representative Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) and Housing Policy Committee (HPC) urges leaders U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Postpone the mandatory compliance date for the agency’s Veterans Affairs Service Purchase (VASP) program, which is designed to prevent foreclosure for military personnel experiencing financial hardship due to the ongoing economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The letter was addressed to John Bell, executive director of the VA’s Loan Guarantee Services, and Josh Jacobs, deputy secretary for benefits at the Veterans Administration’s Veterans Benefits Administration.
Previous statements stated that the program would be available to 40,000 U.S. veterans starting on May 31, but MBA and NHC requested that the mandatory compliance date be pushed back to after October 1 due to concerns that service agencies would need more time to comply. The plan.
“[B]Given the number of outstanding critical operational issues, we have significant doubts as to whether VA or any service organization will be ready to deploy VASPs much later than that date.
These organizations made two key demands. First, veterans’ expectations should be clearly set by “publicly communicating that service members and the VA are working hard to quickly adapt their existing operations to support new programs ahead of mandatory compliance deadlines that we believe should be reset.” Mandatory compliance deadlines will be established based on the guidance release date,” the letter states.
The goal for servicers is to implement VASP as quickly as possible, but “servicers must implement the new plan, which also includes a new loss mitigation waterfall, by a specific date (preferably six months after the final release of the VASP guidance),” at that point. “The public expectation that VASP will be available by May 31, 2024 is unfair to veterans or service members.”
Secondly, delaying the date of mandatory obligations beyond October 1 will allow relevant parties to adapt to the requirements of the scheme.
“Given the pending guidance and the time required for VA and servicers to effectively implement VASP, we support extending the voluntary foreclosure moratorium to align with the VASP effective date for eligible borrowers,” the letter explains. .
They said both organizations “welcomed” the VASP scheme but had not yet received adequate guidance on how to implement it.
“Mortgage servicers are committed to the successful launch and long-term viability of the VASP program and recognize its potential to assist struggling veterans,” the letter reads. “Achieving these goals and establishing an effective VASP program will require all Stakeholders undertake complex loss mitigation and service transfer processes. We are concerned about the lack of information and guidance on how to do this.
