Washington Healthcare Update - August 2021 | McGuireWoods Consulting jdsupra.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from jdsupra.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Three Creeks Media | By Erik J. Martin
With no down payment required, flexible credit guidelines and limits on closing costs and fees, the VA home loan is a popular financing option for veterans and active-duty service members, including National Guard members.
But in the past, Guard troops were only eligible for the VA loan after six years of honorable service, following 90 consecutive days of service or after being discharged from active duty for a service-related disability.
New legislation signed into law in January the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act expands eligibility for Guard members and cuts the required days of service. That means tens of thousands more Guard members, including many who performed COVID-19 emergency-related duties, will qualify for the VA-backed mortgages, according to John Goheen, director of communications for the Nation
VAntage Point
Veteran eligibility and access to VA home loans expanded
New changes passed by Congress and signed by the President have expanded Veteran eligibility and access to VA’s home loan program.
Public Law 116-315, “The Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020”
Broadens the timeframe of Veterans qualifying for the Vietnam War era and has been revised to include those who served from November 1, 1955. The previous date was February 28, 1961.
Authorizes benefit access for those service members and Veterans mobilized to perform full-time National Guard duty for not less than 90 cumulative days, including at least 30 days consecutive.
Now is a great time for veterans to enhance their education Mohamed A. Desoky (iStock/Getty Images) One of the great benefits of military service, among many, includes the pursuit of higher education. Because of the pandemic, many veterans are working and living in quarantine, and some active-duty military are working indoors. For many, this social isolation and increased computer time has allowed them to finish their undergraduate education or pursue advanced degrees. The pandemic has accelerated the online educational revolution. Almost every college, university and trade school owns the technology and has instructors to teach, mentor and guide veterans and active-duty military towards a better future.
Thousands of National Guard members are now eligible for zero-down-payment loans from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the president has approved requests from 48 states and three territories for federal support to use the National Guard through March 31. National Guard troops have helped distribute food and personal protective equipment, supported contact tracing and coronavirus testing, and their medical teams have supported direct patient care and will help administer vaccines, the agency said.
The new law means that National Guard members without active-duty service are now eligible to receive a VA home loan, according to