38 CFR Part 36 - LOAN GUARANTY

This document adopts as final a proposed rule of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Loan Guaranty Service to amend its regulations to establish reasonable fees that VA may charge in connection with the origination and servicing of vendee loans made by VA. Fees mentioned in this rulemaking are consistent with those charged in the private mortgage industry, and such fees will help VA to ensure the sustainability of this vendee loan program. The loans that will be subject to the fees are not veterans' benefits. This rule will also ensure that all direct and vendee loans made by the Secretary are safe harbor qualified mortgages.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Loan Guaranty Service (LGY) is currently reviewing its regulations governing the allowable expenses that a veteran may pay or be charged in connection with obtaining a VA-guaranteed home loan. By issuing this advanced notice of proposed rulemaking, LGY seeks comments on how the public believes VA should approach this undertaking. Although LGY identifies specific issues for discussion below, it encourages commenters to discuss any issue related to improving these specific regulations.

On June 15, 2010, VA published a document in the Federal Register eliminating redundant provisions from its loan guaranty regulations following the implementation of a new electronic reporting system and redesignating the section numbers of these regulations. At that time, VA did not update cross-reference citations to conform to the redesignated sections. A subsequent notice updated some, but not all, cross-reference citations. VA is now updating the remaining non-substantive, cross-reference citations for clarity and accuracy.

This document proposes to amend the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Loan Guaranty Service (LGY) regulations to establish reasonable fees that VA may charge in connection with the origination and servicing of vendee loans made by VA. Fees proposed in this rulemaking are consistent with those charged in the private mortgage industry, and such fees would help VA to ensure the sustainability of this vendee loan program. The loans that would be subject to the fees are not veterans' benefits. This rule would also ensure that all direct and vendee loans made by the Secretary are safe harbor qualified mortgages.

The Federal Civil Monetary Penalties Act of 1990, as amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, sets forth a formula increasing the maximum statutory amounts for civil monetary penalties and requires federal agencies to give notice of the new maximum amounts by regulation. This final rule of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) adopts without change VA's interim final rule, which increased maximum civil monetary penalties from $10,000 to $21,563 for false loan guaranty certifications and from $5,500 to $10,781 for fraudulent claims or fraudulent statements in any VA program.

This document amends the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) loan guaranty regulations to correct an oversight in the delegation of authority to exercise the powers and functions of the Secretary with respect to the guaranty or insurance of loans and the rights and liabilities arising therefrom. This document also incorporates into regulatory form delegatory authority already granted certain VA loan guaranty officials to administer and manage properties acquired by VA.

The Federal Civil Monetary Penalties Act of 1990, as amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, sets forth a formula increasing the maximum statutory amounts for civil monetary penalties and requires federal agencies to give notice of the new maximum amounts by regulation. Accordingly, this document gives notice that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is increasing maximum civil monetary penalties from $10,000 to $21,563 for false loan guaranty certifications and from $5,500 to $10,781 for fraudulent claims or fraudulent statements in any VA program.

This rule adopts as final, without change, a proposed rule of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to amend its regulations to provide grants for the development of new assistive technologies for use in specially adapted housing for eligible veterans or servicemembers. The Veterans' Benefits Act of 2010 authorizes VA to provide grants of up to $200,000 per fiscal year to persons or entities to encourage the development of specially adapted housing assistive technologies. This final rule implements changes to VA regulations to clarify the process, the criteria, and the priorities relating to the award of these research and development grants.

This document adopts as final, without change, a proposed rule of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to amend its regulations that govern adjustable rate mortgages made in conjunction with the Home Loan Guaranty program. These revisions align VA's disclosure and interest rate adjustment requirements with the implementing regulations of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), as recently revised by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). This rulemaking will ensure VA remains consistent with other applicable consumer finance and housing regulations governing adjustable rate mortgages.

On June 15, 2010, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) published a document in the Federal Register (75 FR 33704), amending its loan guaranty regulations to eliminate redundancies in the regulations that were a result of a new electronic reporting system. At that time, we failed to update the cross-reference citations within the redesignated sections. On October 22, 2010 (75 FR 65238), Sections 36.4301 through 36.4323(e) were amended to replace the incorrect cross-reference citations with the accurate, updated cross-references. This document corrects the remaining redesignated sections (§ 36.4324 through § 36.4393) to contain the correct and updated cross-reference citations. These nonsubstantive changes are made for clarity and accuracy.

This document proposes to amend the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Loan Guaranty Service (LGY) regulations that govern adjustable rate mortgages made in conjunction with the Home Loan Guaranty program. These revisions would align VA's disclosure and interest rate adjustment requirements with the implementing regulations of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), as recently revised by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Specifically, the rule would amend the timing, content, and format requirements for the disclosures provided to borrowers prior to an interest-rate adjustment. The proposed regulation would also require that an interest-rate adjustment correspond with the interest rate index available 45 days prior to the adjustment. This proposed rulemaking would ensure VA's consistency with other applicable consumer finance and housing regulations governing adjustable rate mortgages.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is proposing to implement through regulation statutory authority to provide grants for the development of new assistive technologies for use in specially adapted housing for eligible veterans or servicemembers, as authorized by the Veterans' Benefits Act of 2010 (the Act), enacted on October 13, 2010. The Act authorizes VA to provide grants of up to $200,000 per fiscal year to persons or entities to encourage the development of specially adapted housing assistive technologies. VA is amending its regulations to outline the process, the criteria, and the priorities relating to the award of these research and development grants.

This document amends the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Loan Guaranty regulations to implement provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, requiring that VA define the types of VA loans that are “qualified mortgages” for the purposes of the new Ability to Repay provisions of the Truth in Lending Act. This rule establishes which VA-guaranteed loans are to be considered “qualified mortgages” and have either safe harbor protection or the presumption that the borrower is able to repay a loan, in accordance with the new Ability to Repay provisions. The rule does not change VA's regulations or policies with respect to how lenders are to originate mortgages, except to the extent lenders want to make qualified mortgages.