Biden Administration’s $14 million initiative seeks to find permanent housing for U.S. vets
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), in an effort to help homeless veterans and their families find permanent housing, have awarded $14 million in HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) vouchers to 66 Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) across the country for more than 1,400 vouchers.
“HUD is committed to ending veteran homelessness once and for all,” said HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge. “These HUD-VASH voucher awards help us to reach that goal. We will continue to work with our local Veterans Affairs Medical Center partners at public housing agencies across the country so we can get veterans and their families off the streets and into affordable housing.”
The HUD-VASH program provides housing and an array of supportive services to veterans experiencing homelessness by combining rental assistance from HUD with case management and clinical services provided by the VA.
“As President Biden reminds us, our one truly sacred obligation is to the men and women of the United States Military Services,” said HUD Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Richard Monocchio. “The continued success of the HUD-VASH program stands as testament to our collective devotion to caring for Veterans and their families when they return home. At HUD we are committed to continuing to strengthen the HUD-VASH program to serve as many Veterans as possible.”
Through this program, HUD and VA’s mission is to end homelessness by assisting veterans and their families in obtaining permanent and sustainable housing with access to high-quality health care and supportive services, and to ensure that homelessness is otherwise prevented.
According to the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), the number of veterans experiencing homelessness has fallen by 11% since early 2020—the most significant decline in more than five years. There are currently more than 110,000 HUD-VASH vouchers being administered by 700-plus PHAs. Since 2008, HUD has issued new HUD-VASH vouchers every year. Additionally, more than 81,000 of those total vouchers are actively under lease by HUD-VASH veterans, with many additional veterans having been issued vouchers and currently searching for housing to lease.
In late 2023, the VA called on mortgage servicers to pause foreclosures until May 31, 2024. The pause provides VA borrowers with an opportunity to access the VA Servicing Purchase (VASP) program, where the VA will modify and purchase qualifying loans in default to provide meaningful payment assistance to VA borrowers in financial distress.
“The foreclosure pause is badly needed as veteran borrowers have had no meaningful alternatives to foreclosure for over a year,” said Steve Sharpe, Senior Attorney at the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC). “We applaud VA and the Biden Administration for taking necessary steps to protect veteran families, and we look forward to the release of VASP.”
The nation’s vets were recently spotlighted on Capitol Hill before the U.S. House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity who held a hearing, “Sink or Swim? A Deep Dive Into the Current State of VA’s Home Loan Program in a Competitive Market” in Washington, D.C. Among those delivering testimony were John E. Bell, Executive Director, Loan Guaranty Service, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, on behalf of Veterans Benefits Administration; Edward J. DeMarco, President, Housing Policy Council; Mark Jones, 2024 Chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) and President of Union Home Mortgage; and Sharpe, representing the NCLC.
According to Jones’ testimony before the House Subcommittee, the VA share of total U.S. loan originations in the mortgage market comprises approximately 10%. VA originations totaled nearly 1.4 million loans in 2020 and, by contrast, just over 590,000 loans in 2022.
“The VA Home Loan Program is a benefit program that Veterans have earned through service and sacrifice and that is meant to give them housing stability,” said Sharpe. “We applaud VA for recognizing the problems that its borrowers are facing and for implementing a foreclosure pause. However, the pause is only meaningful if VA puts options in place that Veterans can access before losing their homes.”
