Latest news with #VeteransAffairsServicingPurchase
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
House approves mortgage assistance for veterans
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – Thousands of veterans struggling to pay their home loans could soon get help from Congress after the Trump administration ended a mortgage rescue program earlier this month. The Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase (VASP) program, which the Biden administration created as an emergency fix following the COVID-19 pandemic, gave homeowners an affordable way to catch up on their VA-backed mortgage loan payments. 'President Trump and Secretary Collins are choosing to allow veterans to be foreclosed upon rather than to help them,' U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) said during a press conference Tuesday. Takano, the top Democrat on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said thousands of veterans are now at risk of losing their homes. 'This White House and VA don't seem to care,' Takano said. Takano argues without VASP, the federal government and taxpayers will foot the bill. 'It costs the VA and every one of us an estimated $60,000 every time a veteran is foreclosed on,' he said. The House advanced legislation Monday though that would allow the VA to create a similar lifeline for veterans, which Republicans do support. 'It was a bad program, and the Trump administration was right to stop it,' U.S. Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.) said on the House floor during Monday's debate. 'However, I recognize that sometimes veterans fall on hard times and veterans need a safety net.' Bost, the VA committee's top Republican, calls the new measure more fiscally responsible than VASP. 'In no way does that make sense to solve a $25,000 problem with a $320,000 solution. Only in government would you do that,' Bost said. Takano also supports the bill but worries it could arrive too late for some veterans since the Senate still has to debate it. In a statement, VA Press Secretary Peter Kasperowicz said ending VASP 'was necessary because VA is not set up or intended to be a mortgage loan restructuring service.' Kasperowicz said the wind down will not impact existing participants or eligible veterans who enrolled before May 1. 'Since the VASP program started May 31, 2024, VA has purchased more than 17,000 loans worth more than $5.48 billion, and this number is expected to increase in the closing days of the program,' he said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Veterans Mortgage Assistance Plan Approved by House After VA Ends Rescue Program
Veterans struggling to pay their mortgages could get help under a plan approved by the House to replace a mortgage rescue program the Trump administration ended this month. The House approved by voice vote on Monday night a bill that would create a partial claims program for the Department of Veterans Affairs. The program would essentially allow veterans with VA home loans who need to skip mortgage payments to move those missing payments to the end of their loan term. The bill, if ultimately approved by the Senate and signed into law, could provide a lifeline to veterans who are at risk of foreclosure following the end of the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase program this month. Read Next: Retired 4-Star Admiral Found Guilty on 4 Charges Stemming from Bribery Allegations "It was a bad program, and the Trump administration was right to stop it. However, I recognize that sometimes veterans fall on hard times and veterans need a safety net," House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost, R-Ill., said on the House floor. The bill approved Monday "is a fiscally responsible solution to enhance the VA home loan program and give veterans the assistance they might need if they are in home loan debt," Bost added. The VA had a partial claims program during the COVID-19 pandemic when many veterans, like others around the world, struggled to pay bills because their normal stream of income was disrupted. But that partial claims program ended in October 2022. When the program ended, thousands of veterans found themselves receiving unaffordable bills for mortgage payments they had missed. After NPR reported on the issue last year, the Biden administration created the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase, or VASP, program as an emergency fix. Under VASP, the VA purchased delinquent loans from holders and became the primary loan servicer, providing borrowers a stable payment plan at a fixed rate of 2.5% for the remainder of their loan. The program helped about 17,000 veterans stay in their homes, while the VA purchased about $5.5 billion worth of loans through the program, according to the department. But Republicans opposed VASP, arguing that the Biden administration acted without congressional approval and that taxpayer dollars were put at unacceptable risk by the VA becoming the loan holder. Last month, the VA announced that it was ending VASP, effective May 1. While veterans already on VASP weren't kicked off, the department stopped accepting new applications on that date. VASP "should have never started to begin with," VA Secretary Doug Collins said at a House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing last week, claiming that the Veterans Benefits Administration was on the verge of needing to shuffle around billions of dollars from other programs to cover VASP costs. "It should not have been a program that was taking money away from other things to start and getting VA into the mortgage business," he said. Democrats fumed at Collins' decision, arguing that ending VASP without an alternative in place put 80,000 veterans at risk of foreclosure. The bill approved by the House on Monday would provide the alternative by giving the VA the authority to create a new partial claims program. The partial claims program could save the government about $170 million over a decade by reducing the amount of costs the VA pays related to loan defaults, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The bill, which was first introduced by Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., received bipartisan support after negotiations added some more protections Democrats were seeking for veterans who missed mortgage payments from March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic started, to May 1, when VASP ended. Still, Democrats are continuing to blast the VA for not taking more steps to ensure veterans aren't foreclosed on while the bill works its way through Congress. "I continue to urge the secretary to reinstate some kind of assistance for veteran borrowers until this legislation is signed into law and implemented," Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., the ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said on the House floor Monday. "That will take some time. Every veteran who loses their home will have no one to blame but President Trump and Secretary Collins." Related: Year-Old VA Mortgage Rescue Program Ended by Trump Administration
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Vets deserve to stay in their homes — VA is about to put that at risk
The uniformed men and women of the U.S. armed forces put their lives at risk to protect our security and freedoms. In return, service members expect little. They don't do it for the pay. They do it to preserve the American Dream and give back to this great nation. Through their sacrifices, they have earned the privilege to pursue a pillar of the American Dream: homeownership. Unfortunately, the Department of Veterans Affairs is about to put thousands of veterans at risk of losing their homes, depriving them of the American Dream that they fought to protect. The VA has long sought to step in as a backstop when financially strained vets fall behind on their mortgage payments. It is a sad reality, but there is a demand for such services. To support veterans and their families during the pandemic, the VA rolled out a partial claims program that offered relief to struggling vets, allowing them to move missed mortgage payments to the backend of their loan. Last year, the VA replaced that program with a new one called the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase (VASP) program, which more than 17,000 veterans currently depend on. Earlier this month, the VA confirmed it would end the VASP program with no off-ramp to service the 17,000 veterans who will now be put at risk of foreclosure. The VA said it will shut the program to new enrollees as soon as May 1. Apparently, recognition for selflessness and sacrifice of service to the nation does not apply to veterans. VASP is a 'last resort' option to help families experiencing economic hardship. As part of VASP, loan servicers working with the VA modify loans to a 2.5% rate, and then sell the loan to the VA. This has allowed veterans and their families to remain in their homes with an affordable monthly mortgage payment. With VASP winding down, the back-owed amount on veterans' mortgages could be wrapped into a 30- or 40-year mortgage at current rates. Not surprisingly, this is spiking due to tariff uncertainty. That means vets would miss out on the VA program's discount and instead be saddled with historically high rates. Some have argued the VASP program introduced financial risk at the VA by keeping distressed mortgages on the department's books. VASP is not perfect. But ending the program without a replacement for the military families who need it is reckless. This places the risk exclusively in the hands of the veteran, not the department responsible for identifying and mitigating risk. There has been only scant discussion on how to responsibly replace this safety net for veterans and service members. The accelerating speed and recklessness of this policy change will inevitably harm veterans. The VA and its partners in Congress owe it to veterans to come up with a solution that keeps veterans in their homes. Lawmakers and officials could do this by allowing mortgage servicing companies to bundle missed payments into a noninterest lien that gets put on the house and becomes due once the mortgage is paid or the home is sold. That way, the VA isn't taking added risk on its books and veterans get to keep their homes. Service members and veterans vote, and 65% of veterans who voted in the 2024 presidential election said they cast their ballot for Trump, according to Election Day exit polls. They are a core part of his coalition. You'd think our president and VA Secretary Doug Collins, who clearly are not apolitical, would embrace their duty to take care of our veterans. The nation's veterans deserve gratitude and support from the government. They expect as much, especially from this administration. When the VA abruptly discontinued the pandemic-era Partial Claim Program in 2022, thousands of veterans were forced to refinance their mortgages at a time when interest rates had doubled. The financial stress on these veterans was not only unnecessary and predictable but also disappointing in terms of the promise the country has made to repay their sacrifices. One can hope that the abrupt flip on VASP is simply a case of Department of Government-inspired cost-cutting gone too far. After all, Elon Musk prefaced the work of DOGE by asserting that although they will inevitably make mistakes, they'll 'fix them very quickly.' Cutting VASP without an alternative in place — even for the few months that it could take new legislation to be implemented — is a mistake. The VA and members of Congress have little time to offer a solution that will allow veterans to stay in their homes. It is, however, their sacred duty to find one. James 'Spider' Marks, a retired U.S. Army major general, was the senior intelligence officer for the 2003 liberation of Iraq and the former commanding general of the U.S. Army Intelligence Center. He currently serves as the director of geo-political intelligence for Academy Securities, a New York-based veteran-owned bank.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lenders voice concerns over decision to end VA home loan rescue effort
Mortgage industry officials this week expressed concerns over the recent Veterans Affairs' decision to abruptly end a home loan rescue program, saying that more guidance is needed from department planners to protect individuals facing severe financial hardships. In a letter to VA Secretary Doug Collins on Monday, leaders from the Community Home Lenders of America — a non-profit association of small and mid-sized community mortgage lenders — said that companies working with veterans have received 'no detailed guidance, or in fact any information, to help them properly advise veterans families of imminent changes' with the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase (VASP) program. On April 4, VA leaders announced the 10-month-old VASP program would stop accepting new enrollees on May 1. The effort was launched to purchase defaulted VA loans from outside mortgage servicers in an effort to allow financially strapped veterans to avoid forfeiture of their homes. About 17,000 veterans received home loans with lower interest rates through the program, according to VA statistics. But the effort drew sharp criticism from conservative lawmakers on Capitol Hill, who claimed it undermined the existing VA home loans program by providing too much financial aid to a select few veterans. VA leaders to halt mortgage rescue program launched last year In a statement announcing the program changes, department officials said the decision to end VASP enrollment was made 'because VA is not set up or intended to be a mortgage loan restructuring service.' But in the last two weeks, Democratic lawmakers have attacked VA leaders for the move. A group of 22 congressional lawmakers wrote in a letter to Collins last week that 'until better policy solutions are in place that provide for stronger underwriting, ending the VASP program abruptly will only harm veterans and their families.' Monday's letter from the Community Home Lenders of America echoed those concerns. 'The VA must elaborate in writing what the VASP deadline actually means,' group leaders wrote. 'As just one example — if there is key information missing from an existing application VA should give the veteran and their servicer time to cure the fault if the application was submitted on time, rather than just deny the file. 'This is an area needing much more coordination between the VA and servicers.' The nonprofit is asking for a 60-day transition deadline for individuals who may qualify for VASP but cannot get their enrollments finished before May 1. But in an interview with Military Times on April 9, House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost, R-Ill., praised the decision to end the program and supported quick action on the change. 'The Veterans Home Loan Program has been around for a long time, and it is a golden opportunity for our veterans to get good lending rates for their homes so they can achieve the American dream,' he said 'This program was putting that in danger. 'No one is going to be forced out, but this is a wise change.' Congressional officials said in the last 10 months, VA officials have purchased more than $5.4 billion worth of home loans through the VASP program, with an average price of $320,000 per loan. When the VASP program was launched in May 2024, VA officials estimated that as many as 40,000 veterans could benefit from the financial assistance. Community Home Lenders of America expressed concern that tens of thousands of veterans are still unaware of the potential benefits of the effort to their finances.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
VA leaders to halt mortgage rescue program launched last year
Veterans Affairs officials next month will end a 10-month-old mortgage rescue program for veterans in danger of losing their homes, following significant Republican criticism over the effort. The Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase (VASP) program was launched in late May 2024 to purchase defaulted VA loans from outside mortgage servicers. Officials would then modify the terms of the loans to allow financially strapped veterans to avoid eviction from and forfeiture of their homes. About 17,000 veterans received home loans with lower interest rates through the program, according to VA statistics. But the effort drew sharp criticism from conservative lawmakers on Capitol Hill, who claimed it undermined the existing VA home loans program by providing too much financial aid to a select few veterans. In a statement, department officials said the program will stop accepting new enrollees on May 1. 'This change is necessary because VA is not set up or intended to be a mortgage loan restructuring service.' VA support program to buy up veterans' defaulted home loans Republicans immediately hailed the news. 'We had serious concerns about the impact VASP would have on not only the future of VA's home loan program, but the mortgage lending business as a whole,' House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost, R-Ill., and economic opportunity subcommittee Chairman Derrick Van Orden, R-Wisc., said in a joint statement. 'Today, the Trump administration rightfully put an end to VA's VASP program. This action underscores House Republicans' intent to establish a partial claims program at VA to ensure veterans' can stay in their homes if they're in financial hardship while still protecting the American taxpayer.' The program was open to veterans who defaulted on their VA home loan mortgages in the past. When the coronavirus pandemic hit the United States in spring 2020, Congress approved a forbearance program allowing some individuals who lost their normal stream of income to skip mortgage payments for months. But when that program ended in October 2022, thousands of veterans found they owed large payments, leaving them with insurmountable bills. The VASP program was designed to fix that problem, providing an alternative to eviction for individuals facing significant financial hardship. Critics noted that veterans who renegotiated higher, costly new mortgages in lieu of missing payments did not benefit from the safety net program. Congressional officials said in the last 10 months, VA officials have purchased more than $5.4 billion worth of home loans through the VASP program, with an average price of $320,000 per loan. House Republicans have called that an inefficient use of taxpayer money, noting that many of the veterans could still default on payments. Congressional Democrats attacked the decision to end the VASP effort. 'Eliminating a program that keeps veterans in their homes — when they face painful financial hardship — is an act of consummate cruelty and incompetence,' said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., ranking member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee. 'This program gives [veterans] last-resort options to avoid the emotional and financial crisis that often leads to homelessness. [VA Secretary Doug Collins] should … reverse this reprehensible misstep.' Under the initial rules governing the VASP program, borrowers were guaranteed a fixed 2.5% interest rate for the remainder of their loans. VA officials said the end of enrollment will not impact VA's loan guaranty services for veterans and will not affect any of the program's existing participants. The department's VA home loan program is among the best-known and most used benefits by veterans across America. According to current department statistics for the first three months of 2025, VA was backing nearly 145,000 loans nationwide, totaling more than $56 billion in value.
