Trump Ends Veterans Affairs Program That Helps Vets Pay Mortgages, Which Could Cause 60K Vets To Go Homeless
“The last thing we should do is turn our backs on them when they need help staying in their homes.”
Yesterday, the Trump administration officially ended a program that helped veterans and active-duty service members pay for their mortgages, at a time when foreclosures are on the rise. Ending this program now may force tens of thousands of veterans to become homeless.
MarketWatch reported today (excerpts):
Foreclosures are rising as more homeowners miss multiple mortgage payments — and with the end of a federal foreclosure-assistance program for veterans and service members this week, homeowners who have served in the military in particular face a sudden and acute risk of losing their homes.
Home buyers, sellers and owners are navigating a challenging economic environment. Mortgage rates remain high, making it expensive to buy. Increasing inventory has made buyers more selective, making it difficult for owners to sell. And homeowners are struggling with the rising costs of insurance and property taxes.
More homeowners had missed multiple mortgage payments as of March, newly released data show. The share of mortgages that were seriously delinquent — a status that typically means a homeowner hasn’t made a payment for 90 days or more — rose 14% year over year in March, according to data from Intercontinental Exchange.
Foreclosure filings were still below historical averages, but they were rising fast. Attom, a property-data company, said that in March, foreclosure filings were up 9% from the same month a year earlier. Over the first three months of the year, foreclosure filings were up 11% compared with the preceding quarter, the company said. “Some homeowners may be starting to feel the pressure of ongoing economic challenges,” said Rich Barber, chief executive of Attom.
Veterans in particular are at risk of foreclosure right now. For nearly a year, tens of thousands of veteran and active-duty homeowners who missed payments were able to access a mortgage-assistance program that helped make payments more affordable by reducing their interest rate to 2.5%.
The program, called the Veterans Affairs Servicing Program, was a last-resort option that helped delinquent borrowers lower their mortgage rate, making their monthly payments much more affordable, by having the Department of Veterans Affairs buy their mortgage from the servicer. But as of Thursday, the VA was no longer accepting VASP submissions from loan servicers.
The termination of VASP leaves up to 58,000 veterans facing the possibility of foreclosure, the National Consumer Law Center said. As of April 1, some 75,000 veteran homeowners with a mortgage had missed three or more payments on their VA loan, and of those, 17,000 had been accepted for VASP, the organization said.
“The men and women who wore our nation’s cloth have faced adversity and challenges while defending our freedoms around the world,” said Raul “Danny” Vargas, the founder, chair and CEO of the American Latino Veterans Association. “The last thing we should do is turn our backs on them when they need help staying in their homes.”
The VA told MarketWatch that it had stopped accepting new applications for VASP because the agency was “not set up or intended to be a mortgage loan restructuring service.”
“This change will not impact VA’s loan guaranty services for Veterans,” agency press secretary Peter Kasperowicz told MarketWatch.
The end of the program will not affect veterans who are already enrolled in it or those who completed enrollment before Thursday, he said. Since the VASP program started on May 31, 2024, the VA has bought more than 17,000 loans from mortgage servicers worth more than $5.48 billion, he said, adding that “this number is expected to increase in the closing days of the program” as the final applications are processed.
AUTHOR COMMENTARY
Proverbs 29:7 The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regardeth not to know it.
Apparently this is what “winning” and “draining the swamp” and ending “DEI” programs looks like…
What an absolute joke. This current administration of war whores and psychopaths want to increase the defense budget and go to war with everyone, economically and militarily, but then betrays and turns its backs on veterans.
Of course, detractors will say ‘it was not Trump’s fault, it was Congress, this was a Biden program.’ Well then, if Trump is Mr. Support the Troops, as he is portrayed as, then why did he not intervene or come up with something new or better?
And people wonder why Americans don’t want to join the military or support the military industrial complex in any capacity, because it has seen for a long time this country chew up and spit our troops with no remorse; hundreds of thousands of them homeless and on the streets, dripped out on drugs, drowning in booze, and suffering from deep depression and PTSD from our endless wars and genocides for the profit of only a small few.
It is an utter disgrace. What incentive is there to serve if we are now going to offer any form of pittance and benefits to serve in the armed forces? But I guess there are those amongst, these fake tough guys with pretend and stolen valor, who think you should never receive a single penny from the government: only pay into it as robs you in broad daylight.
Ecclesiastes 5:8 If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they.
[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).
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Ra ra Merica, who treats their troops as nothing more than cannon fodder. Guess who takes care of Vets the most? the US citizens, the Gov. pads their "buddies of Rome" pockets first, then tosses a couple of shekels to make it look good.
This makes me at a loss for words as why this happens, it's not about helping out the country or it's citizens and Vets; it's about pure greed and power, this miry clay bunch would stomp out their own mother to climb that ladder.
Thank you so much for keeping us aware of these things. They aren't reported much and are important.
I know people this cancelling will hurt. So much for getting rid of woke ideology like cancel culture.
Hypocrites. And Jesus made it clear what He thinks of hypocrites. God Bless.