United States HR 8532: VA Home Loan Affordability Act

Bill Text

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119TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION H. R. 8532
To amend title 38, United States Code, to align elements of the housing
loan program of the Department of Veterans Affairs with requirements
of the Federal Housing Administration, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 27, 2026
Mr. VAN ORDEN (for himself, Mr. BOST, Mr. BARRETT, Mrs. KIGGANS of Vir-
ginia, and Mr. CISCOMANI) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to align elements
of the housing loan program of the Department of Vet-
erans Affairs with requirements of the Federal Housing
Administration, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘VA Home Loan Af-4
fordability Act’’. 5
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SEC. 2. ALIGNMENT OF HOUSING LOAN PROGRAM OF THE 1
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS WITH 2
REQUIREMENTS OF THE FEDERAL HOUSING 3
ADMINISTRATION. 4
(a) PROHIBITION OF REQUIREMENT OF THIRD 5
PARTY VERIFICATION OF LENDER FEES.—Section 6
3703(a)(2)(B) of title 38, United States Code, is amend-7
ed— 8
(1) by inserting ‘‘in regulations’’ after ‘‘Sec-9
retary may prescribe’’; and 10
(2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘In pre-11
scribing such regulations regarding fees paid by a 12
veteran borrower to lender, the Secretary may not 13
require documentation of such fees by a third 14
party.’’ 15
(b) REFINANCING OF HOUSING LOANS.— 16
(1) AUTHORITY TO WAIVE APPRAISAL.—Section 17
3709(a) of title 38, United States Code, is amend-18
ed— 19
(A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 20
through (3) as subparagraphs (A) through (C), 21
respectively; 22
(B) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘Except’’; 23
and 24
(C) by adding at the end the following new 25
paragraph: 26
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‘‘(2) The Secretary may authorize the refinancing of 1
a loan described in paragraph (1) without an appraisal.’’. 2
(2) MINIMUM INTEREST RATE FOR ADJUST-3
ABLE RATE MORTGAGE.—Section 3709(b)(3) of title 4
38, United States Code, is amended by striking 5
‘‘200 basis points’’ and inserting ‘‘75 basis points’’. 6
(c) EXPANSION OF GUARANTEED LOANS FOR CON-7
DOMINIUMS.—Section 3710(a)(6) of title 38, United 8
States Code, is amended, in subsection (a)(6), by striking 9
‘‘, if such development or project is approved by the Sec-10
retary under criteria which the Secretary shall prescribe 11
in regulations’’. 12
(d) MAXIMUM CLOSING COSTS AND SELLER FEES 13
FOR GUARANTEED LOANS.—Section 3710(b) of title 38, 14
United States Code, is amended— 15
(1) in paragraph (7)(C)(ii), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 16
and inserting a semicolon; 17
(2) in paragraph (8), by striking the period at 18
the end and inserting a semicolon; and 19
(3) by adding at the end the following new 20
paragraphs: 21
‘‘(9) the closing costs actually paid by the vet-22
eran do not exceed 1.5 percent of the amount of the 23
loan; and 24
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‘‘(10) the seller fees actually paid by the vet-1
eran do not exceed six percent of the outstanding 2
balance of the loan.’’. 3
(e) REGULAR PRESCRIPTION OF DEBT-TO-INCOME 4
RATIOS.—Section 3710(g)(3)(A), of title 38, United 5
States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘, reviewed and pre-6
scribed not less than once every two years,’’ after ‘‘debt- 7
to-income ratios’’. 8
(f) MINIMUM EXPERIENCE OF AN APPRAISER RE-9
QUIRED.—Section 3731(a)(1) of title 38, United States 10
Code, is amended by striking ‘‘certification of an appro-11
priate number of years’’ and inserting ‘‘a certificate or li-12
cense issued by a State’’. 13
(g) REVIEW OF APPRAISAL MINIMUM PROPERTY RE-14
QUIREMENTS.—Not later than 90 days after the date of 15
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Af-16
fairs shall— 17
(1) review regulations prescribed under section 18
3710(b)(4) of title 38, United States Code, regard-19
ing the suitability of property; and 20
(2) prescribe new such regulations that the Sec-21
retary determines appropriate. 22
(h) PLAN TO MODERNIZE IT FOR HOUSING 23
LOANS.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the 24
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 25
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shall submit to the Committees on Veterans Affairs of the 1
Senate and House of Representatives the plan of the Sec-2
retary to modernize the information technology used to ad-3
mi