By Matt Scherer

Veterans who were behind on their mortgage payments due to job loss or a major  illness have new legislation that will help them with foreclosure issues with their bank.   President Trump signed into law the VA Home Loan Program Relief Act on July 31.  This legislation, which replaced the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase (VASP) program, a VA program that ended May 1.

According to a Veterans of Foreign Wars press release, “Congressman Mike Van Orden proposed his partial claims bill in March as a way to replace the stop-gap Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase, or VASP, program, providing a foreclosure-mitigation option that closely mirrors options available to borrowers who utilize Federal Housing Administration loans.”

According to one VA loan servicing rep. the new law will not go into operational effect for another nine months. 

For veterans who have a VA loan and are behind on their payments due to the loss of a job, Ana Almanza, the CEO of Texas Heartland Mortgage said it’s important to immediately contact their loan technician staff at 877-827-3702.  These professionals are available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST.   

Almanza suggests the following options when contacting their lender on possible options. 

1. Repayment plan:  If a veteran missed a few mortgage payments, this plan lets you go back to making your regular payments.   However, the VA and your financial institution will add an additional amount each month to cover the ones you’ve missed.   

1. Special forbearance: This plan gives you some extra time to repay the missed mortgage payments. Missed payments aren’t automatically added to the end of your loan. You must contact your servicer to discuss how you’ll make payments after the special forbearance ends. 

 The team at Texas Heartland can work with veterans and their families to pay back those missed mortgage payments and related legal costs to your total loan balance.  Rates can vary, making the modified payment higher.  If you wish to have us contact you on these options, please click here.

RELATED:  The Veterans Guide to home ownership