robbery' following flooding of predominantly-Black community "We would have to move very far away from where my husband works in order to afford anything," said Reeder, who raised concerns with the rising costs of the housing market in Southern California. These military wives said factors like commute time, distance from medical providers and school districts influence families' decisions to stay in the surrounding base area, in addition to the benefit of community living near other servicemembers and their families. In response to the experiences of these families in San Diego, the chief executive officer Philip Rizzo of Liberty Military Housing told ABC News in an interview, "We're not profiting off military families by cutting corners." Rizzo stressed that these complaints are not the "norm" with properties under Liberty's management. "I think the challenge with 36,000 homes nationwide is if we're 99% right, that means there is 360 families that aren't having a good experience. That's a large number, right?" Rizzo said. "And I would expect if we're 1/10 of 1% that's a large number, and our goal is to be zero. We want everybody to be satisfied. We want everybody to be happy in their home." MORE: Video Some military families facing issues with mold and water damage in privatized housing As an Army veteran and son of a career U.S. Air Force officer, who grew up in military housing, Rizzo emphasized he didn't want anyone living in an environment where they are becoming sick. He emphasized that since the 2019 congressional hearings about these concerns, the government has added more oversight over companies like Liberty, focusing on identifying gaps in the repair processes. He says Liberty Military Housing has since implemented new training for its workers and contractors, and says the company has an average maintenance response time that beats anything in the civilian world. He also points out that his tenants have a formal dispute process internally and can also be navigated with a military resident advocate. "We're going to do what we can, following industry guidance and guidelines to eliminate any hazards or risk in the home," Rizzo said. Rizzo told ABC News that he knows there will be challenges with both new builds and older houses. He said Liberty Military Housing is committed to responding quickly and effectively to minimize disruption for families. Reeder hopes for change. "This isn't just us complaining about 'we have mold' and 'our house is dirty,'" she said. "We have scientific results showing this is a problem and it's affecting our health." Jenny Wagnon Courts contributed to this report.
BBC News
18-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Improve military homes by creating new body, say Tories
Military homes should be run by a housing association to tackle the "poor" state of accommodation and stem an exodus of troops, the Conservatives have said. Two-thirds of homes for military families need extensive refurbishment, with much service accommodation suffering damp, mould and rat infestations, a report found last government is consulting on plans to regenerate military homes with £7bn of funding by 2025, after bringing the defence estate back under Ministry of Defence (MoD) control last shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge argued an Armed Forces Housing Association would build the "homes for heroes" long promised by governments. Speaking at a press conference, Cartlidge said he was "genuinely ashamed" of the "poor standards of housing stock" he had discovered as Defence Procurement Minister in the last Tory UK needs to rapidly rearm and bolster its defence capabilities in response to "the most serious military threats we have faced for years", he said."In my view, the capability that still matters most to our armed forces are its people. And they are still leaving service to their country faster than new recruits are joining."Official figures show 1,140 more people left the armed forces than joined last year. Nearly a third of UK troops were considering leaving the armed forces due to the standard of accommodation, the Ministry of Defence's (MoD) own survey found. Housing associations are not-for-profit organisation that own, manage and build rental housing - often renting at discount they reinvest any surplus income into maintaining and improving housing stock, rather than distributing profits to new Armed Force Housing Association would be a "mutual organisation" with board representation from service families to "ensure their voices are heard", Cartlidge body will be funded using money currently allocated for defence housing and could save the taxpayer the £80m per year currently being spent on rental costs for troops, Cartlidge year the government bought back the defence estate from Annington Homes in a £6bn, reversing a privatisation deal struck in 1996. A Labour spokesperson said that "far from making things better, these half-baked plans to privatise forces family homes yet again risks a disaster for personnel and for military capability"."By contrast, our Labour government is already investing far more than the Tories ever did into forces housing, to fix the long-term decline and deliver homes fit for heroes," the spokesperson added. Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to keep up with the inner workings of Westminster and beyond.
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
A jet crashed into their neighborhood. Now they live in dread below an active flight path.
Srujana McCarty shields her head with her hands when an aircraft flies overhead. It's an involuntary reaction now, much like how her neighbors Aislyn Maupin and Renee Rivera freeze up and fixate on passing planes and jets until they're out of sight. They know it's improbable for an aircraft to plummet from the sky above them. But one did two weeks ago as they slept. On May 22, a pilot attempting to land a private jet at an airport nearby struck power lines and crashed into their San Diego military housing neighborhood, killing all six passengers on board, officials said. While the lives on the ground were spared, the disaster displaced dozens of families and shattered their sense of safety. McCarty's and Rivera's children still see the phantom flames down their hallways and streets. 'It's a new fear unlocked,' McCarty said. The survivors are trying to recover. But they live below an active flight path about 2 miles from the airport. About every 30 minutes, an aircraft roars above and brings them back to the morning fire roused them out of bed. 'It terrifies me knowing that we have planes coming over here all day, all the time,' Rivera said. 'It's a lot to be reminded of every single day.' On the night of the crash, before McCarty and her husband, Ben, went to sleep, they tucked in their two young sons, put their dogs in crates, locked their doors and set the alarm. 'Everything was set up for their safety,' said Ben McCarty, 33, who has served in the Navy for 13 years. Stillness fell over Murphy Canyon, home to more than 4,900 Navy families in one of the largest military housing complexes in the world. Then, just before 4 a.m., a Cessna 550 Citation jet slammed into the front yard of the McCartys' home, partially collapsing their roof and thrusting one of their trucks into the living room. Waves of heat from the fire instantly penetrated their bedroom, jolting them awake. 'The impact rushed over me,' Ben McCarty said. 'I felt like this strong wind or force, the heat.' Srujana McCarty, 32, let out a nightmarish shriek. But outside, the deafening booms from exploding cars and the panicked voices of other neighbors screaming to find their children drowned her out. The couple grabbed their sons, ages 2 and 4, and their dogs. The path to the front door was blocked by fire. The wall where their wedding photos hung was crumbling and burning, so the family fled out the back. Next door, Maupin was in a deep sleep when her 14-year-old daughter barged into her bedroom, screaming about a fire outside of her open window. In disbelief, Maupin looked outside and found a hellscape. 'The whole street was just in flames,' she said. Jet fuel snaked down the street, setting every vehicle in its path ablaze, law enforcement officials said. 'Everything on fire all at once,' San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl told reporters. 'It was pretty horrific to see.' Maupin said people were knocking on doors, telling people their homes were on fire. 'People were pushing us and telling us we had to go this way,' she said. Maupin and her daughter helped their neighbors evacuate, each taking a baby to safeguard. Maupin remembers seeing a young woman, standing alone in the middle of the street, paralyzed in fear. 'People were screaming, 'Where are my kids?'' she said. 'Things are exploding everywhere.' Nearby, Rivera heard banging on her front door. She had seen the light from the explosion but thought it must have been lightning. 'I never in a million years thought a plane hit the ground,' she said. Half asleep, Rivera, 28, herded her 2-year-old asthmatic daughter, grandmother, two dogs and two guinea pigs into a car. As she drove away, she thought of all the children in the neighborhood. Her heart sank, thinking there was no way everyone in the neighborhood would survive. But miraculously no one on the ground was killed. 'Seeing it happen firsthand right in front of you,' she said, 'it changes everything.' McCarty replays each moment of her family's escape when she suddenly wakes up every morning around 3:45 a.m. at roughly the time of the crash. The sleepless nights are hard, but so are the days when planes seem to be constantly flying overhead. 'We hold our breath now every time a plane goes over,' she said. The McCartys are staying in a temporary house in the same military housing community until they're able to move into a new unit in about a week. They had only one plea for those tasked with their relocation. 'We asked to get out of the flight path,' Ben McCarty said. 'It was the No. 1 priority for both of us — anywhere away from the flight path.' Their neighbor, Thomas Lawrence, said his three young children had the same request. 'We had to change streets because they didn't want to live close to the scene of the crash anymore,' he said. 'It was unanimous. Even I didn't want to go back either.' The Navy families live in the shadow of Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport, which primarily serves small aircraft and is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, according to its website. The airport sees more than 386,000 takeoffs and landings a year. The six passengers aboard the private jet were headed there from New Jersey, the National Transportation Safety Board said. Their cross-country flight was about 2 miles southeast of the airfield when, amid dense fog, the jet struck high-tension power lines and went down around 3:47 a.m., officials said. There were no survivors aboard. Music talent agent Dave Shapiro, 42, was killed, as were two employees of his Sound Talent Group, Kendall Fortner, 24, and Emma Huke, 25, according to the city's medical examiner's office. The crash also killed Daniel Williams, 39, a drummer for the band The Devil Wears Prada; Dominic Damian, 41, a software engineer; and Celina Kenyon, 36, a photographer. The cause of the crash is under investigation. A spokesperson for the NTSB said the agency expects to release its preliminary report in the next few weeks. In the immediate aftermath, it displaced about 100 residents, Wahl, the police chief, said. About 39 families were temporarily relocated, and two homes were significantly damaged, according to Gail Miller, chief operating officer of Liberty Military Housing, which provides homes for the families. Miller said the housing provider worked closely with the families to determine their preferences, recognizing that many would not want to return to their original units. Today, Miller said, 31 families have either returned to their original home in Murphy Canyon or have accepted a new home in the same community or elsewhere. The crash was the latest in a string of deadly aviation accidents this year that has sparked fear and unease. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has said the skies are safe, pointing to 35 million annual flights that occur in the U.S. with very few incidents. An NBC News analysis of federal data also shows that incidents and deaths on flights have not been rising compared with previous years, and that the number of deaths aboard aircraft in the U.S. is also on the decline. Still, for survivors triggered by the sight of an aircraft, the statistics do little to ease anxieties. In the aftermath of some cases of aviation trauma, constant exposure to planes and jets can be helpful in overcoming fears, but for others, the overexposure can prevent recovery, said Jessica Auslander, a North Carolina-based psychologist with the Centre for Aviation Psychology. 'The brain becomes hypervigilant for any other future signs of danger, to protect ourselves,' she said. 'It has basically learned, hey, this is possible. How can we keep ourselves safe?' Symptoms are most intense in the first few weeks after the incident but generally ease within one to three months, Auslander said. To help get the families back on their feet, the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society said it has provided more than $80,000 in emergency assistance to more than 80 families affected by the crash. The funds have gone toward insurance deductibles, uniform replacement, temporary housing costs, food and household essentials, said retired Navy Rear Adm. Dawn Cutler, the nonprofit's chief operations officer. 'It's going to be a road to recovery,' Cutler said. For the families beginning to settle into their new homes, the emotional healing comes next. Maupin grew up in the area by the airport, desensitized to planes. Now, when one passes, she says, 'everything stops and I just dissociate.' 'It's hard to conceptualize knowing you were so close to no longer being here anymore,' she said. Rivera closes her eyes when she has to drive by the scene of the crash to leave the area. But her 2-year-old daughter stares directly at it. 'She says there's fire, there's fire everywhere,' Rivera said, adding that her daughter will begin seeing a therapist. The McCartys, too, said they plan to seek counseling. 'We've somehow shut down and went numb just so we can move on,' Srujana McCarty said. Her husband said the crash has left him feeling helpless. When they were looking for their replacement home, he said, his family's protection was the only thing that mattered. 'We didn't look if the kitchen was big,' he said. 'We looked in the backyard and said, where is the escape route?' This article was originally published on
Reuters
30-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Britain to spend an extra $2 billion on armed forces' housing
LONDON, May 31 (Reuters) - Britain said on Saturday it would spend an extra 1.5 billion pounds ($2 billion) to tackle the poor state of housing for the country's armed forces, helping to support recruitment, retention and morale. The spending will be included in the Strategic Defence Review (SDR), a 10-year plan to transform Britain's defences, the government said on Saturday. The SDR is expected to be published on Monday. The money will fund urgent repairs and maintenance, from fixing boilers to tackling damp and mould in service family accommodation, alongside developing new housing, the government said. A report by parliament's Defence Committee last December concluded that the accommodation was "shocking" and could result in service personnel quitting the forces. "For too long, many military families have lived in sub-standard homes, but this government is taking decisive action to fix the dire state of military accommodation and ensure that our heroes and their loved ones live in the homes they deserve," Defence Secretary John Healey said in a statement. The extra funds mean more than 7 billion pounds will be spent on service family accommodation and new-build single accommodation during the period to 2029, the government said. ($1 = 0.7422 pounds)
