When do i start receiving bah

We also contact apartment and real estate management companies to identify units for rental pricing. We consult with real estate professionals in each MHA to confirm market rental prices and obtain additional data.

We tap the local housing office knowledge and gain insights into the concerns of our members. Current, up-to-date rental information from telephone interviews and the internet is utilized from contacts provided by the local housing offices. Properties are subjected to additional screening and validation processes. What steps do you take to ensure reliability and accuracy of the data? In selecting specific units to measure, a multi-tiered screening process is employed to ensure that the units and neighborhoods selected are appropriate.

Every property to be used is verified by telephone to ensure the correct rent and address are captured. The property address is mapped to ensure it falls within the boundaries of the housing area being sampled. In order to avoid sampling high-crime or other undesirable neighborhoods, Military Housing Offices MHO have the ability to exclude certain areas from data collection. In areas where the MHO has not identified exclusions, an income screening process, to identify appropriate neighborhoods, is used.

When 1-bedroom apartments junior single enlisted neighborhoods are priced, focus is on where the typical civilian income is consistent with the income level that is typical for these grades. For comparison purposes, civilian salary equals the sum of military basic pay, average BAH, BAS, plus the tax advantage of the untaxed allowances. What housing costs are used to set BAH rates? BAH rates are computed using current median market rents and average local expenditures on utilities electricity, water, sewer, and heating fuel in each local market area, and will fluctuate as those costs change.

How often do you collect housing data? The data is collected annually, in the spring and summer when housing markets are most active. What types of residences do you include in your data collection? Does family size make a difference? Although BAH distinguishes between with-dependent and without-dependent, the with-dependent compensation is based on comparable civilians using average family size. In determining the income of comparable civilians do you consider military family income which includes the income of the working spouse if any?

A military member should not be put into a situation in which a spouse is required to work, so in considering the military, the Regular Military Compensation RMC is used. BAH is based on civilian standards, considering the housing choices made by civilians of comparable income. Gov't quarters are assigned based on grade and family size. What are the civilian housing standards you use? These are income-based, minimum housing standards used to establish the link between housing cost and pay grade.

Of course, members are not limited to the standard, and are free to choose where and how they will live. Actual member choices, however, do not influence the rate calculation. Why do you base BAH on my duty location? Why not use my residence location? The policy decision to use duty location as a basis for BAH is based on the desire to compensate members for the typical housing cost near the member's duty location.

Once the duty station is known, the BAH compensation is fixed, regardless of where the member lives. Were the member's residence location to be used as a basis for the allowance, there is the concern that this would cause a member to choose the residence location based on BAH.

In some cases, this may lead to a member choosing to live further from the duty station, simply to receive higher BAH. The Services decided to base the allowance on the duty location with the full knowledge that members would still be free to live where they choose, but that this decision would not affect the BAH amount.

If people choose to live further away to reduce their housing expense, does that lower BAH for everyone else? Why does someone living in another city get more BAH than I do, when it seems to me that housing is more expensive here?

Accurately determining if one location has more expensive rental markets than another is a scientific and statistical exercise. Sometimes, individuals rely on limited personal experience or newspaper and magazine articles to make that judgment. BAH is designed to address the cost of housing in each area. CONUS COLA is based on grade and dependency status with or without , and specifically considers the availability of commissary, exchange, and hospital facilities, because a member without this infrastructure tends to have a higher cost of living.

How do you geographically define a locality? For the purpose of defining the term, "locality," used as the basis for calculating local housing costs, the uniformed services have concurred in aggregating individual zip codes into groups called Military Housing Areas MHAs.

A MHA includes rental markets surrounding a duty station or a metropolitan area. The principal goal of defining an MHA around a duty station is that members ought to receive a BAH sufficient to permit the typical member to live a reasonable distance from his or her duty station. Of course, each member is free to choose a neighborhood that suits the individual's needs, e.

Then you need to know when you can expect to receive your GI Bill payments. For most GI Bill educational benefit programs, such as assistance for degree, non-degree, and vocational education, you are usually entitled to receive three benefits: tuition, a housing allowance, and a stipend for books and supplies. Any and all tuition costs are sent by the VA directly to the school each semester or term. As for the housing allowance and the stipend, these are sent to you, either via a mailed check or through direct deposit.

Regardless of the GI Bill program you are receiving benefits from, tuition costs are sent by the VA to the school or training facility you are attending, and is paid every semester or training period. As this is a transaction that happens between your school and the VA, the only thing you need to do is make sure that your school certifying official has all your documents so that the VA can verify your enrollment for the semester that you are receiving benefits for.

Or, if a part of your tuition is not covered by your GI Bill benefits, then you will have to process the payments for that yourself or through a grant or scholarship with your school. As for the Monthly Housing Allowance MHA , also referred to by many veterans as the BAH, it is sent to you at the end of each month through an arrears payment scheme - meaning you will get it at the end of the month. You will start receiving this benefit after your application for receiving GI Bill benefits has been approved.

If for example, your application was approved on July 15, you will receive a prorated housing allowance that covers July 16 to 31, paid to you at the beginning of August. Then, from August onwards, you will get the full monthly allowance that you are eligible to receive. However, it may take up to 2 weeks for you to actually receive this payment. This is because of time allotments for processing and mailing. You have to take into account the processing period not just for payment requests, but also for applying for educational benefits, as well as for the verification of your enrollment so that you will have a better idea of when you can actually expect to receive your money.

The increased BAH rates for affected active duty and full-time National Guard duty Service members will take effect October 1, and expire on December 31, The return home from combat can often leave servicemembers feeling out of place with the most important people in their lives - their families. Ken Williams, 14th Military Police Brigade chaplain. All members of the family adapt to a new 'normal' way of life. When the servicemember returns, the family may feel uncomfortable with each other, and the servicemember may withdraw from the family.

Toggle navigation. Benefits Facts. You usually have 10 years to use your MGIB benefits, but the time limit can be fewer or more years depending on the situation.