Bipartisan, bicameral legislation that would establish a home loan safety net program at the Department of Veterans Affairs was passed by the Senate on July 16.
The VA Home Loan Program Reform Act would create a partial claim program at VA as part of the House Veterans Affairs Committee’s efforts to modernize the VA Home Loan program to allow veterans who have fallen behind on their mortgages to receive federal assistance that is already available through other federal housing programs.
House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.), Ranking Member Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), and Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), and Ranking Member Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), applauded the passage of the legislation in a joint statement.
“This bipartisan and bicameral legislation will assist veterans who are facing financial hardships and provide VA with a tool to better help veterans stay in their homes and avoid foreclosure,” the House and Senate leaders said.
The legislation also includes proper funding levels for the VA Grant and Per Diem program, part of VA’s homelessness prevention programs, to fund community agencies providing services to veterans experiencing homelessness.
“Today, we are empowering VA to establish a partial claim program as an option of last resort, which will preserve veteran homeownership and save taxpayer dollars by avoiding preventable foreclosures,” the House and Senate leaders noted in their statement. “This legislation will also allow VA to provide critical funding to grantees offering transitional housing to homeless veterans through the Grant and Per Diem program.”
House and Senate leaders said the partial claim program would bring greater parity between the VA Loan Guaranty program and the home loan programs provided by the Federal Housing Administration and the United States Department of Agriculture. The mortgage industry estimates the program at VA could help more than 20,000 current borrowers who are considered seriously delinquent retain their homes.
The legislation also increases the funding authorization for Comprehensive Service Programs for Homeless Veterans, which will allow the veteran homelessness provisions from the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act to be fully implemented.
The House and Senate leaders also praised the efforts of mortgage servicers and holders for their support while they worked to pass the legislation.
“We encourage the VA and mortgage servicers to continue their collaboration as this program is implemented, ensuring that they help mitigate any impact on veterans facing financial hardship while VA takes the necessary steps to establish the new partial claims program properly,” they added. “We commit to working together to pass into law additional measures to build upon this legislation to offer veterans similar foreclosure mitigation measures available to other federally backed mortgage programs. No veteran should fall through the cracks or risk losing their home while a last-resort program is being implemented.”
The bipartisan bill now heads to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.