VA Loan Updates

A former farmer and retired economist writes that the “intellectuals of ancient Greece claimed that ‘the great men of Greece were bred in the bedrooms of the rural regions, uncorrupted.’” He goes on to point out that for over two hundred years this nation’s people have migrated to the cities, leaving a rural population so minuscule that it is not even counted. But, that fortunately West Virginia has over half its people “bred in the rural bedrooms, uncorrupted.” He believes that these rural “uncorrupted” have the potential to do what those “uncorrupted” veterans of WWII did with the help of the GI Bill of Rights: that is, the potential to educate themselves, gain good-paying jobs and enter into the middle class.

In a column beside the economist’s is one by an associate editor of Wonderful West Virginia magazine. Her introductory paragraph touched my nature-loving self: “The last hiding place in my neighborhood is gone forever now. This place was never mine to begin with, so perhaps I have no right to protest. Still, when the trucks and earth-moving machines descended, like an alien force, and in a flash chopped down trees, slashed thickets, and carted them all away, it felt to me like a trespass of the soul.”

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“Join the military and go to college.” That’s what the recruiters say.

But the deal that today’s servicemen and servicewomen get is a far cry from what their fathers and grandfathers got. When President Franklin Roosevelt signed the GI Bill into law in the waning days of World War II, he saw it as part of his New Deal program. The law, officially called the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act, promised returning veterans that the government would pay the full cost of tuition and books at any public or private college or job-training program. It also provided unemployment insurance and loans to buy homes and start businesses.

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They’re coming home, the lucky ones are, pulling their lives back together after harrowing times in the war zone.

And the GI Bill is there to help them, same as it was for “the greatest generation,” who returned to civilian society after World War II.

Um, well, not exactly.

American vets now coming back from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are facing an ugly surprise - and I don’t just mean the iffy health care at their local VA hospital. The educational benefits that sounded so alluring in those upbeat recruiting ads? They don’t come close to covering the real costs of college.

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EDMOND - This past week I received a phone call from a customer for whom I had provided 100 percent V.A. purchase money financing early this year. He asked if I had a few minutes to discuss a refinance offer he had received in the mail. The offer promised he could refinance back into a V.A. mortgage at a 5 percent fixed interest rate for 15 years. He wanted to know if I could match their offer.

Before I answered, I asked the question I always ask before making any recommendation; “Help me understand exactly what you’re trying to accomplish.”  It may seem obvious that he wanted to refinance into a lower interest rate. But after a few minutes of conversation I discovered that his true interest was paying off his home so that his wife would not have to worry about the payment should something happen to him.

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Program helpful to vets, active-duty personnel, sellers in difficult market

With that government assurance, participating lenders are willing to give borrowers loans for the full price of their homes. VA mortgages do not require the private mortgage insurance that is usually necessary for loans with little or no down payment. The absence of PMI saves borrowers hundreds of dollars each month.

Qualified veterans and active-duty military personnel can buy a home for as much as $417,000 without a down payment or private mortgage insurance. Borrowers can add some down payment money to the mix and use the VA program for homes that cost more than $417,000.

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Fund for Veterans Education to award $4M in scholarships

WASHINGTON - The Fund for Veterans Education will award more than $4 million in college scholarships over the next two years as part of a campaign to fill funding gaps in military education benefits.

“These veterans did the job that was asked of them, but today’s GI Bill doesn’t do its job,” Matt Boulay, president of the fund, said at a Washington event Thursday launching the campaign. “Today’s benefits cover just a fraction of the cost of getting a college degree.”

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America has a mixed record concerning how it treats its veterans. It rewarded the Revolution and Civil War veterans with free land. But after World War I, Republican presidents vetoed or refused to implement congressionally authorized, retroactive bonuses to amend for the wartime wages of $1 a day.

Then came the Great Depression: The stock market crash, banks failing and national unemployment. Desperate veterans, many with their families came to Washington to seek advanced payments on their bonus certificates. They called themselves the “Bonus Expeditionary Force.” They camped along Anacostia Flats and proclaimed Henry David Thoreau’s and Mahatma Gandhi’s right of civil disobedience.

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A new GI bill is under consideration in Congress. Before pork barrel projects are added and controversial provisions deleted, before party leaders use it to chasten Senate proponents Jim Webb (D-Va.) and Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) for their maverick ways, and before the start of the political maneuvering that turns good ideas into bad legislation, I’d like to say I think a new GI bill is a great idea.

I have nothing to gain from such legislation. No close relatives of mine serve in the military. I support it because I believe higher education could help veterans, and they’ve earned what help we can provide. I also believe the presence of veterans in the classroom could help higher education, which needs all the help it can get. The way I figure it, we all would be enriched, financially and otherwise.

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Question: What are the requirements to obtain a Department of Veterans Affairs home loan?

Answer: Besides the various periods of eligibility from World War II to Vietnam, post-Vietnam and the Gulf War, and conditions of service requirements, in particular if someone was discharged under conditions other than dishonorable, applicants must have a good credit rating, sufficient income and a valid certificate of eligibility, and agree to live on the property. To obtain a certificate, complete VA form 26-1880 “Request for a Certificate of Eligibility for VA Home Loan,” and mail to: VA Eligibility Center, P.O. Box 20729, Winston-Salem, NC 27120. Applicants may also have their lenders obtain a certificate of eligibility for them through VA’s Automated Certificate of Eligibility system. For more information, visit www.homeloans.va.gov/eligibility.htm. You can also contact the VA at (800) 827-1000 and follow the directions by pressing the number for touch tone or rotary phone, then number 3, followed by number 2 for home loan information. You also can also speak to one of our home loan specialists at Tripler Army Medical Center in E Wing, 1st floor Oceanside/Diamond Head entrance.

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MANATEE, Fla. — Military veteran Ben Voorhees served four years in the Marines, including an eight-month tour in Iraq.

Since the 22-year-old has been out of the service, he has been working to save money so he can attend Florida State University.

If Congress passes and the president signs the Post 9/11 Veterans Education Assistance Act, Voorhees might have an easier road to earning his degree.

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