From f350ade0c41c590284628d462ce8d33e4b625c9e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Micki Castles Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2025 08:40:45 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] Add Thousands of Veterans Face Foreclosure and it's not their Fault. the vA could Help --- ...%27s-not-their-Fault.-the-vA-could-Help.md | 56 +++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 56 insertions(+) create mode 100644 Thousands-of-Veterans-Face-Foreclosure-and-it%27s-not-their-Fault.-the-vA-could-Help.md diff --git a/Thousands-of-Veterans-Face-Foreclosure-and-it%27s-not-their-Fault.-the-vA-could-Help.md b/Thousands-of-Veterans-Face-Foreclosure-and-it%27s-not-their-Fault.-the-vA-could-Help.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5ff3171 --- /dev/null +++ b/Thousands-of-Veterans-Face-Foreclosure-and-it%27s-not-their-Fault.-the-vA-could-Help.md @@ -0,0 +1,56 @@ +
Countless veterans deal with foreclosure and it's not their fault. The VA might help
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By Chris Arnold, Robert Benincasa
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Updated Thursday, November 16, 2023 • 9:53 AM EST
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Heard on Morning Edition
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Becky Queen remembers opening the letter with the foreclosure notice.
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"My heart dropped," she stated, "and my hands were shaking."
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Queen resides on a little farm in rural Oklahoma with her hubby, Ray, and their two young kids. Ray is a U.S. Army veteran who was injured in Iraq. Since the 1940s, the federal government has [helped veterans](https://royalestatesdxb.com) like him buy homes through its VA loan program, run by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
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And now the VA has put this household on the edge of losing their house.
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"I didn't do anything wrong," says Ray Queen. "The only thing I did was trust a company that I'm expected to trust with my mortgage."
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Like millions of other Americans, the Queens took benefit of what's called a COVID mortgage forbearance, which enabled homeowners to skip mortgage payments. It was set up by Congress after the pandemic hit for individuals who lost income.
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But an NPR examination has found that who took a forbearance are now at threat of losing their homes through no fault of their own. And while the VA is working on a method to repair the issue, for many it could be far too late.
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After NPR initially released this story, a group of four U.S. Senators sent out a letter to the VA asking it to immediately stop foreclosing on the homes of veterans and servicemembers. It's uncertain if the VA will do that.
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For the Queens, this all begun in September of 2021, when Becky's mom died of COVID-19. She had to take a prolonged leave from work and lost her job.
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So in 2015, with their savings dwindling, the couple says they called the business that manages their mortgage, Mr. Cooper, and were informed they might skip 6 months of payments. And once they [returned](https://anyhouses.com) on their feet and could start paying again, the couple says they were informed, they would not owe the missed out on [payments](http://mambotours.rs) in a big lump amount.
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"I really particularly asked 'how does this work?'" says Becky Queen. "They stated we're taking all of your payments, we're bundling them, and we're putting them at the end."
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That is, the missed payments would be transferred to the back end of their loan term so they could simply start making their normal mortgage payment once again.
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But that's not how it exercised.
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In October 2022, the Department of Veterans Affairs ended the so-called Partial Claim Payment program, or PCP, that enabled homeowners to do that. This happened even though the mortgage industry, housing advocates and veterans groups all cautioned the VA not to end the program, stating thousands of homeowners required to catch up on missed payments. Interest rates had increased a lot that lots of couldn't manage to re-finance or get back on track any other method.
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Ray Queen says no one told him about any of this.
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"How does that occur?" Queen asked. "This is supposed to be a program that you all need to assist individuals in times of crisis, so you don't take their home from them."
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The Queens say they attempted to come off their forbearance in February of this year and resume paying their mortgage. They were both working once again. But they ran into hold-ups with the [mortgage company](https://rsw-haus.de).
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Then, in September, the couple states they were told they needed to come up with more than $22,000, which they do not have, or either sell their house or get foreclosed on.
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Their mortgage servicing company, Mr. Cooper, stated in a declaration it "checked out every possible avenue to work through an option for this customer." But it said the VA needs much better loss-mitigation choices and referred NPR to a letter from supporters, market and veteran groups urging the VA to reboot the PCP program.
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The VA "has really let people down"
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"The Department of Veterans Affairs has really let people down," says Kristi Kelly, a customer lawyer in Virginia who says she is hearing from a great deal of other veterans in the exact same scenario as Ray and Becky Queen.
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"The homeowners got in into COVID forbearances, they were ensured guarantees, and there were specific representations that were made," states Kelly. "And the VA essentially pulled the rug out from under everyone."
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For some property owners, ending the program may not mean foreclosure, however it still implies a financial challenge.
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"A lot of these people have 2 or 3% interest rate loans," Kelly states. With the PCP program they could keep that rate of interest. Now, she says, the only way they'll have the ability to conserve their home is to [participate](https://zawayasyria.com) in a loan modification where the interest rate will be around [today's market](https://atofabproperties.com) rate of 7.5%.
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"For many people, their payments will increase by $600 or $700 a month, since the VA has actually chosen to end the partial claim program."
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Many property owners can't afford such a [substantial increase](https://www.vibhaconsultancy.com) in their regular monthly payment.
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According to the information firm ICE Mortgage Technology, 6,000 house owners with VA loans who had actually COVID forbearances are currently in the foreclosure process. And 34,000 more are delinquent.
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Kelly states most other house owners in [America](https://northwaveasia.com) - individuals with FHA loans, for circumstances, or loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - still have methods to avoid foreclosure by moving missed out on payments to the back of the loan term.
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But [house owners](https://atworldproperties.co.za) with VA loans don't, because the VA ended that program. So veterans are being treated worse than a lot of other property owners, Kelly said.
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"Service members remain in a position where they're going to lose their home," she states. "And for the majority of people, that's whatever they work for - and all their wealth is in their homes."
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VA has a strategy to help, however it could be too late
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The Department of [Veterans Affairs](https://patrimoniomallorca.com) says it had no choice however to end the program.
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"We had a short-term authority for that specific program throughout COVID," states John Bell, executive director of the Veterans Benefits Administration's Loan Guaranty Service. "It wasn't part of our typical authority."
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Some in the market believe the VA did, in reality, have the authority to extend the program. But in either case, it ended it.
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Now, however, the VA is taking the scenario seriously.
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NPR has found out that the VA is working on a brand-new program to replace the old one. It will work in a different method however to comparable impact, to conserve individuals from foreclosure. Bell states it's going to take four to five months to get it up and running.
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That's too long for a lot of those 6,000 VA house owners already in the foreclosure procedure. Not to point out the lots of more who are overdue.
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Already, information reveals that more VA property owners have been heading into foreclosure considering that the VA ended its PCP program. The exact same is not real for [FHA loans](https://areafada.com) or loans backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.
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Will the firetruck get here far too late?
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With numerous property owners at threat, there's growing pressure on the VA to stop foreclosing on veterans till it gets its spruce up and running.
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"There must be a time out on foreclosures," says Steve Sharpe, a senior lawyer at the National Consumer Law Center. "Veterans must truly be able to have an ability to access this program when it comes online since it's been so long since they've had something that will truly work.
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Sharpe states the VA could likewise restart the PCP program that it closed down. "They have the authority to do both," he states.
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Pausing foreclosures sounds like a good idea to veteran Ray Queen in Oklahoma.
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"Let us keep paying towards our regular mortgage between once in a while," he states. "Then when the VA has that repaired we can return and attend to the circumstance. That looks like the adult, fully grown thing to do, not put a [household](https://myassetpoint.com) through hell."
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NPR duplicated Ray Queen's plea to John Bell at the VA straight. Bell stated the VA is "checking out all choices at this moment in time."
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"We owe it to our veterans to make sure that we're giving them every chance to be able to remain in the home," Bell stated.
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Wednesday, a group of U.S. Senators sent a letter to the VA urging them to put a hang on any more foreclosures.
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"Without this pause, thousands of veterans and servicemembers might needlessly lose their homes," Sens. Sherrod Brown, Jon Tester, Jack Reed, and Tim Kaine, all Democrats, wrote in a letter to VA Secretary Denis McDonough. "This was never ever the intent of Congress."
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Tester, of Montana, chairs the Veterans' Affairs Committee, and Brown, of Ohio, chairs the Banking Committee. They asked the VA "to implement an instant time out on all VA loan foreclosures where debtors are most likely to be eligible for VA's brand-new ... program until it is readily available and customers can be examined to see if they certify."
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Ray and Becky Queen are hoping the VA does let people keep their homes until the brand-new program can use them a way to get current on their mortgages. Because if the firetruck appears after the house has actually burned down, it's not going to do much excellent for the countless veterans and service members who need help now.
[land-rover-series-one.org](http://www.land-rover-series-one.org) +
Transcript
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LEILA FADEL, HOST: An NPR examination has actually found that countless U.S. military service members and veterans might lose their homes through no fault of their own. As NPR's Chris Arnold reports, the Department of Veterans Affairs is dealing with a repair. But it could be too late.CHRIS ARNOLD, BYLINE: Ray and Becky Queen are showing us around their farm in Bartlesville, Okla.BECKY QUEEN: This is Cagney and Lacey, our ducks.ARNOLD: The couple lives here with their two young kids. Ray served in Iraq in the Army. Inside their house, he states that he was injured by an improvised explosive device, or IED.RAY QUEEN: And just so you're aware, I have mental retardation from my time in Iraq. So there's a lot of various things that don't work the method they're expected to any longer. And my memory is not great.ARNOLD: For decades, the federal government's helped veterans like Queen to purchase homes through its VA loan program. And now the VA has actually put this family on the edge of losing their house.B QUEEN: This is the letter that my spouse and I received yesterday stating that they're beginning foreclosure proceedings.ARNOLD: What's taking place is that like millions of other Americans, the Queens made the most of what's called a COVID mortgage forbearance. It was set up by Congress after the pandemic hit for people who lost earnings. When Becky's mommy died of COVID, she needed to take a prolonged leave from work and lost her job. Last year, the couple states their mortgage company told them that they could avoid six months of payments while they returned on their feet and then just start paying their mortgage again.B QUEEN: I very particularly asked, how does this work? And they stated, we're taking all of your payments. We're bundling them, and we're putting them at the end.ARNOLD: That is, the missed out on payments would move to the back end of their loan term so they might resume their normal mortgage payment. But that is not how it exercised, due to the fact that a year ago in October, the Department of Veterans Affairs ended the program that allowed homeowners to do that, even though housing advocates and the mortgage industry and veterans groups all alerted them not to end the program due to the fact that thousands of house owners required to catch up on missed payments. Rate of interest, too, had increased a lot that numerous could not afford to refinance or return on track any other way. Ray Queen says no one informed him about any of this.R QUEEN: How does that happen? This is supposed to be a program that y' all need to assist people in times of crisis so you do not take their home from them.ARNOLD: The couple says in September, they were informed that they required to come up with a huge payment - upwards of $22,000, which they don't have - or sell their home or get foreclosed on.B QUEEN: My heart dropped, and, like, my hands were shaking.KRISTI KELLY: The Department of Veterans Affairs has actually let people down.ARNOLD: Kristi Kelly is a customer lawyer in Virginia who's hearing from a great deal of veterans who are in the same boat.KELLY: The house owners participated in COVID forbearances. They were ensured promises, and the VA basically pulled the carpet out from under everybody.ARNOLD: Kelly says for most other homeowners in America, there are still methods to move your missed out on payments to the back of the loan term so you can prevent getting foreclosed on, however not if you have a VA loan. So she says veterans are being treated worse than a lot of other homeowners.KELLY: Service members are going to lose their home, and for many people, that's everything they work for and all their wealth, are in their homes.ARNOLD: For its part, the Department of Veterans Affairs states it had no choice however to end the program. John Bell directs the VA's home financing division.JOHN BELL: We had a short-term authority for that specific program throughout COVID.ARNOLD: Some in the industry think the VA did actually have the authority to extend the program. Now, though, NPR has found out that the VA is working on a brand-new program to change the old one, however that's still 4 or 5 months away - too long for a lot of the 6,000 homeowners with VA loans who are in the foreclosure procedure. Not to point out there's 34,000 more who were overdue. Right now there's pressure on the VA to put a time out on foreclosures while it gets that program running. John Bell says the VA is, quote, "considering all alternatives."BELL: We owe it to our veterans to make sure that we're providing every chance to be able to remain in the home.ARNOLD: Ray and Becky Queen are hoping that the VA does put a pause on foreclosures, due to the fact that if the fire truck appears after your home burns down, it's not going to do much helpful for the countless veterans who require assistance now.Chris Arnold, NPR News.
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