VA Loan Updates

12 single-family homes also get funding

Southwestern Illinois Development Authority has agreed to provide funding for the metro-east’s first veteran’s homeless shelter.

The agency has also agreed to help fund construction of 12 single-family homes in the Emerson Park neighborhood

The shelter, to be known as St. Joseph Center, would provide assistance to as many as 26 metro-east-area veterans at one time. A former armory located at 48th and State streets in East St. Louis will be converted into a 26-bed shelter with a $870,000 grant from the Illinois Housing Development Authority and a $154,000 construction grant from the Chicago Federal Home Loan Bank through a sponsorship with the Bank of Edwardsville.

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NPR.org has two great segments on the G.I. Bill:

GI Bill’s Impact Slipping in Recent Years 

September 26

At the end of World War II, the GI Bill helped create a new “middle class” in America, allowing those who served a chance for an education. The bill’s legacy is still tangible, but today the funds it offers barely meet veterans’ expenses.

Click here, then click “listen” to hear the story.

Today’s GI Bill Falls Short of College Costs 

September 27

The way the GI Bill serves veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is quite different from the way it served soldiers of World War II. Today it covers only 60 percent of the cost of a public-school education. Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of the advocacy group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, speaks with Renee Montagne.

Click here, then click “listen” to hear the story.

For more information and to become pre-qualified for your G.I. Bill benefits, please visit GIdegrees.com.

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Soon after being sworn in, the 110th Congress brought a flurry of proposed GI Bill reforms to both houses of Congress. With a new party in charge and 24 GI Bill-related bills introduced on the floor, the political climate seemed right for real change. As Representative Rick Larsen (D-WA) said in a May press release, “Times have changed, and we owe it to our veterans to keep up.”

Each of the proposed bills address specific failings of the current Montgomery GI Bill, which includes arbitrary deadlines, mandatory payroll contributions, limited benefit transferability, inequity between active duty and reserve programs, and inadequate payment rates.

In January, Representative Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) was one of the first to jump in as he reintroduced his “Bartlett Montgomery GI Bill Act” from the previous year. Bartlett’s bill would allow servicemembers to elect to transfer their GI Bill benefit to a dependent upon re-enlistment, reimburse the GI Bill enrollment contributions for those who extend their service, and increase the GI Bill payment rate for members of the National Guard and Reserve. Currently the GI Bill only allows transferability under very limited circumstances.

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The Veterans of Foreign Wars will celebrate its 108th birthday in September. The organization was established Sept. 29, 1899.

The VFW and its auxiliaries have made a difference in our communities by promoting good will, patriotism and student scholarship. The group has been the leader in advocating for improving pay and benefits for the nation’s uniformed forces and its millions of veterans. The VFW spearheaded establishment of the Veterans Administration, led development of a national cemetery system, lobbied for a GI Bill of Rights and fought for benefits to Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange. To demonstrate support for the nation’s military troops involved in the war effort, VFW posts worldwide have sent tons of morale-boosting items and phone cards to the deployed troops.

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The Maine State Housing Authority extended its low first-time homebuyer mortgage rates to veterans and active military personnel in Maine on Wednesday.

Dropped is the first-time-home requirement. The difference between getting a loan on a $150,000 home at the current rate, 5.125 percent, and a conventional rate 1 percent higher is a savings of $30,000-plus over a 30-year loan, according to an online mortgage calculator.

“Any time we can help and assist our soldiers and personnel in the military, it’s a good thing,” said Lt. Col. Michael Backus with the Maine National Guard, who hadn’t heard about the move. “I’m going to help share the good news.”

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WASHINGTON - Arkansas’ senators will attempt this week to advance legislation to improve on what they see as flaws in the military’s educational benefits program for veterans.

The measures would give reservists and National Guard troops a longer time period to cash in on their benefits and would streamline how the government manages GI Bill program.

Another allows former troops to take GI bill tuition money in a lump sum to pay for short-term programs like truck-driving school.

Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor, both D-Ark., said they plan to introduce their bills as amendments to a $648 billion Department of Defense spending bill.

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MOBILE, Ala. — While wounded Marine Sgt. Greg Edwards struggles to walk on artificial legs — a reality in a life rebuilt after Iraq — he won’t have to worry much longer about where his family will live.

The Taunton, Mass.-based Homes for Our Troops will build its first specially adapted house in Alabama for Edwards, his wife, Christina, and their two young daughters, said Kirt Rebello, a spokesman for the nonprofit organization.

Once a general contractor is found, Rebello hopes the house can be built in six months. Property in Mobile County is being purchased this month for the Edwards’ three-bedroom, two-bath home.

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New Policy Increases Homeownership Opportunities for Veterans

In an August 30 press release the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) announced that it has eliminated the $417,000 home loan limit on Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) mortgage loans that can be used as collateral for Ginnie Mae securities.

“We expect this change will expand the availability of low-cost financing and increase homeownership opportunities for America’s veterans, particularly in high-cost areas, by encouraging lenders to make more VA loans,” said Michael J. Frenz, Executive Vice President of Ginnie Mae.

Frenz was referring to home loan realities like that in California. Although 10 percent of the nation’s veterans live in California, less than one percent of the VA loans in the Ginnie Mae securities portfolio issued during the last two years were to California veterans because loan limits were below most house prices in the state.

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Q: I have a VA home loan that is closing. Are closing costs required to be paid in cash or made part of the loan?

A: Payment in cash is required on all closing costs, including title search and recording fees, hazard insurance premiums and prepaid taxes. For refinancing loans, all such costs may be included in the loan, as long as the total loan does not exceed 90 percent of the reasonable value of the property. Interest rate reduction loans may include closing costs and a maximum of two discount points. All loans, except those made to disabled veterans and unmarried surviving spouses of veterans who died as a result of service, are charged a VA funding fee. This fee is based on the loan amount and may be included in the loan. For additional information on VA home loans, contact the VA at (800) 827-1000.

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