The Department of Veterans Affairs is refunding more than $400 in home loan funding fees after an inspector general’s report announced that thousands of veterans were incorrectly charged when applying for home loans.
According to an article published by MilitaryTimes.com, “Department officials said they reviewed 130,000 cases over the summer to look for errors, which mostly involved simple clerical mistakes or disability ratings changes after veterans settled on their loans. Under existing rules, veterans and service members must pay a VA funding fee when they apply for a VA home loan, with costs between 0.5 percent and 3.3 percent of total money lent. The money is designed to defray some administration costs for the department, but disabled veterans are exempt from the fee.”
However, earlier this year an inspector general report was released and found that a minimum of 53,000 disabled veterans had been incorrectly charged fees in recent years, with the total reimbursement being significantly higher than the estimated $290 million.
In an effort to avoid this in the future, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced a new policy guidline for lenders that require them to ask veterans about their disability status. In addition, the department has proposed new outreach initiatives to help inform veterans of the fee waivers they are eligible to receive.
If you are a veteran who believes you may be entitled to a refund for mistaken fees, contact the department’s regional loan center office at (877) 827-3702 or alternatively you can visit the VA’s website for more information.
Relevant pages: Veterans Disability