Congress Passes Protecting Affordable Mortgages for Veterans Act

The partisan rancor that has split Congress subsided temporarily to enable the passage of the Protecting Affordable Mortgages for Veterans Act of 2019, which has been sent to the White House for President Trump to sign into law.

 

The legislation revises the loan seasoning requirements related to a refinanced Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) housing loan. The VA is prohibited from guaranteeing a refinanced home loan until the date that is either later of the date on which the sixth monthly payment is made or the date that is 210 days after the first payment is made. The bill modifies this date to either when the borrower has made six consecutive monthly payments or 210 days after the first payment is due. The bill was introduced in the Senate by Arizona Democrat Kyrsten Sinema and in the House by Georgia Democrat David Scott.

 

Bill Killmer, senior vice president of legislative and political affairs of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), welcomed the congressional passage of the bill, noting that it “clarifies when Veterans Affairs home loans qualify to be pooled into Ginnie Mae securities. Specifically, the 210-day seasoning period will begin on the first payment due date of the initial loan, which will allow lenders greater compliance certainty and better ensure that loans are not erroneously pooled into Ginnie Mae securities going forward.  MBA looks forward to President Trump signing S. 1749 into law.”

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