40 Tex. Admin. Code § 175.2 - Loan Eligibility Requirements
(a) The
following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall have the following
meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(1) Board--The Veterans Land Board of the
State of Texas.
(2) Bona fide
resident--An individual actually living within the State of Texas with the
intention to remain.
(3)
Missing/Missing in Action--To have an official designation of "missing status"
as provided by Title 37, Chapter 10 of the United States Code relating to
Payments to Missing Persons. The term "missing status" means the status of
members of a uniformed service who are officially carried or determined to be
absent in a status of missing; missing in action; interned in a foreign
country; captured; beleaguered, or besieged by a hostile force; or detained in
a foreign country against their will.
(4) Program--The Veterans Land Program as
authorized by Title 7, Chapter 161 of the Texas Natural Resources Code relating
to Veterans Land Board.
(5)
Surviving spouse--A person who satisfies the federal definition of "surviving
spouse" contained in Title
38
USC Sec. 101(3), as modified
by the special provision in Title
38 USC Sec.
103, or any successor statutes, as amended
from time to time. The board's intent is to match the eligibility requirements
for a surviving spouse to qualify for a home loan guaranteed by the
USDVA.
(6) USDVA/VA--The United
States Department of Veterans Affairs or any successor thereto.
(7) Veteran--A person who satisfies the
requirements of subsection (c)(1) of this section.
(b) The Board shall be the final authority in
defining and interpreting all eligibility requirements, and whether an
applicant has actually satisfied those requirements. The Board may by
resolution prescribe the procedures and forms to be used by applicants to
evidence eligibility, and may appoint a committee of qualified individuals to
consider the evidence of eligibility and make recommendations to the Board.
Evidence of service in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Vietnam consists of:
(1) documents from said Armed Forces of the
Republic of Vietnam;
(2) documents
from a federal office, such as the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or the
Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement;
(3) documents from the People's Republic of
Vietnam; or
(4) other proof of
service deemed appropriate by the Board or the Board's designee.
(c) To be eligible to participate
in the program, an applicant must satisfy one of the following:
(1) be a person who:
(A) is at least 18 years of age;
(B) is a bona fide resident of Texas at the
time of application for a loan. Military personnel on active duty, who
otherwise meet the requirements of this subsection are eligible even though
stationed outside of Texas at the time of application;
(C) satisfied one of the following service
requirements after September 16, 1940:
(i) has
served not less than 90 cumulative days of active duty or active duty training
time in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, United States
Space Force, United States Public Health Service, or a recognized reserve
component of one of the listed branches of service, unless discharged earlier
because of a service-connected cause;
(ii) has completed all initial active duty
training required as a condition of service in any National Guard or reserve
component of one of the branches of service listed in clause (i) of this
subparagraph;
(iii) has at least 20
years of active or reserve military service as computed when determining the
applicant's eligibility to receive retired pay under applicable federal law;
or
(iv) served in the Armed Forces
of the Republic of Vietnam between February 28, 1961 and May 7, 1975.
(D) is considered not to have been
dishonorably discharged under subsection (h) of this section, if the person has
been discharged from military service; and
(E) satisfies one of the following:
(i) was a bona fide resident of Texas at the
time of enlistment, induction, commissioning, appointment or
drafting;
(ii) is a legal resident
of Texas on the date of application; or
(iii) is serving on active duty, at the time
of application, assigned to a military base or facility in Texas, and has
officially designated Texas as the applicants home of record.
(2) is the surviving
spouse of a veteran who died:
(A) as a result
of a service-connected cause, as determined by the Board or certified by the
USDVA, or who is identified as missing in action, if the spouse satisfies the
requirements of paragraph (1)(A) and (B) of this subsection, and the veteran
satisfied the requirements of paragraph (1)(C) and (D) of this subsection and
either paragraph (1)(E)(i) of this subsection or the Veteran was a legal
resident of Texas at the time of his or her death; or
(B) after filing an application and contract
of sale with the Board, but before the transaction was completed, if he or she
meets all other qualification requirements of the Board.
(C) For purposes of this subsection relating
to surviving spouses, an individual assigned to a military installation in
Texas, who is killed in Texas as the result of a terrorist attack as defined by
the Board, will be considered to be a Texas resident as of the day of
death.
(d) A
person may only have one loan at a time as a veteran. However, once that loan
is paid in full, he or she may apply for another loan as a veteran. The
foregoing notwithstanding, an individual who is currently participating in the
land program as a veteran may also, as a non-veteran:
(1) take an assignment of a contract or
contracts;
(2) assume a land
mortgage loan or loans; or
(3) bid
on a forfeited or foreclosed tract or tracts.
(e) The applicant must sign applications and
contracts. An attorney in fact may not sign these documents for an applicant,
except under limited conditions approved by the Board.
(f) No application shall be approved to
purchase land under the program:
(1) which
provides for or recognizes a second or subordinate lien as a part of the
original purchase price for any tract except as provided for in §175.54(b)
(1);
(2) where there is evidence
that the benefits derived from the use of the land will not pass to the
applicant; or
(3) where there
exists any other good and sufficient reason to refuse approval, as determined
by the chairman of the Board.
(g) If both spouses are individually eligible
to participate in the program, nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit
them from applying for a loan to jointly purchase the same tract of land. The
Board may make a loan for the purchase of the same tract of land by two
veterans who are spouses, but only if both spouses together satisfy the loan
qualification requirements of the program. The total amount of this loan shall
not exceed the maximum amount allowable for this type of loan.
(h) Any requirement of this section, or of
any section within this chapter, which is not otherwise required by the
constitution or statutes of this state, may be waived on a case by case basis
by the Veterans Land Board. Any waiver request must be in writing and must
describe the circumstances surrounding the request, including all of the
reasons why the waiver is requested.
(i) For purposes of this section, a person
who has been discharged from the branch of the service in which the person
served or from the reserve or National Guard is considered not to have been
dishonorably discharged if the person:
(1)
received an honorable discharge;
(2) received a discharge under honorable
conditions; or
(3) received a
discharge and provides evidence from the United States Department of Veterans
Affairs, its successor, or other competent authority that indicates that the
character of the person's duty has been determined to be other than
dishonorable.
Notes
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