President Donald Trump has signed HR 1815, the VA Home Loan Program Reform Act, into law. Sponsored by Rep. Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin, the bill will create a partial claim program at Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA) in an effort to modernize the VA Home Loan program–which currently serves 3.7 million veterans–to allow veterans who have fallen behind on their mortgages to receive federal assistance already available through other federal housing programs.
The House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs reports that nearly 70,000 veteran homeowners are more than 90 days late on their mortgage payments.
HR 1815 provides these vets with relief and the opportunity to keep their homes as a result of the new program. The VA Home Loan Program Reform Act also includes the proper funding levels for the VA Grant and Per Diem program, as part of VA’s homelessness prevention programs to fund community agencies providing services to veterans experiencing homelessness.
“Our veterans and their families should have every tool at their disposal to keep their homes and reduce the risk of foreclosure if they fall into financial hardship or endure a national disaster. Today, House Republicans and President Trump made that a reality for every veteran homeowner,” said Rep. Mike Bost, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chair. “Rep. Van Orden’s VA Home Loan Program Reform Act will modernize the VA Home Loan to meet veterans’ needs and reduce the risk of veteran homelessness. I’m proud that we fought hard to get this good bill to President Trump’s desk to keep our promise to those who have served.”
During the Biden administration, a home retention tool called the VA Servicer Purchasing Program (VASP) was established that allows veterans who meet the following criteria:
- Have missed at least three payments on their mortgage
- Or who have been behind on their mortgage payments for up to five years to pay their mortgage at a reduced interest rate of 2.5%
While Congress does not want to displace veterans from their homes, this reduced interest rate unintentionally puts an undue burden on the taxpayers who have invested in the VA home loan program, instead of the veteran homeowner. During the pandemic, veterans were granted temporary authority and able to utilize a partial claims program, as authorized by the CARES Act, if they fell behind on their mortgage payments. A partial claims program assists homeowners in catching up on their mortgage payments to prevent foreclosure by covering unpaid amounts and adding them to the end of the mortgage.
Once those authorities expired in 2021, veterans were no longer able to access this partial claim program. Currently, all other federal home loan programs offer a partial claims home retention option, except for VA.
HR 1815 establishes a partial claim program as part of VA’s waterfall process and would allow veterans to have the same programs non-veterans have available to them through Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans. This initiative would allow veterans who have fallen behind on their mortgages to receive federal assistance. This bill seeks to help veterans who are struggling to catch up due to high interest rates in the current market, which makes refinancing difficult and puts them at-risk of losing their home, while still protecting the taxpayers’ investment in the VA home loan program. According to Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.72% as of July 31, 2025, down slightly from last week when it averaged 6.74%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.73%.
Rep. Van Orden added, “This law helps fulfill a promise to those who protected us with their service and continue to do so today by providing a path to maintain homeownership. I am very proud of our legislation and thankful to President Trump for signing it into law.”
The VA Home Loan Program Reform Act is supported by a number of key stakeholders including, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), Rocket Mortgage, National Association of Realtors (NAR), Freedom Mortgage, National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB), Lyft, Mission Roll Call, New England Center and Home for Veterans (NECHV), National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV), Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), and The American Legion.
“This important legislation is a critical step forward in ensuring that distressed veteran homeowners have access to a proven and sustainable loss mitigation solution,” said Bob Broeksmit, President and CEO, of the MBA.
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