There’s a massive problem in the veteran homebuying community. Predatory lenders, misinformation campaigns, and a lack of centralized education have left many veterans vulnerable — often paying more than they should or being steered away from the very benefits they’ve earned.
Rocket Pro is stepping into the fray. In a new partnership with Vetted VA, a grassroots advocacy and education group, the lender is working to root out misinformation in VA lending and elevate ethical standards across the industry.
“There’s a lot of misinformation — and I would even say intentional disinformation — that is floating out there about the utilization of the VA Home Loan,” said Katie Sweeney, executive vice president of strategy and broker advocacy at Rocket Pro.
Christopher Griffith, a Marine Corps veteran and founder of Vetted VA, has turned personal hardship and systemic frustration into a full-scale movement to reform VA loan education and protect veterans from abuse and misinformation in the mortgage industry.
“Veterans are less likely to shop. They’re very trusting. What that’s created is an environment where lenders ... are padding their margin and charging gross overextension of what should be in place.”
—Katie Sweeney, EVP, Strategy and Broker Advocacy, Rocket Pro
What began as a Facebook group in 2019 has evolved into an extensive training ecosystem including Vetted VA, Better VA Foundation, and a broker-training certification pipeline.
“We exist to serve veterans, educate them, and ensure they have all of the things they need to be the best custodian of choice with their opportunity,” Griffith said.
Misinformation And Misconduct
Sweeney described a recurring scenario in which real estate agents or underinformed loan officers steer veterans away from VA loans — not because those loans are weaker, but because the professionals involved don’t understand the process.
“If you know about [VA loan requirements] upfront, they’re very easy to facilitate,” Sweeney said. “If you don’t know about them until the last minute, it can cause delays in the buying process, which then creates chaos for everybody involved, and can leave a really sour taste in someone's mouth.”
Veterans are often overcharged precisely because they tend to trust the professionals who serve them. Sweeney revealed that lenders are often padding their margins on government loans, such as FHA loans and VA loans.
“Veterans are less likely to shop. They’re very trusting,” Sweeney said. “What that’s created is an environment where large lenders — particularly a lot of large call centers and retail lenders — are padding their margin and charging gross overextension of what should be in place.”
The result is a pattern of churning. “You’ll see people who will give a veteran borrower a really crappy deal up front, and then six months later they’ll lower their interest rate by half a percentage point, and then 6 months later, they'll do it again."
"You get this cycle where they’ve now paid for three or four loans within a two- to three-year time period,” she explained.
A Broken Information Pipeline
While the VA guarantees the loans, it does not control the information flow. Unlike other federal benefits like the GI Bill or VA healthcare, there’s no central source of legitimate information for veterans navigating the mortgage process.
“There is no institution that is responsible for making sure that you have all the information that you need to make the best decision for yourself and for your family,” Sweeney said. “Lenders have made a lot of money and built big businesses on the backs of veterans. And it’s wrong. It’s always been wrong.”
Griffith was clear about the stakes: “Veterans are being harmed by misinformation from loan officers and real estate agents — or worse, outright abuse.” He believes many companies fall back on performative patriotism — "a bunch of propaganda posturing with marketing" — instead of taking action that materially benefits veterans.
From Facebook Group To National Movement
Vetted VA was born out of that frustration. The group began as a Facebook group in 2019 and evolved into a robust certification program for both mortgage brokers and real estate agents. It now serves over 100,000 veterans monthly with free educational resources.
Griffith, a moderator for the Facebook group, was adamant about educating homebuyers and professionals while maintaining professional integrity: no cussing, no solicitation, and no credential posturing in the group’s 85,000-member Facebook community. “We exist to answer veterans’ questions — not to puff our chests or posture for profit,” he said.
“You can’t even get in the group unless you’re a veteran or a certified Vetted VA professional,” added Sweeney. “There’s no soliciting. There’s no selling services.”
That ethos aligns with Rocket Pro’s broker-driven, community-first approach.
“Brokers build their businesses off of trust and reputation and accountability. It’s the same thing in the veteran space,” Sweeney said. “You’ll find that there are a lot of veterans themselves who have become loan officers and mortgage brokers to serve the people who served alongside them.”
Cutting Through The Noise
Rocket’s partnership with Vetted VA will offer access to certification and education tools — but it won’t be required.
“We are not requiring people to go through Vetted VA certification to do VA loans with us,” Sweeney clarified. “We want to provide access to that tool for loan officers who want to serve veterans better.”
Internally, however, the company is doubling down on education within its sales team, operations team, underwriters, and Ops leaders. “We have to be the most knowledgeable so that we can serve veterans the best,” she said.
Sweeney described the unique challenge veterans face in today’s information landscape, saying, “I think they are both underserved and also over-marketed. They’re getting so much information thrown at them... they just shut down and work with whoever is directly in front of them.”
With Vetted VA, Rocket hopes to change that. “We have to be able to help people cut through the noise and to understand what’s fact and what’s myth when it comes to VA loans,” she said. “I think this partnership is a big step in that direction.”
“We’re excited about this partnership because we get different perspectives on problem-solving,” Griffith added. “And they get value from the perspective of someone in the trenches.”
