Bill Would Open VA Loans to More Surviving Military Spouses
A House bill passed this week would increase access to the VA home loan program for surviving spouses of permanently disabled veterans.
Dubbed the Disabled Veterans’ Surviving Spouses Home Loans Act, the proposed legislation would eliminate the requirement that only spouses of veterans whose death is attributed to a service-connected disability may qualify for a VA loan.
Instead, the bill would provide loan eligibility to spouses of permanently disabled veterans whose deaths are not necessarily attributed to their service-related disability. It passed by a 418-6 vote as part of the Veterans Opportunity to Work Act.
“As we approach Veterans Day, we should ask ourselves if this Congress doing all that can be done for our veterans,” U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., the bill’s sponsor, said before the House vote. “This bill maintains our promise not only to the men and women that have served in the Armed Forces, but to their families as well.”
The change would provide loan eligibility to thousands of military spouses.
A series of veterans organizations came out in favor of the bill, including Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion and Disabled American Veterans.
More than 18 million Americans have used the VA loan program to become homeowners since 1944. The program has become increasingly important in recent years as lending requirements have tightened.
VA loan volume has increased 135 percent since 2007. Last year, the agency guaranteed 314,011 loans last year, including about 1,000 to surviving spouses.
October 14, 2011 by Chris Birk · Leave a Comment
Chris Birk is a former journalist and director of content and communications for