Steps Announced During Meeting With Legislators And Military Families in Norfolk

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 12, 2011

CONTACT
Dan Rene of Levick Strategic Communications
202-973-1325 or drene@levick.com

[Norfolk, VA] [December 11, 2011] – Lincoln Military Housing (LMH), in partnership with the Navy, today announced an eight-point plan of immediate actions to alleviate resident’s current concerns about conditions in the company’s homes in Hampton Roads.

The announcement was made during a meeting with concerned military families, Senator Mark Warner, Congressman Scott Rigell, Congressman Bobby Scott and United States Navy officials.

“We greatly appreciate Senator Warner’s, and Congressmen Rigell and Scott’s continued commitment to our military. We share the common goal of making the care, comfort and safety of our residents the top priority,” Jarl Bliss, President of LMH, said. “Their actions have garnered our full attention. We are committed to working with members of the Virginia delegation, and the Navy, to do what is best for our military families. In keeping with that commitment Lincoln is taking this opportunity to announce a sweeping series of new initiatives – proactive steps that will have an immediately positive impact for our residents.”

Specifically, Lincoln:

1. Appointed a full-time Chief Customer Service Officer (CCSO) for its Mid-Atlantic family housing on December 9, 2011.
2. Will recruit a current resident of LMH housing in Hampton Roads to serve as a family housing advocate with unlimited direct access to the CCSO.
3. Put in place a new toll free number (855-LMH-4YOU) (855-564-4968) for residents with issues or concerns they feel need to be addressed.
4. Effective immediately and at the company’s expense, Lincoln will offer a mold inspection using certified independent mold inspectors designated by the Navy to any resident who requests the service.
5. Will deploy a task force of special Lincoln maintenance teams and Navy personnel, starting today, December 12, 2011 to conduct interior life safety and water intrusion inspections of all Hampton Roads homes.
6. Will hire an independent, licensed professional engineering firm to survey the condition of aged building exteriors and address any systemic issues that could result in water infiltration.
7. Has hired respected and recognized experts to conduct a top-to-bottom review of current Lincoln maintenance and communication policies and procedures. The conclusions of this analysis will be reported directly to senior Lincoln management, the CCSO and the Navy.
8. Update training for all Lincoln maintenance teams to ensure that they properly communicate with residents.

“In addition to the actions I announced today, we will actively seek resident’s ideas on how to improve our program,” Bliss continued. “That started at today’s meeting. My staff and I took plenty of notes that we will bring back to the entire Lincoln team and be made part of the top-to-bottom review we are conducting.”

Lincoln currently manages 4,381 homes in the Hampton Roads area serving military families Since taking over Navy-owned and managed housing in 2005, more than 14,600 families have lived in these Lincoln Hampton Roads communities.

Since 2001, Lincoln Military Housing has developed and managed more than 31,000 military family homes across the country working closely with all levels of the armed services including Navy, Marine Corps, Army and Air Force leaders, to create a new and improved standard of military housing.

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For additional information, please contact Dan Rene of Levick Strategic Communications at 202-973-1325 or drene@levick.com