II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2073 

To address fees erroneously collected by Department of Veterans Affairs 

for housing loans, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 10, 2019 

Mr. BOOZMAN (for himself and Mr. TESTER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To address fees erroneously collected by Department of 

Veterans Affairs for housing loans, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. FEES ERRONEOUSLY COLLECTED BY DEPART4 MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS FOR HOUSING 

5 LOANS. 

6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find7 ings: 

8 (1) The Department of Veterans Affairs offers 

9 a Department-backed home loan for which veterans 


SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 2073 IS

1 are generally required to pay fees to defray the cost 

2 of administering the home loan. 

3 (2) Veterans are exempt from paying the fees 

4 if they are entitled to receive disability compensation 

5 from the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

6 (3) Between January 1, 2012, and December 

7 31, 2017, veterans paid fees of more than 

8 $286,000,000 in association with Department9 backed home loans despite being exempt from such 

10 fees. Fees paid included $65,800,000 in fees that 

11 could have been avoided. 

12 (4) Of those erroneously paid fees, 

13 $189,000,000 in fee refunds are still due to vet14 erans. 

15 (5) More than 70,000 veterans may have been 

16 affected by these erroneously paid fees. 

17 (b) PLAN TO IDENTIFY INDIVIDUALS WHO WERE

18 ERRONEOUSLY CHARGED FEES.— 

19 (1) ERRONEOUS CHARGES JANUARY 1, 2012, TO

20 DECEMBER 31, 2017.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 

22 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

23 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to 

24 Congress a plan to identify individuals de25 scribed in subsection (c)(1) of section 3729 of 


SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 2073 IS

1 title 38, United States Code, from whom a fee 

2 was collected under such section during the pe3 riod beginning on January 1, 2012, and ending 

4 on December 31, 2017. 

5 (B) CONTENTS.—The plan submitted 

6 under paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

7 (i) The number of individuals who 

8 may be due a refund of the fee. 

9 (ii) A timeline for the refunding of 

10 fees. 

11 (2) ERRONEOUS CHARGES BEFORE JANUARY 1, 

12 2012.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

14 days after the date of the enactment of this 

15 Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 

16 submit to Congress a plan to identify individ17 uals described in subsection (c)(1) of section 

18 3729 of title 38, United States Code, from 

19 whom a fee was collected under such section be20 fore January 1, 2012. 

21 (B) CONTENTS.—The plan submitted 

22 under paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

23 (i) The number of individuals who 

24 may be due a refund of the fee. 


SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 2073 IS

1 (ii) A timeline for the refunding of 

2 fees. 

3 (c) AUTOMATED REFUND PROCESS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop 

5 an automated process for refunding fees collected 

6 under section 3729 of title 38, United States Code, 

7 from individuals described in subsection (c)(1) of 

8 such section. 

9 (2) PROHIBITION.—For any individual identi10 fied under the process developed under paragraph 

11 (1), the Secretary shall process the refund without 

12 requiring further request. 

13 (d) PLAN TO PROCESS REFUNDS.—Not later than 

14 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

15 Secretary shall develop a plan to process refunds of fees 

16 that were collected under section 3729 of title 38, United 

17 States Code, from individuals described in subsection 

18 (c)(1) of such section. 

19 (e) ANNUAL REPORT ON REFUNDS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently than 

21 once each year, the Secretary shall submit to Con22 gress an annual report on refunds of fees collected 

23 under section 3729 of title 38, United States Code. 


SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 2073 IS

1 (2) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted under 

2 paragraph (1) shall include, for the period covered 

3 by the report: 

4 (A) The number of fees collected under 

5 such section that were refunded and applied to 

6 a home loan balance. 

7 (B) The number of such refunds for which 

8 the Secretary received documentation of the ap9 plication of a refund to a home loan balance. 

10 (f) ACCURACY OF CERTIFICATES OF ELIGIBILITY.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall update 

12 such policies as may be necessary to ensure that cer13 tificates of eligibility are accurate at the time they 

14 are used for the purposes of determining eligibility 

15 for housing loans guaranteed, insured, or made 

16 under chapter 37 of title 38, United States Code, 

17 and for pursues of determining eligibility for exemp18 tion from the collection of fees under section 3729 

19 of such title. 

20 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 

21 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

22 shall submit to Congress a report on the solution de23 veloped under paragraph (1). 

24 (g) MANNER OF REFUNDS.—In the case of a fee that 

25 was erroneously collected under section 3729 of title 38, 


SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 2073 IS

1 United States Code, from an individual described in sub2 section (c) of such section, the Secretary may refund the 

3 fee directly to the individual, notwithstanding any current 

4 loan balance of the individual or the manner in which the 

5 fee was originally collected. 

6 (h) REFUNDS GENERALLY.—Section 3729(c) of title 

7 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

8 the following new paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(3)(A) The Secretary shall develop a process for de10 termining whether a fee has been collected under this sec11 tion from an individual described in paragraph (1). 

12 ‘‘(B) If the Secretary determines that such a fee has 

13 been collected under this section from an individual de14 scribed in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall pay to such 

15 individual an amount equal to the amount of the fee col16 lected. 

17 ‘‘(C) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a 

18 payment under this paragraph shall not be subject to Fed19 eral, State, or other tax liability or reporting require20 ment.’’. 

21 (i) AUDIT PLAN.— 

22 (1) PLAN REQUIRED.—The Secretary shall de23 velop a plan to audit the Department on an annual 

24 basis to determine the rate at which fees are erroVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 Jul 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2073.IS S2073

SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 2073 IS

1 neously collected under section 3729 of title 38, 

2 United States Code. 

3 (2) REPORTS.—Not later than 60 days after 

4 the completion of any audit conducted pursuant to 

5 the plan developed under paragraph (1), the Sec6 retary shall submit to Congress a report on the find7 ings of the Secretary with respect to the audit. 

Æ 


SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS