Add Countless Veterans Face Foreclosure and it's not their Fault. the vA could Help

Countless-Veterans-Face-Foreclosure-and-it%27s-not-their-Fault.-the-vA-could-Help.md

@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+[zillow.com](https://www.zillow.com/houston-tx/)<br>Thousands of veterans deal with foreclosure and it's not their fault. The VA might help<br>
+<br>By Chris Arnold, Robert Benincasa<br>[redfin.com](https://www.redfin.com/home-buying-guide/home-inspection)
+<br>Updated Thursday, November 16, 2023 • 9:53 AM EST<br>
+<br>Heard on Morning Edition<br>
+<br>[Becky Queen](https://roostaustin.com) keeps in mind opening the letter with the [foreclosure notice](https://shubhniveshpropmart.com).<br>
+<br>"My heart dropped," she said, "and my hands were shaking."<br>
+<br>Queen lives on a small farm in rural Oklahoma with her hubby, Ray, and their 2 young kids. Ray is a U.S. Army veteran who was injured in Iraq. Since the 1940s, the federal government has assisted veterans like him buy homes through its VA loan program, run by the Department of Veterans Affairs.<br>
+<br>And now the VA has put this [household](https://michigancountryrealestate.com) on the brink of losing their house.<br>
+<br>"I didn't do anything wrong," states Ray Queen. "The only thing I did was trust a company that I'm supposed to trust with my mortgage."<br>
+<br>Like countless other Americans, the Queens made the most of what's called a COVID mortgage forbearance, which allowed property owners to avoid mortgage payments. It was established by Congress after the pandemic hit for people who lost earnings.<br>
+<br>But an NPR examination has actually discovered that countless veterans who took a forbearance are now at threat of losing their homes through no fault of their own. And while the VA is dealing with a method to fix the issue, for many it might be far too late.<br>
+<br>After NPR initially released this story, a group of four U.S. Senators sent a letter to the VA asking it to instantly stop foreclosing on the homes of veterans and servicemembers. It's unclear if the VA will do that.<br>
+<br>For the Queens, this all begun in September of 2021, when Becky's mother died of COVID-19. She had to take an [extended leave](https://elegantcyprusproperties.com) from work and lost her job.<br>
+<br>So in 2015, with their cost savings diminishing, the couple says they called the company that manages their mortgage, Mr. Cooper, and were told they could avoid 6 months of payments. And as soon as they got back on their feet and could start paying again, the couple says they were told, they wouldn't owe the missed out on payments in a huge swelling sum.<br>
+<br>"I really particularly asked 'how does this work?'" states [Becky Queen](https://www.roomsandhouses.nl). "They said we're taking all of your payments, we're bundling them, and we're putting them at the end."<br>
+<br>That is, the missed payments would be relocated to the back end of their [loan term](https://ezestate.net) so they might just start making their normal mortgage payment again.<br>
+<br>But that's not how it worked out.<br>
+<br>In October 2022, the [Department](https://elegantcyprusproperties.com) of Veterans Affairs ended the so-called Partial Claim Payment program, or PCP, that made it possible for homeowners to do that. This happened even though the mortgage industry, housing advocates and veterans groups all alerted the VA not to end the program, stating thousands of property owners needed to capture up on missed payments. Rate of interest had actually risen so much that many couldn't pay for to re-finance or get back on track any other way.<br>
+<br>Ray Queen states nobody informed him about any of this.<br>
+<br>"How does that happen?" Queen asked. "This is expected to be a program that you all have to help people in times of crisis, so you do not take their house from them."<br>
+<br>The Queens state they attempted to come off their forbearance in February of this year and resume paying their mortgage. They were both working again. But they encountered delays with the mortgage business.<br>
+<br>Then, in September, the couple says they were told they required to come up with more than $22,000, which they don't have, or either sell their house or get foreclosed on.<br>
+<br>Their mortgage servicing business, Mr. Cooper, stated in a declaration it "checked out every possible avenue to resolve a solution for this client." But it stated the VA requires much better loss-mitigation choices and referred NPR to a letter from advocates, industry and veteran groups urging the VA to restart the PCP program.<br>
+<br>The VA "has truly let people down"<br>
+<br>"The Department of Veterans Affairs has actually let people down," states Kristi Kelly, a consumer lawyer in Virginia who states she is [speaking](https://www.properush.com) with a great deal of other veterans in the very same [situation](https://www.masercondosales.com) as Ray and Becky Queen.<br>
+<br>"The property owners participated in COVID forbearances, they were ensured guarantees, and there were specific representations that were made," states Kelly. "And the VA basically pulled the rug out from under everybody."<br>
+<br>For some house owners, ending the program may not suggest foreclosure, however it still implies a monetary hardship.<br>
+<br>"A number of these individuals have 2 or 3% rate of interest loans," Kelly says. With the PCP program they could keep that interest rate. Today, she states, the only way they'll be able to save their home is to enter into a loan adjustment where the rates of interest will be around today's market rate of 7.5%.<br>
+<br>"For the majority of people, their payments will increase by $600 or $700 a month, since the VA has actually decided to end the partial claim program."<br>
+<br>Many house owners can't pay for such a big increase in their monthly payment.<br>
+<br>According to the information company ICE Mortgage Technology, 6,000 property owners with VA loans who had actually COVID forbearances are presently in the foreclosure process. And 34,000 more are delinquent.<br>
+<br>Kelly says most other house owners in America - people with FHA loans, for instance, or loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - still have methods to avoid foreclosure by moving missed out on payments to the back of the loan term.<br>
+<br>But property owners with VA loans don't, because the VA ended that program. So veterans are being dealt with worse than most other house owners, Kelly stated.<br>
+<br>"Service members are in a position where they're going to lose their home," she states. "And for many people, that's whatever they work for - and all their wealth remains in their homes."<br>
+<br>VA has a plan to help, however it might be too late<br>
+<br>The Department of Veterans Affairs says it had no choice however to end the program.<br>
+<br>"We had a short-term authority for that particular program during COVID," says John Bell, executive director of the Veterans Benefits Administration's Loan Guaranty Service. "It wasn't part of our normal authority."<br>
+<br>Some in the market believe the VA did, in fact, have the authority to extend the program. But in either case, it ended it.<br>
+<br>Now, though, the VA is taking the situation seriously.<br>
+<br>NPR has actually discovered that the VA is dealing with a new program to replace the old one. It will work in a different way but to comparable effect, to conserve people from foreclosure. Bell says it's going to take 4 to five months to get it up and running.<br>
+<br>That's too wish for numerous of those 6,000 VA property owners currently in the foreclosure process. Not to point out the lots of more who are delinquent.<br>
+<br>Already, data shows that more VA house owners have been heading into foreclosure considering that the VA ended its PCP program. The same is not true for FHA loans or loans backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.<br>
+<br>Will the [firetruck](https://oferte.cazarecostinesti.ro) get here far too late?<br>
+<br>With a lot of homeowners at risk, there's growing pressure on the VA to stop foreclosing on veterans until it gets its repair up and running.<br>
+<br>"There need to be a pause on foreclosures," says Steve Sharpe, a senior lawyer at the National Consumer Law Center. "Veterans ought to actually have the ability to have a capability to access this program when it comes online due to the fact that it's been so long considering that they've had something that will genuinely work.<br>
+<br>Sharpe says the VA could also reboot the PCP program that it shut down. "They have the authority to do both," he states.<br>
+<br>Pausing foreclosures seems like a good concept to veteran Ray Queen in Oklahoma.<br>
+<br>"Let us keep paying towards our routine mortgage between once in a while," he says. "Then when the VA has that repaired we can come back and resolve the situation. That seems like the adult, mature thing to do, not put a family through hell."<br>
+<br>NPR duplicated Ray Queen's plea to John Bell at the VA straight. Bell stated the VA is "exploring all  at this point in time."<br>
+<br>"We owe it to our veterans to make sure that we're offering them every opportunity to be able to remain in the home," Bell stated.<br>
+<br>Wednesday, a group of U.S. Senators sent a letter to the VA prompting them to put a hang on any more foreclosures.<br>
+<br>"Without this pause, countless veterans and servicemembers might unnecessarily lose their homes," Sens. Sherrod Brown, Jon Tester, Jack Reed, and Tim Kaine, all Democrats, wrote in a letter to VA Secretary Denis McDonough. "This was never ever the intent of Congress."<br>
+<br>Tester, of Montana, chairs the Veterans' Affairs Committee, and Brown, of Ohio, chairs the Banking Committee. They asked the VA "to [execute](https://ethiopiarealty.com) an immediate pause on all VA loan foreclosures where customers are most likely to be eligible for VA's new ... program until it is available and borrowers can be evaluated to see if they certify."<br>
+<br>Ray and Becky Queen are hoping the VA does let individuals keep their homes until the brand-new program can provide them a way to get existing on their mortgages. Because if the firetruck appears after your home has actually burned down, it's not going to do much great for the countless veterans and service members who need assistance now.<br>
+<br>Transcript<br>
+<br>LEILA FADEL, HOST: An NPR investigation has actually found that thousands of U.S. military service members and veterans could lose their homes through no fault of their own. As NPR's Chris Arnold reports, the Department of Veterans Affairs is dealing with a fix. But it might be too late.CHRIS ARNOLD, BYLINE: Ray and Becky Queen are revealing us around their farm in Bartlesville, Okla.BECKY QUEEN: This is Cagney and Lacey, our ducks.ARNOLD: The couple lives here with their 2 young kids. Ray served in Iraq in the Army. Inside their house, he states that he was wounded by an improvised explosive gadget, or IED.RAY QUEEN: And so you're conscious, I have mental retardation from my time in Iraq. So there's a lot of different things that don't work the way they're expected to any longer. And my memory is not great.ARNOLD: For years, the federal government's helped veterans like Queen to purchase homes through its VA loan program. Today the VA has put this household on the verge of losing their house.B QUEEN: This is the letter that my spouse and I got the other day mentioning that they're starting foreclosure proceedings.ARNOLD: What's happening is that like countless other Americans, the Queens benefited from what's called a COVID mortgage forbearance. It was set up by Congress after the pandemic hit for people who lost income. When Becky's mama died of COVID, she had to take an extended leave from work and lost her job. In 2015, the couple states their mortgage business informed them that they could avoid six months of payments while they returned on their feet and after that just begin paying their mortgage again.B QUEEN: I very specifically asked, how does this work? And they said, we're taking all of your payments. We're bundling them, and we're putting them at the end.ARNOLD: That is, the missed payments would transfer to the back end of their loan term so they could resume their regular mortgage payment. But that is not how it exercised, due to the fact that a year ago in October, the Department of Veterans Affairs ended the program that enabled homeowners to do that, although housing supporters and the mortgage market and veterans groups all cautioned them not to end the program since countless house owners needed to catch up on missed payments. Rate of interest, too, had increased so much that many could not pay for to re-finance or get back on track any other method. Ray Queen says nobody told him about any of this.R QUEEN: How does that happen? This is expected to be a program that y' all have to help individuals in times of crisis so you do not take their house from them.ARNOLD: The couple says in September, they were informed that they needed to come up with a big payment - upwards of $22,000, which they don't have - or offer their house or get foreclosed on.B QUEEN: My heart dropped, and, like, my hands were shaking.KRISTI KELLY: The Department of Veterans Affairs has actually let people down.ARNOLD: Kristi Kelly is a consumer legal representative in Virginia who's hearing from a great deal of veterans who are in the same boat.KELLY: The house owners participated in COVID forbearances. They were made sure promises, and the VA essentially pulled the rug out from under everybody.ARNOLD: Kelly says for many other property owners in America, there are still methods to move your missed out on payments to the back of the loan term so you can prevent getting foreclosed on, but not if you have a VA loan. So she states veterans are being dealt with even worse than most other homeowners.KELLY: Service members are going to lose their home, and for the majority of individuals, that's whatever they work for and all their wealth, are in their homes.ARNOLD: For its part, the Department of Veterans Affairs says it had no choice but to end the program. John Bell directs the VA's home lending division.JOHN BELL: We had a short-term authority for that particular program during COVID.ARNOLD: Some in the industry think the VA did actually have the authority to extend the program. Now, however, NPR has found out that the VA is dealing with a brand-new program to replace the old one, but that's still four or 5 months away - too wish for much of the 6,000 property owners with VA loans who remain in the foreclosure procedure. Not to discuss there's 34,000 more who were overdue. Right now there's pressure on the VA to put a time out on foreclosures while it gets that program running. John Bell says the VA is, quote, "considering all alternatives."BELL: We owe it to our veterans to ensure that we're providing every chance to be able to remain in the home.ARNOLD: Ray and Becky Queen are hoping that the VA does put a time out on foreclosures, since if the fire engine appears after the house burns down, it's not going to do much good for the countless veterans who need help now.Chris Arnold, NPR News.<br>