Give Veterans Home Loan Choices Act of 2017

Bill: 115-hr-2777
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Veasey, Marc A. [D-TX-33]
Introduced: 2017-06-06
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Government information and archives

Housing finance and home ownership

Veterans' loans, housing, homeless programs
Latest action: action_date: 2017-07-17
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel.

Summaries:
action_date: 2017-06-06
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><strong>Give Veterans Home Loan Choices A</strong>ct <strong>of 2017</strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p>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 &quot;If you are a veteran, you may be eligible for a VA mortgage&quot;; 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.</p> <p>The bill requires pre-separation counseling for a member of the Armed Forces who is separating from active duty to include: </p> <ul> <li>information on the availability of VA home loan services and housing assistance benefits, including the authority of a member to use an honorable discharge certificate as a certificate of eligibility for a VA guaranteed housing loan or to request a specific certificate of eligibility for such loan; and </li> <li>counseling on responsible borrowing practices.</li></ul>

tv_txt: I 115th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 2777 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.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Give Veterans Home Loan Choices Act of 2017 . 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 . 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). 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. .