House passes bill to give VA borrowers a partial mortgage claim option

Following about 20 minutes of debate on the floor of the House of Representatives on Monday, H.R. 1815 — known as the V.A. Home Loan Program Reform Act — was passed by voice vote and will now be given to the Senate for additional debate.

The passage by the House keeps the bill moving through the legislative process. But senators will either have to approve it in its current form, or amend it for further reconciliation in the House before it can proceed to the president’s desk for a signature and codification into law.

The bill seeks to reform the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs‘ (VA) home loan program with the addition of a partial claim option. Housing advocates say this has taken on additional weight and urgency after the Veteran Affairs Servicing Purchase (VASP) program was effectively discontinued by the VA when it stopped accepting new applicants on May 1.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) came to the program’s defense after the news that VASP would be allowed to end. But it also signaled strong support for H.R. 1815, which was first introduced by Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.), the bill’s chief sponsor and the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity for Veterans Affairs.

Isaac Boltansky, managing director and head of public policy at PennyMac, lauded the passage of the bill when reached by HousingWire.

“We’re encouraged by the strong bipartisan support in the House and hopeful the Senate will act swiftly,” Boltansky said. “There is a clear need for this type of program at the VA and we hope that policymakers move with the urgency our nation’s veterans deserve.”

During the debate on the House floor, Republican and Democratic members alike expressed support for the bill. But when offering additional perspective, Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) accused the Trump administration of creating a problem the bill will solve.

“Because of the unilateral actions of President Trump and [VA] Secretary [Doug] Collins, over 80,000 veteran service members and their families are now facing foreclosures on their homes,” Takano said on the floor.

He said that while he supports the bill and encouraged fellow Democrats to support it as well, “this legislation should be expanding existing options for veterans to make foreclosure extremely rare and only in the most extreme cases. … Instead, this is a Band-Aid that likely will arrive too late for many.”

Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.) responded by repeating what his fellow Republicans in Congress have maintained about the VASP program — that it was set up with significant flaws during the Biden administration and that “continuing VASP would cost the taxpayers over a half a billion dollars in the next decade.”

“That is why, under my leadership, House Republicans have sounded the alarm on the Biden administration program and the risk it could bring to VA home loans,” Bost said.

Flávia Furlan Nunes contributed reporting.