An unsellable home in Florida left Sgt. Cindy Reyes and her 17-year-old son confined to a one-bedroom RV parked at the edge of Columbia County.

Sgt. Reyes bought a house in Apopka, Fla., in 2005 to have a permanent place to care for her cancer-stricken mother. Six months later, the combat medic was deployed to Fort Gordon. Her mother died in 2007, and that same year, her Florida property taxes spiked.

That caused her monthly mortgage to increase to $1,700, which uses more than half her monthly paycheck. Sgt. Reyes now uses credit cards to help with living expenses, and the $170 per month she pays to rent the lot in Grovetown is all she can afford.

She fears foreclosure is imminent.

"Before this house, I was debt free. Now, I'm turned upside down in it," she said. "I just don't live like a normal person right now. I want my son to have his own space and his own room."

Her $220,000 home will sell for almost a quarter less than what she paid for it, she said. To sell it, she would have to come up with the difference, which she does not have.

"I just haven't been able to sell it, and I need to resolve this," Sgt. Reyes said. "I thought about bankruptcy, but I would lose my career if I had that on my record."

Like Sgt. Reyes, who is now deployed on an international mission, many soldiers are struggling to sell their homes in a tough housing market. A growing number are in or facing foreclosure.

Foreclosure filings in the 165 ZIP codes in or near military bases increased by 46 percent in March compared with the same time last year, according RealtyTrac, an Irvine, Calif.-based company that tracks real estate foreclosures. The increase is higher in the five ZIP codes -- 30909, 30906, 30815, 30813, 30805 -- surrounding Fort Gordon.

Those areas showed a 307 percent increase in foreclosure filings from March 2008 to March 2009. According to data collected from RealtyTrac, 708 foreclosures were filed in March 2009, compared with 174 at the same time last year. The data do not show how many foreclosures are by military families, but real estate agents contend they account for a large percentage.

Costs of ownership on rise

Al Simmons, an Evans ReMax Realtor and a retired sergeant major, said the reasons for the increase in military foreclosures are not hard to fathom.

"Soldiers either have to sell their houses or leave their families behind," he said. "You have tons of houses for sale because of the way the market is. That makes it harder for them to sell their houses."

Because of the tough market, Mr. Simmons said, the number of soldiers inquiring about renting their homes has doubled during the past six months.

Master Sgt. Glen Williams is already renting his $200,000-plus Atlanta home, but he said he hopes to sell it by September, when the adjustable-rate mortgage increases 3 percent.

"I won't be able to afford it if the rate goes up," he said. "It's a new problem that a lot of us are facing. The housing office is getting involved, but I still haven't gotten any information on what I can do."

Master Sgt. Williams bought the home in 2004 with a fixed interest rate for five years, expecting to sell it within that time period.

The 18-year Army veteran, his wife and three children now live in military housing at Fort Gordon. He has not been able to sell in Atlanta, and banks have refused to refinance the loan, he said.

Stimulus funds on the way

Master Sgt. Williams' and Sgt. Reyes' stories aren't rare in the military, said Paul Sullivan, the executive director of Veterans for Commonsense. He speaks to soldiers and veterans daily about what resources are available to them, he said.

"They're facing it like everybody else. The economy is in disarray," Mr. Sullivan said. "I always strongly recommend that soldiers consider some options before foreclosure."

Communication with lenders is one of the first steps soldiers should take, Mr. Sullivan said. There are cases where lenders are willing to renegotiate the terms of a mortgage. Service members who bought their home with a Veterans Administration home loan can also contact the VA for assistance, Mr. Sullivan said.

The federal government recognizes the growing number of military men and women suffering because of the housing market. The federal stimulus law will distribute $550 million into the Defense Department's Homeowners' Assistance Program, but there are few details on who will qualify, said spokesman Cmdr. Darryn James.

"We are very happy to have this money," he said. "The policy hasn't been finalized, but we hope to provide assistance to as many soldiers as possible."

The funds will reimburse soldiers who lose money from selling their homes, assist those who default on their mortgages and help with other housing problems, according to the department's Web site.

Renter's market could help

However, it will be months before soldiers reap any financial benefits, said spokesman Doug Garman. An estimated 17,000 applications will be filed and must be processed, he said.

The best option for military homeowners is to rent their homes until they can find a buyer, Mr. Simmons said.

"If they can't sell, they can make a good deal on renting," he said. "The rental market is booming."

In some cases, if they have to pay the difference between the purchase price and the market price, lenders will charge off a portion of the amount, Mr. Simmons said.

Sgt. Reyes, whose house in Florida was vandalized and is now uninhabitable, said she would like to give the lenders her deed and be released from her mortgage. She said she hopes the situation will be resolved by the time she returns home in October.

"I've just been in a rut, and I would like to get out of it," Sgt Reyes said. "I'd like to get a two-bedroom place and start fresh."