Department of Veterans Affairs Deputy Secretary Paul Lawrence celebrated the successful track record of the VA Home Loan program. In a speech Monday, he highlighted recent efforts to modernize and improve the program.
“Our commitment to veterans today is the same as President Roosevelt’s commitment 81 years ago,” when the VA loan program was created, Lawrence said in prepared remarks at the Realtors Legislative Meetings in Washington, D.C. “Owning a home gives a veteran a renewed sense of community and a purpose in their new community, they can finally put down roots, practice their faith, raise a family, send their kids to good schools, and pursue their American dream.”
Created in 1944 in the wake of World War II, the VA loan program allows veterans to purchase a home with no down payment, with the government guaranteeing the loan and eliminating the need for private mortgage insurance.
Lawrence said that since the program’s inception, 30 million veterans have been guaranteed home loans, with 4 million active guarantees currently supporting $1.2 trillion in housing stock.
The program has dramatically increased veteran homeownership rates to nearly 80%, compared to around 65% for the general population, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
Over time, the key program has been expanded and updated, and Lawrence highlighted several efforts on that front in recent years.
In 2019, a new law removed VA loan limits for homebuyers with a full loan entitlement and made active duty Purple Heart recipients exempt from paying the VA funding fee.
“We’re investing in technology and customer service upgrades to support home loan delivery,” said Lawrence.
Lawrence noted that last year, the VA sent out 1.25 million certificates of eligibility for VA loans, and that 77% of those were issued automatically in a matter of seconds.
“Additionally, when you call on the phone to talk to our home loan experts—we get about 3,000 calls a day—we’re answering those phone calls in 30 seconds,” he said.
More recently, following changes to the rules regarding real estate agent compensation last year, the VA has temporarily suspended prior prohibitions against veterans directly compensating their buyer’s agent.
Now, veterans can still ask the seller to pay the buyer broker commission, but they can also negotiate and pay for real estate professionals’ fees directly if they choose.
“We are not seeing any indication that the update has discouraged veterans from using their home loans,” said Lawrence. “We’re going to continue to monitor how the update is working for veterans, and we’ll keep that change.”
Lawrence said the Department of Veterans Affairs has pursued a number of other efficiency and streamlining initiatives during the first few months of President Donald Trump’s second term.
“We’ve accomplished a lot in this short period of time by aligning with the administration’s vision for improving processes, removing barriers, cutting through red tape and tackling challenges head on,” he said.
However, he vehemently denied recent reports that the Trump administration’s cutbacks were impacting care and services for veterans. A ProPublica article, for instance, alleged widespread disruptions across the VA’s healthcare system.
“We are not cutting benefits,” said Lawrence. “In fact, just the opposite, contract cuts and organizational streamlining will free up money we will use to hire more doctors, and more nurses, and more claims processors.”
Lawrence, an Army veteran, also shared that he himself had used a VA loan to purchase a home with his wife, when all of their friends were still renting and saving for a down payment.
“The home loan guarantee not only changed the lives of returning veterans, it also changed the face of America and created prosperity across the country,” he said.
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