Refinancing Schemes Target Veterans Security

Government cracks down on home refinancing scheme targeting veterans 
Chicago Tribune
Kenneth R. Harney
September 26, 2017

In an interview, Michael R. Bright, acting Ginnie Mae president, said some of the abuses he is seeing hark back to 2005 and 2006 — heyday years of the boom before the bust. 

Iraq war veteran Vernon Poling, 44, walks through a courtyard past a giant American flag at Potter's Lane, an apartment complex made out of shipping containers in Midway City, Calif. 

Federal officials plan to crack down on what they view as predatory lending schemes — reminiscent of the toxic practices seen during the housing boom — targeted at thousands of veterans nationwide who have U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs home loans.

The alleged abuses involve serial refinancings that generate hefty fees for lenders and loan brokers but leave borrowers in worse financial shape than they were before the transaction. Lenders are accused of dangling teaser interest rates, “cash out” windfalls and lower monthly payments, sometimes purportedly using shady marketing materials that resemble official information from the Department of Defense. Not infrequently, say officials, borrowers end up in negative equity positions, owing more on their loan balance than their house is worth.

Officials at the Government National Mortgage Association, better known as Ginnie Mae, say some veterans are being flooded with misleading refi offers and are signing up without assessing the costs and benefits. Some properties are being refinanced multiple times a year, thanks to “poaching” by lenders who aggressively solicit competitors’ recent borrowers to refi them again and roll the fees into a new loan balance, officials say. 

“We’re seeing borrowers refinance three times in less than six months and (their) loan balances going up.” Homeowners also are dumping fixed-rate loans for riskier adjustables" Michael Brightread more here

Home Sellers Turning Down VA Mortgages For Veterans?

Few Homes Available to Armed Forces Veterans
NBC News Miami
By Tony Pipitone
September 23, 2016

“The bad news is that a lot real estate professionals don’t know what is a great program.” David Kurz

Chris and Martyka Myers thought they’d found the perfect home.

“I was wowed by it. I walked to the backyard and a big wonderful pool in the back and the house was just beautiful,” Chris Myers said.

The couple says the price was high, but the sellers were willing to drop down the price to $379,000. “But as soon as I told them about the VA loan -- that portion of the talk -- they basically shut down the conversation at that point,” Myers said.

Members of the Armed Forces, veterans – like Chris Myers – and their families make many sacrifices while serving here and abroad. That’s why in 1944, the U.S. government created a military loan guaranty program to help returning service members purchase homes. The program gives big breaks on fees and down payments to veterans.

But the NBC 6 Investigators found out that four of every five home sellers in Miami-Dade area say they will not consider Veterans Administration financing – closing the door to veterans, if they want to use the benefits the government says they deserve.
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"I got my VA loan, I got my house"

Housing Buoyed by 20-Year High for Vet’s Loans: Mortgages
Bloomberg Business Week
By Prashant Gopal and Jody Shenn
July 22, 2014

During his third deployment in Afghanistan, Air Force Staff Sgt. Claude Hunter was so eager to return to the U.S. and buy a house that he signed a contract for a property that his agent showed him over Skype.

Hunter got back in time to close the deal, paying $219,000 in May for the four-bedroom Waldorf, Maryland, house that he financed with a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs mortgage. It didn’t require a down payment.

“On Facebook, my friends have started posting: ‘I got my VA loan, I got my house,’” said Hunter, 31. “Everybody is just ready. A lot of them have done their jobs overseas and are coming home.”

America’s fragile housing recovery is getting a boost from military buyers using VA mortgages as the U.S. draws down troops after more than a decade of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. About 4.7 million full-time troops and reservists served during the wars and many are now able to take advantage of one of the easiest and cheapest paths to homeownership. The program’s share of new mortgages, at a 20-year high, is also increasing as other types of government-backed loans have grown more costly.

“The reduction in uncertainty for the returning vets allows them the freedom to spend more, including buying housing,” said Sam Khater, deputy chief economist at CoreLogic Inc., an Irvine, California-based property-data firm. “VA buyers are coming into the market in higher and higher proportions and tend to be first-time buyers, one of the missing drivers in the recovery in housing demand.”
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H.R. 1627 Improves VA Loans

H.R. 1627 Improves VA Loans
DIRECTVALOANS.COM

New law makes VA loans available to more surviving spouses, disabled vets and single parents, and VA loan limits return to $729,750 to over $1,000,000 for high-cost areas.

On August 6, 2012 President Obama signed The Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act (H.R. 1627). The new law addresses some of the problems veterans have been facing recently including medical conditions caused by contaminated water used by families stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. The signed legislation also makes certain veterans benefits, like VA loans, more readily available.
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Veterans' homes slip away

Veterans' homes slip away

By DONALD L. BARLETT AND JAMES B. STEELE

The Philadelphia Inquirer

The Aguiars have lots of company. Veterans have always faced daunting problems in finding jobs, obtaining promised benefits, and meeting other challenges when they reenter civilian life. But to those problems has been added the fear of losing their homes. The Fort Myers-Cape Coral region, home to about 60,000 veterans, is a microcosm of what is happening to former service people all over America.

After the Second World War, returning veterans were welcomed home to two of the most successful government initiatives ever - the FHA and VA housing programs - which put millions of them into their own homes for the first time.

Today, later generations of veterans are being confronted by much different housing policies - ones that can toss them out of homes they've bought with their life savings.

John Aguiar is a veteran of the Gulf War, a former intelligence analyst for the Army who took part in Operation Desert Storm in 1990 when U.S. forces brought Saddam Hussein to heel after he invaded Kuwait.

Aguiar and his wife, Syrena, built a house in Cape Coral, Fla., after relocating from Chicago to be nearer her parents. Using proceeds from the sale of their Chicago house, they bought a lot in a new subdivision in the Cape, a middle-class suburb across from Fort Myers in southwest Florida.
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Veterans homes slip away

Help Available for Veterans in Joplin, Mo.

VA Announces Disaster Assistance After Tornado Outbreaks


Help Available for Veterans in Joplin, Mo.


WASHINGTON (May 26, 2011)- The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
announced today that special disaster assistance may be available to
Veterans with VA-guaranteed home loans who have been affected by recent
tornados in Missouri.

"We will to do everything we can to help Veterans and their families get
through this difficult time," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K.
Shinseki. "We urge Veterans to use VA resources available to help them
recover from this disaster."

VA strongly encourages mortgage companies not to initiate any new
foreclosures in the disaster areas for a period of 90 days. The agency
also encourages mortgage companies that service VA-guaranteed home loans
to extend every possible forbearance to borrowers who are in distress
through no fault of their own. This includes suspension of reporting to
credit bureaus and waiving late charges for affected borrowers.

Veterans should contact their insurance company as soon as possible to
file claims for losses. At the same time, they need to contact their
mortgage companies to let them know their circumstances.

Veterans should also start the FEMA disaster application process as soon
as possible by calling 1-800-621-3362. Low interest loans, cash grants,
and housing assistance may be available from agencies associated with
the disaster recovery effort.

VA has information available on its web site
(www.benefits.va.gov/homeloans) that provides basic guidance on options
veterans should consider following a major disaster. Veterans may also
contact their nearest VA Regional Loan Center at 1-877-827-3702.

For updated information on eligible counties, visit the "Are you a
disaster survivor?" section on the FEMA website at
http://www.fema.gov/index.shtm.

Help for VA Home Loan Borrowers in Financial Distress Encouraged

VA Announces Disaster Assistance After Tornado Outbreaks


Help for VA Home Loan Borrowers in Financial Distress Encouraged




WASHINGTON (May 17, 2011)- The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
announced today that special disaster assistance may be available to
Veterans with VA-guaranteed home loans who have been affected by recent
tornados in the South. Veterans living in the designated disaster areas
in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee may receive
mortgage assistance through their loan servicers.

"VA wants to do everything we can to help Veterans and their families
during this difficult time," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K.
Shinseki. "It is important for Veterans to be aware of their rights and
understand there are many resources available to help them recover from
this disaster."

VA strongly encourages mortgage companies not to initiate any new
foreclosures in the disaster areas for a period of 90 days. The agency
also encourages mortgage companies that service VA-guaranteed home loans
to extend every possible forbearance to borrowers who are in distress
through no fault of their own. This includes suspension of reporting to
credit bureaus and waiving late charges for affected borrowers.

There are almost 26,000 Veterans with VA-guaranteed home loans in
counties in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee that
have been declared eligible for individual assistance by the Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Veterans should contact their insurance company as soon as possible to
file claims for losses. At the same time, they need to contact their
mortgage companies to let them know their circumstances.

Veterans should also start the FEMA disaster application process as soon
as possible by calling 1-800-621-3362. Low interest loans, cash grants,
and housing assistance may be available from agencies associated with
the disaster recovery effort.

VA has information available on its web site
(www.benefits.va.gov/homeloans) that provides basic guidance on options
veterans should consider following a major disaster. Veterans may also
contact their nearest VA Regional Loan Center at 1-877-827-3702.

Counties in Alabama affected by the tornado outbreak and that are
eligible for individual assistance through FEMA include: Autauga,
Calhoun, Cullman, DeKalb, Elmore, Etowah, Franklin, Jefferson, Lawrence,
Marengo, Marion, Marshall, St. Clair, Sumter, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa and
Walker.

Counties in Arkansas affected by the tornado outbreak include: Benton,
Clay, Faulkner, Garland, Lincoln, Pulaski, Randolph and Saline.

Counties in Georgia affected by the tornado outbreak include: Bartow,
Catoosa, Coweta, Dade, Floyd, Greene, Lamar, Pickens, Polk, Spalding,
Troup and Walker.

Counties in Mississippi affected by the tornado outbreak include:
Clarke, Greene, Hinds, Jasper, Kemper, Lafayette and Monroe.

Counties in Tennessee declared eligible for individual assistance
include: Bradley, Greene, Hamilton and Washington.

VA's Home Loan Program Continues to Stay Strong

Shinseki Says VA's Home Loan Program Continues to Stay Strong

Veterans More Likely to Avoid Foreclosure with VA-Backed Loan

WASHINGTON - Mortgage loans guaranteed by the Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA) continue to have the lowest rate for serious delinquency
and foreclosures in the industry.

"The continued high performance of VA loans is due to the dedication of
VA's loan professionals, the support of our partners in the mortgage
industry and most notably, the responsibility of our Veterans and their
desire to maintain home ownership," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Eric K. Shinseki. "VA is making good on its promise to help Veterans
achieve the American dream of owning a home."

There are currently about 1.3 million active home loans that have been
obtained using VA's Home Loan Guaranty Program. The program makes home
ownership more affordable for Veterans, active-duty service members, and
eligible surviving spouses by permitting low or no downpayment loans and
by protecting lenders from loss if the borrower fails to repay the loan.


According to the Mortgage Bankers Association National Delinquency
Survey, VA's foreclosure rate for the last eight quarters and serious
delinquency rate for the last five consecutive quarters have been the
lowest of all measured loan types, even prime loans.

Much of the program's strength stems from the efforts of VA employees
and loan servicers nationwide, whose primary mission is to "ensure all
Veterans receive every possible opportunity to remain in their homes,
avoid foreclosure, and protect their credit from the consequences of a
foreclosure," added Shinseki.

Depending on the situation, VA's loan specialists can intervene on a
Veteran's behalf to help pursue home-retention options such as repayment
plans, forbearances and loan modifications. When home retention is not
an option, sometimes VA can help arrange a sale, or a deed-in-lieu of
foreclosure, both of which are better options for Veteran borrowers than
foreclosure.

Since 1944, when home-loan guaranties were first offered under the
original GI Bill, VA has guaranteed more than 18.8 million home loans
worth $1.06 trillion.

To obtain more information about the VA Home Loan Guaranty Program,
Veterans can call VA at 1-877-827-3702. Information can also be
obtained at http://www.homeloans.va.gov .

Is it time for VA Home Refinancing

Never a Better Time for VA Home Refinancing, says Mortgage Investors Corporation
With rates at record lows, veterans can enjoy government-guaranteed assistance at home.
(PRNewsChannel) / March 29, 2010 / Washington, D.C. / At a time when home foreclosures dominate the day’s headlines, Mortgage Investors Corporation wants veterans to know they’ve got their backs.
Mortgage Investors Corporation says the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs offers veterans and soldiers on active duty a VA home loan program—one that enables military personnel to refinance a home. Known as a VA Streamline Home Loan Refinance, the program also benefits spouses of those veterans and active soldiers.

While the government does not act as a lender, the Veterans Administration guarantees the money loaned through VA-approved lenders like Mortgage Investors Corporation in St. Petersburg, Fla. Veterans receive the (no hassle) benefit and a lower interest rate.

Mortgage Investors Corporation remains one of the nation’s largest VA loan providers, and has a reputation of helping veterans transition from serving their country to living in it comfortably. Mortgage Investors Corporation assists veterans with refinancing a VA loan and saving hundreds of dollars on monthly payments.

The Dept. of Veterans Affairs’ Loan Guaranty program does not impose a maximum amount an eligible veteran may borrow. Certain county limits, however, are used to calculate VA’s maximum guaranty amount. For example, this year’s VA limit for Pinellas County, Fla. is $425,000, while the District of Columbia is $768,750 and in some locations over $1-million.

“The VA makes sure these brave men and women shouldn’t have to worry about how to pay for their homes once they return to the United States,” says William Edwards, chairman and chief executive officer of Mortgage Investors Corporation. “We guarantee them the best deal when refinancing a VA loan.”

For more information about VA refinancing options available from Mortgage Investors Corporation, please visit: www.mortgageinvestors.com or phone 1–800–891–6678.

Enhanced VA Mortgage Options for Veterans

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Enhanced VA Mortgage Options Now Available for Veterans
Of Potential Benefit to Those in Financial Distress
WASHINGTON (Oct.24) -- Veterans with conventional home loans now havenew options for refinancing to a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)guaranteed home loan. These new options are available as a result ofthe Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 2008, which the Presidentsigned into law on October 10, 2008.

"These changes will allow VA to assist a substantial number of veterans with subprime mortgages refinance into a safer, more affordable, VA guaranteed loan," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake."Veterans in financial distress due to high rate subprime mortgages arepotentially the greatest beneficiaries." VA has never guaranteed subprime loans. However, as a result of the newlaw VA can now help many more veterans who currently have subprimeloans.The new law makes changes to VA's home loan refinancing program.Veterans who wish to refinance their subprime or conventional mortgagemay now do so for up to 100 percent of the value of the property.

These types of loans were previously limited to 90 percent of the value. Additionally, Congress raised VA's maximum loan amount for these types of refinancing loans. Previously, these refinancing loans were cappedat $144,000. With the new legislation, such loans may be made up to$729,750 depending on where the property is located.Increasing the loan-to-value ratio and raising the maximum loan amountwill allow more qualified veterans to refinance through VA, allowing forsavings on interest costs or even potentially avoiding foreclosure.

Originally set to expire at the end of this month, VA's authority toguaranty Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs) and Hybrid ARMs was alsoextended under this new law through September 30, 2012. Unlike conventional ARMs and hybrid ARMs, VA limits interest rate increases onthese loans from year to year, as well as over the life of the loans.

Since 1944, when home loan guaranties were offered with the original GIBill, VA has guaranteed more than 18 million home loans worth over $911billion. This year, about 180,000 veterans, active duty servicemembers,and survivors received loans valued at about $36 billion.For more information, or to obtain help from a VA Loan Specialist,veterans may call VA at 1-877-827-3702 or visit www.homeloans.va.gov

VA, Congress assist veterans in mortgage mess

VA, Congress assist veterans in mortgage mess
By Tom Philpott, Special to Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Saturday, June 07, 2008



With thousands of servicemembers and veterans having lost homes or facing foreclosure as the mortgage crisis continues, lawmakers are pushing legislation to raise VA loan ceilings, lower VA funding fees and expand the VA’s ability to help veterans to refinance loans they can’t afford.

The Department of Veterans Affairs, meanwhile, is encouraging military members, veterans and surviving widows with at-risk loans to seek advice from VA loan counselors even if their loans are not VA-guaranteed.

VA loan experts lack authority to restructure or renegotiate loans not backed by VA. But they can advise veterans on their options and on how they might negotiate with mortgage holders to avoid default.

VA’s effort to reach mortgage holders in distress now includes a help line —(877) 827-3702 — that automatically directs callers the nearest of nine VA regional loan centers. VA loan counselors have helped 74,000 homeowners since 2000, including half of all VA loans in serious default last year, thus saving the government nearly $1.5 billion, officials contend.

The VA Loan Guaranty program avoided the subprime loan debacle. While delinquency rates have climbed over the past five years for subprime, FHA and prime mortgages, delinquencies have fallen for VA-backed loans.
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http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=55366