Tomorrow is the eleventh day of the eleventh month, the day our country has set aside to pay tribute to all American veterans, living or dead, but especially to those living veterans who have served our country honorably during periods of both conflict or peace.
The men and women who serve and protect our country come from a variety of backgrounds.They are our co-workers, friends, and neighbors. There are presently more than 22 million veterans in the United States, they make up about 8 percent of our country's population.
Veterans encounter the same challenges that the rest of the population does when it comes to obtaining financing for a home purchase. Those veterans, also, far too frequently encounter additional challenges posed by foreign deployments and transfers from one base to another.
According to a recent New York Times article, "military veterans are more likely than other consumers to report problems managing credit, to owe more on their mortgages than their houses are worth and to have made a late mortgage payment..." https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/15/your-money/veterans-report-more-credit-issues-than-other-consumers-study-finds.html?_r=0
Moving your residence comes with a cost. Frequent moves and deployments cause military households to incur those costs more frequently than civilian households. Those changes of residence can also make it more difficult for military spouses to maintain their employment. Both of these factors can put military households under serious financial pressure.
I have had the privilege of working frequently with veterans, both as clients, and as mortgage loan officers and realtors who have referred their credit challenged customers to my company for assistance. One of the loan officers that I have the honor of working with is an Army veteran who has dedicated himself to helping enlisted men stationed near Fort Leonard Wood obtain homes for their families. He has shared the story of his service defending our country with me, and he is truly a hero for that service. He continues to be a hero to the young men and women that he is now helping in his post active duty career.
Help is available for these veterans facing credit challenges. Consumer credit is, generally, forward-looking and a well qualified reputable credit restoration company is able to use tools like the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), to assist service members in clearing up issues damaging their credit scores and credit histories.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (The V.A.) offers loan and refinancing programs to American veterans, active duty U.S. military, reservists and certain surviving spouses. The V.A. home loan program was established to help supply home financing to qualified veterans and to help veterans purchase properties with no down payment. The V.A. guarantees the repayment of loans that are made pursuant to these programs.
The V.A. does not originate loans, but rather, it establishes the rules for who may qualify and establishes the guidelines under which mortgages are offered. The loan is actually issued to veterans by qualified lenders. These loan products are oftentimes available with credit scores lower than what is required by lenders for FHA or conventional loan products.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has warned that veterans be cautious when shopping for a V.A. loan product. According to the CFPB, because of the fact that V.A. loan programs can be faster for lenders than other types of loans and they are guaranteed by the V.A., some lenders may market them aggressively to borrowers. The CFPB, accordingly, has advised a careful reading of marketing materials for V.A. loan products, as some can be "misleading" when it comes to loan terms