1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Access to Affordable Housing for Veterans Act of 2019”.
Access to Affordable Housing for Veterans Act of 2019
A BILL
To include information regarding VA home loans in the Informed Consumer Choice Disclosure required to be provided to a prospective FHA borrower who is a veteran, to amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize the provision of a certificate of eligibility for VA home loans during the preseparation counseling for members of the Armed Forces, and for other purposes.
2. FHA Informed Consumer Choice Disclosure
Section 203(f)(2)(A) of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1709(f)(2)(A)) is amended—
by inserting “(i)” after “loan-to-value ratio”; and
by inserting before the semicolon the following: “, and (ii) in the case of a prospective borrower who is a veteran (as defined in section 101 of title 38, United States Code) who would qualify for a loan guaranteed or insured under chapter 37 of title 38, United States Code, in connection with such a loan, assuming prevailing interest rates”.
3. Uniform Residential Loan Application
In general— The Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency shall direct the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation to revise the Uniform Residential Loan Application developed by those enterprises, not later than December 31, 2020, to include—
in the borrower information portion of the application, a check box for the applicant to check to indicate that the applicant is a veteran;
adjacent to the matter required by paragraph (1) and in boldface type, the following statement: “If you are a veteran, you may be eligible for a VA mortgage.”; and
adjacent to the matter required by paragraph (2), a blank line for the borrower to initial, and a statement that all applicants must initial the blank line to confirm that they have read the statement required by paragraph (2).
Prohibition— The information required to be included under subsection (a) shall not appear after the borrower signature line of the Uniform Residential Loan Application.
4. Preseparation counseling for members of the Armed Forces regarding Department of Veterans Affairs home loan services and housing assistance benefits
Section 1142(b) of title 10, United States Code, is amended—
by redesignating paragraphs (17) and (18) as paragraphs (18) and (19), respectively; and
by striking paragraph (16) and inserting the following new paragraphs:
“(16) Information on the availability of home loan services by and housing assistance benefits of the Department of Veterans Affairs, including the authority of the member—
“(A) to use an honorable discharge certificate as a certificate of eligibility to apply for a guaranteed housing loan from the Department of Veterans Affairs; or
“(B) to request, during the preseparation process or after separation, a specific certificate of eligibility for such a loan under section 3702(c) of title 38.
“(17) Counseling on responsible borrowing practices.”