Title: Give Veterans Home Loan Choices Act of 2017
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
Give Veterans Home Loan Choices Act of 2017
This bill amends the National Housing Act to require that a Federal Housing Administration mortgage notice for a prospective borrower who is a veteran include, in addition to comparative rate and fee information about conventional loans, similar comparative information about Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) home loans.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency shall direct the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) to revise the uniform residential loan application by December 31, 2018, to include: (1) a check box to indicate that the applicant is a veteran; (2) the statement "If you are a veteran, you may be eligible for a VA mortgage"; and (3) a blank line for the borrower to initial and a statement that all applicants must initial the line to confirm that they have read the VA mortgage eligibility statement.
The bill requires pre-separation counseling for a member of the Armed Forces who is separating from active duty to include:

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2777 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2777

To include information regarding VA home loans in the Informed Consumer 
Choice Disclosure required to be provided to a prospective FHA borrower 
 who is a veteran, to amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize 
the provision of a certificate of eligibility for VA home loans during 
 the preseparation counseling for members of the Armed Forces, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 6, 2017

Mr. Veasey (for himself, Ms. Hanabusa, Ms. Jackson Lee, Ms. Norton, Mr. 
Bishop of Georgia, Mr. Takano, Mr. Evans, and Mr. Norcross) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial 
  Services, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a 
 period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To include information regarding VA home loans in the Informed Consumer 
Choice Disclosure required to be provided to a prospective FHA borrower 
 who is a veteran, to amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize 
the provision of a certificate of eligibility for VA home loans during 
 the preseparation counseling for members of the Armed Forces, and for 
                            other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Give Veterans Home Loan Choices Act 
of 2017''.

SEC. 2. FHA INFORMED CONSUMER CHOICE DISCLOSURE.

    Subparagraph (A) of section 203(f)(2) of the National Housing Act 
(12 U.S.C. 1709(f)(2)(A)) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(i)'' after ``loan-to-value ratio''; and
            (2) by inserting before the semicolon the following: ``, 
        and (ii) in the case of a prospective borrower who is a veteran 
        (as such term is defined in section 101 of title 38, United 
        States Code), in connection with a loan guaranteed or insured 
        under chapter 37 of title 38, United States Code, assuming 
        prevailing interest rates''.

SEC. 3. UNIFORM RESIDENTIAL LOAN APPLICATION.

    The Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency shall direct the 
Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan 
Mortgage Corporation to revise the Uniform Residential Loan Application 
developed by such enterprises, not later than December 31, 2018, by--
            (1) including in an appropriate place a check box for the 
        applicant to check to indicate that the applicant is a veteran;
            (2) adjacent to the matter required by paragraph (1) and in 
        boldface type, the following statement: ``If you are a veteran, 
        you may be eligible for a VA mortgage.''; and
            (3) adjacent to the matter required by paragraph (2), a 
        blank line for the borrower to initial, and a statement that 
        all applicants must initial such blank line to confirm that 
        they have read the statement required by paragraph (2).

SEC. 4. PRESEPARATION COUNSELING FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES 
              REGARDING DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS HOME LOAN 
              SERVICES AND HOUSING ASSISTANCE BENEFITS.

    Section 1142(b) of title 10, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraph (17) as paragraph (18); and
            (2) by striking paragraph (16) and inserting the following 
        new paragraphs:
            ``(16) Information on the availability of home loan 
        services by and housing assistance benefits of the Department 
        of Veterans Affairs, including the authority of the member--
                    ``(A) to use an honorable discharge certificate as 
                a certificate of eligibility to apply for a guaranteed 
                housing loan from the Department of Veterans Affairs; 
                or
                    ``(B) to request, during the preseparation process 
                or after separation, a specific certificate of 
                eligibility for such a loan under section 3702(c) of 
                title 38.
            ``(17) Counseling on responsible borrowing practices.''.
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