House Approves Mortgage Assistance for Veterans

Thousands of veterans struggling to pay their home loans could soon get help from Congress after the Trump administration ended a mortgage rescue program earlier this month.

The Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase (VASP) program, which the Biden administration created as an emergency fix following the COVID-19 pandemic, gave homeowners an affordable way to catch up on their VA-backed mortgage loan payments.

“President Trump and Secretary Collins are choosing to allow veterans to be foreclosed upon rather than to help them,” U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) said during a press conference Tuesday.

Takano, the top Democrat on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said thousands of veterans are now at risk of losing their homes.

“This White House and VA don’t seem to care,” Takano said.

Takano argues without VASP, the federal government and taxpayers will foot the bill.

“It costs the VA and every one of us an estimated $60,000 every time a veteran is foreclosed on,” he said.

The House advanced legislation Monday though that would allow the VA to create a similar lifeline for veterans, which Republicans do support.

“It was a bad program, and the Trump administration was right to stop it,” U.S. Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.) said on the House floor during Monday’s debate. “However, I recognize that sometimes veterans fall on hard times and veterans need a safety net.”

Bost, the VA committee’s top Republican, calls the new measure more fiscally responsible than VASP.

“In no way does that make sense to solve a $25,000 problem with a $320,000 solution. Only in government would you do that,” Bost said.

Takano also supports the bill but worries it could arrive too late for some veterans since the Senate still has to debate it.

In a statement, VA Press Secretary Peter Kasperowicz said ending VASP “was necessary because VA is not set up or intended to be a mortgage loan restructuring service.”

Kasperowicz said the wind down will not impact existing participants or eligible veterans who enrolled before May 1.

“Since the VASP program started May 31, 2024, VA has purchased more than 17,000 loans worth more than $5.48 billion, and this number is expected to increase in the closing days of the program,” he said.

Written by Jesse Turnure