VA Loan Updates

Senators Jim Webb (D-VA), Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) Wednesday joined representatives of the nation’s leading veterans’ organizations to advocate comprehensive educational benefits for post-9/11 veterans in the fiscal year 2009 budget.

The groups unveiled their Independent Budget to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs advocating a “21st Century GI Bill,” similar to the Webb-Hagel bill (S.22) that enjoys widespread support in Congress.

This is the first time in 22 years of presenting an Independent Budget to Congress that the participating veterans’ organizations have advocated a new, comprehensive GI Bill, as opposed to a mere enhancement. The Independent Budget has carried great weight in years past in terms of instructing the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs budget priorities.

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Current funding levels don’t always cover college tuition. 

In Iraq and Afghanistan they’ve battled insurgents and built schools. But when it comes to enrolling in school themselves, many of today’s veterans are facing an unexpected fight - the fight to stay afloat amid mounting college costs.

It’s time for a revamped GI Bill, say veterans’ organizations and scores of US legislators. Like their World War II counterparts, the men and women making sacrifices in the “war on terror” should be rewarded with benefits that cover the full cost of education, they say. As a bonus to society, they tout the prospect of long-term economic gains and a steadier stream of good recruits.

It’s not clear yet whether those arguments will pull more dollars out of a tightly cinched federal purse. But the issue resonates as part of a wider conversation in American society about the need to increase access to higher education. Because low-income recruits make up much of today’s military, a more robust GI Bill “would do a measurable amount … to expand equality of opportunity in a period of American history when equality of opportunity is contracting,” says Theda Skocpol, a government and sociology professor at Harvard. “It’s a lot more important than … whether you’re going to force wealthy universities to [spend] a higher proportion of their endowments,” she says, because it affects average people.

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Certain veterans who travel to VA medical facilities are getting their first travel mileage reimbursement increase in 30 years. The new rates went into effect Feb. 1.

The rates increase from 11 cents per mile to 28.5 cents per mile, said an Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs press release. A maximum deductible is set at $46.62, $15.54 for round trip, and $7.77 for one-way visits. Deductible amounts can be waived upon approval of financial hardship to the veteran. Deductible increases were packaged as part of the 2008 appropriations act.

“The earned benefit will make an immediate difference in the lives of many Oregon veterans. Veterans who travel many miles to a VA medical facilities will have more money in their pocket at the end of the day” said Oregon VA Director Jim Willis.

Veterans wounded or disabled in service are able to claim this benefit when traveling in relation to a Compensation and Pension Examination. Free VA health care is available to returning combat veterans. For assistance with VA Benefits for veterans, survivors and dependents, those interested should contact the Coos County veterans service officer by calling 396-2121, ext. 362.

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Oregon Veterans can now get home loans below 5 percent. The Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs offers qualified veterans loans with fixed rate of 4.875 percent and an origination fee of 1.5 percent. A rate of 4.99 percent is available with an origination fee of 1 percent.

The current maximum loan amount for veterans using the ORVETS home loan program is $417,000. Federal rules prohibit the agency from refinancing most existing mortgages.

The ORVET home loan program is separate from the federal VA home loan guaranty program. Even if a veteran has purchased a home using the federal program, he or she may still be eligible for an ORVET home loan. Veterans must apply before they reach the 30th anniversary of their military discharge date.

For more information about ORVET home loans, call 1-888-673-8387 or (503) 373-2070.

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Question: When a veteran sells his property, who will assume the existing Department of Veterans Affairs loan? Is the veteran released automatically from personal liability for repayment of the loan?

Answer: No. If the loan closed after March 1, 1988, the lender or VA must be notified and requested to approve the assumer and grant the veteran release from liability. If the loan was closed prior to March 1, 1988, the loan may be assumed without approval from VA or the lender. However, the veteran is strongly encouraged to request a release of liability from VA to avoid owing a debt to the government if the loan assumer (or a subsequent assumer) fails to pay the loan. For more information on VA home loans, contact the VA at (800) 827-1000, or check out the VA Web site at www.homeloans.va.gov.

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By Bob Otto

About halfway through my Marine Corps enlistment I thought, man did I make a big mistake. All that marching, inspections, short haircuts, shining boots, cleaning my M-16 rifle, and living in a crowded barracks didn’t appeal to me much. But my four-year hitch went by quickly.

Now, almost 40 years later, if you ask me: “Bob, did you make a mistake enlisting in the Marine Corps?”

“Absolutely not,” I’d answer. In those 40 years since I enlisted, I got far more from Uncle Sam than he ever got from me.

My college education? Paid for through the G.I. Bill.

My first home? Purchased through the G.I. home loan program.

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February 1, 2008 marks a historic day for San Diego native, Captain Larry W. Lasky, a Navy SEAL and thirty-two year military veteran. CAPT Lasky’s retirement ceremony is being held aboard the USS Midway museum and will be attended by a host of luminaries, including Congressman Bob Filner, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

February 1 marks another special event for Lasky; the launch of First American Military, a San Diego-based nonprofit organization he co-founded with fellow veteran David Simpson. First American Military (FAM) teaches sound financial principles to active and former military members, and provides charitable grants to assist them in becoming successful homeowners. FAM’s charitable grants fund up to five percent of the home’s purchase price, providing instant equity and lower monthly payments to the military or veteran buyer.

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1) Fixed-rate mortgage
Fixed-rate mortgage are those with interest rates that remain the same until the life of the loan ends. For consumers who are looking for a stable rate that will not experience interest rate fluctuations, this home mortgage financing is a great deal.A favorite among first time homebuyers and retirees, it can help in organizing and budgeting finances while protecting consumers from increase of interest rates. This kind of financing for home mortgage is best for consumers who plan to stay in their homes for more than 5 to 7 years.

2) Adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM)
Adjustable-rate mortgage, or simply ARM, is a kind of financing for home mortgage wherein the borrower and lender agrees on a certain interest rate that will periodically change. Interest rates will rise or fall, usually with regards to a specific index.

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WASHINGTON - Most military men and women apply for education benefits that provide tuition assistance, but they generally only use about half the money the military allots them. That’s just less money the military has to pay out.

However, an idea for an alternative way to spend some of that cash on education has been floating around Capitol Hill for nearly a decade. And President Bush might have given it new life Monday night in his State of the Union address.

“Our military families also sacrifice for America,” Bush said. “They endure sleepless nights and the daily struggle of providing for children while a loved one is serving far from home. So I ask you to join me in … allowing our troops to transfer their unused education benefits to their spouses or children.”

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For college students looking for a Democratic presidential candidate who would significantly lighten their tuition bills, there’s good and bad news. The good news: one exists. The bad news: he dropped out of the race.

John Edwards, the populist former senator, peppered his early campaign with policy proposals to help students deal with the ballooning cost of higher education. These weren’t everyday abstract commitments to “America’s future” or “our children.” His most dramatic idea was to pay the first year of tuition, fees and books at a public college - all of it - for 2 million students who work part-time and fulfill several other requirements.

But there’s more good news. Edwards may have been steamrolled in the early primaries, but his ideas weren’t. He pushed rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to the left, and they now share his zeal for making college accessible for everyone.

So is Clinton or Obama better for students? That’s not a simple question.

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