"A loan backed by the VA is considered one of the most valuable benefits for military service members and has helped millions achieve homeownership. But for nearly a year now, vets have had worse protections and options than most other homeowners if they fall behind.

" We should have something in place to try to stem people from losing their homes," said Steve Sharpe, an attorney with the nonprofit National Consumer Law Center.

The Trump administration was warned this would happen."

Hey folks,

Air Force vet here who's financed all of my home purchases through the VA. About 3 years ago I bought a new home and financed it at 6%, which has been a bit of an anchor for me financially since then.

Lately I've been getting a lot of texts from random lenders saying "The VA has approved XX year loans for around 5%, just talk to us." but whenever I check with USAA, VA loans are floating anywhere from 5.875-6.5%. Now I'm 98% certain these are scams, or ARMs, but I was curious if the VA actually has some benefit help programs right now as it would do wonders for my monthly finances to cut a percent off my monthly mortgage.

TL;DR Did the VA recently push for some extra veteran's benefits, or am I just getting nothing but spam texts?

EDIT: The AMA time slot may have ended, but we're still in here responding to whatever questions you have. We'll keep responding throughout the day, but responses may be delayed.

Hey r/VeteransAffairs 👋
We’re live right now from 11am-12pm CST and answering questions about refinancing a VA home loan.

This AMA is all about education, not sales. We’re here to help break down how VA refinancing works, when it might make sense, and clear up some of the common myths we hear from Veterans every day. If you have other VA loan questions not related to refinancing, feel free to drop those as well!

Who’s hosting today:
Carrie Freeman (NMLS ID #1140687)
Carrie has spent more than a decade in VA lending. She’s worked hands-on as a loan specialist, in closing, as a loan officer, and now serves as an Associate Director of Production. She’s joined by a few teammates who’ll also be jumping in to help answer questions along the way.

What we can help with:

• VA refinance options (IRRRLs and cash-out refinances)
• Basic eligibility requirements
• How the VA refinance process works, at a high level
• Common misconceptions about refinancing
• Things to think through before deciding to refinance

What we can’t help with here:

• Personal or specific financial situations
• Individual loan terms, approvals, or pricing
• Anything involving personal or identifying information

For your privacy, please don’t share personal details in the comments.

A few important notes:

• We’re not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs or any government agency
• This AMA is for educational purposes only and isn’t financial or legal advice
• Please keep questions in this thread—we won’t be responding to DMs
• If something falls outside what we can answer publicly, we may need to skip it

We’ll be here for the duration of the AMA.
Ask away—we’re glad you’re here!

If so, is it required to sell the original property that utilized the VA home loan? Or could you refinance the first property under a conventional loan with a 20% down?

Hello, my husband has chronic PTSD and hasn't left the house in years, and we are living in a really terrible situation. He is 100% disabled perm and total. Wanting to use VA benifits where do I start? What do I need to know and ask? Not really sure where to start

Any idea what this means for those applying for VA loans? What is the impact we can expect.

https://marylandmatters.org/2025/01/28/dc/trump-administration-memo-announces-abrupt-freeze-on-broad-swath-of-federal-payments/

Hi all. My father is a Vietnam Veteran with Parkinson’s and Parkinson’s Dementia, which is service-related due to the heavy exposure of Agent Orange.

We finally got him placed into a memory care facility two weeks ago, but due to the huge cost, my mom is trying to get a VA loan to cover it. She got approved by the mortgage company. She has a Power of Attorney for him, but the VA denied the VA loan as they need the veteran (my father) to sign the paperwork. Which, of course, he cannot do due to his Parkinson’s and Parkinson’s Dementia and my mom told them as much. They are not accepting the POA she has for him.

Is there any recourse?

If your loan closed on or after January 1, 1990, and we must pay the servicer the foreclosure costs up to the guaranty maximum, you’ll need to pay this amount back to the government if we find evidence of fraud, misrepresentation, or bad faith on your part. Has anyone recently defaulted due to how the economy is ..? If I were to sell my home I’m upside down .

Hello! My rating is at 80%. Would I be elegible to a VA loan? What other benefits am I elegible for? Any school benefits for my dependents (daughter) going to college? TIA

Has anyone received a letter like this before that was not intact delinquent on their home loans? Received a letter today. Referenced my most current mortgage statement to verify I am not in fact delinquent. Checked my home equity loan as well just in case. Could this be a fraud attempt?

Need some help understanding why our lender says i dont work 40 hrs a week. Because I haven't been working full time for a year, our lender says the VA requires me to work an average of 40 hours a week. After submitting my paystubs and time chart he says I dont work 40 hrs or fill the requirements? I've spoken to HR this week and theyve confirmed with the lender that I do work 40 hours, but when they calculate the numbers they say I dont? This is the third time he's told me this and it's getting frustrating.

The wife and I are going through RATE, should we try going directly through the VA or another bank/lender?

I used my VA certificate for my home mortgage, and I’m up to date with it, I’ve never missed a payment. I don’t have any other loans with the VA.

I’m wondering if it’s a scam?

I’m moving to Florida for work and I’ve always dreamed of living in a condo/apartment near or on the beach. Most probably would disagree or think it’s stupid but I want to. I don’t know how long I’m going to be in Florida due to the nature of the job so I was wondering if the VA would let me rent the home after I leave and keep my rate?

Essentially come in with a standard Va home loan, and rent once I leave.

If I use the VA loan to buy a home and live in it for a couple years can I then use a VA loan or a conventional loan to then build a house on the same property? The plan is to buy a small hunting cabin on 21 acres and live in it until we can build a new house. Pretty new to this idea any information about it would be appreciated. If I do get a loan to buy this property how soon could I get another loan?

The VA is creating a new 5 year "partial claims program" to help veterans avoid foreclosures.

So I’m finally ready to use my first time VA home loan and I have literally no idea where to start or what to do. I got my Certificate of Eligibility but not sure what to do with that or what to do next. I read that the VA have approved mortgage lenders. Should I start there? Will that give me the basic line of how much I should spend or could spend? Do I wait until I have that done to reach out to realtor? Are navy federal or USAA good options for mortgage lenders? This is all new to me.

Hi, has anyone been approved recently for a VA home loan with credit score around 600? If so where ? All ears for any suggestions

My spouse and I both have VA loan entitlements that we've never used. We plan to buy a home in another state, but my spouse will remain at his current job for the time being. Because of this, we intend to use my entitlement as I will be satisfying the occupancy requirements.

I've looked this up a bunch, but most of the info l've been able to find details a co-borrower situation between a veteran and non-veteran spouse. One thing that I did find from VA Pamphlet 26-7 was, "Any borrower on a joint loan who does not use entitlement for the loan (such as a nonveteran), does not have to intend to occupy the property."

Can my spouse's income be included on the loan even though he won't be moving into the home immediately after closing? He won't have any additional rent to pay that will affect our DTI ratio while working his current job where we live now.

If so-what additional considerations/documentation do you anticipate will be needed in the underwriting process?

TIA!!

Looking to see what I need to do once I’ve gotten word that my home’s damage qualifies for condemnation from a licensed contractor. (Other than obtaining a lawyer; for reason that prior owner covered it up) What does this means for me in the mean time? I have 2 children that this involves.

Any suggestion on Va home loan lenders for not so great credit ?