Representatives
of
the


Mortgage
Bankers
Association
(MBA)
and
the


Housing
Policy
Council
(HPC)
are
urging
leaders
at
the


U.S.
Department
of
Veterans
Affairs
(VA)
to
delay
a
mandatory
compliance
date
with
the
agency’s Veteran
Affairs
Servicing
Purchase
(VASP)
program,
which
aims
to
prevent
foreclosures
against
military
personnel
who
experienced
financial
hardship
due
to
the
ongoing
economic
consequences
of
the
COVID-19
pandemic.

The

letter
is
addressed
to
John
Bell,
executive
director
of
the
VA’s
Loan
Guaranty
Service,
and
Josh
Jacobs,
undersecretary
for
benefits
at
the
VA’s
Veterans
Benefits
Administration.

Previous
statements
noted
that
the
program
would
be
available
to
40,000
U.S.
veterans
beginning
on
May
31,
but
MBA
and
NHC
are
requesting
the
mandatory
compliance
date
be
pushed
out
past
Oct.
1
due
to
concerns
that
servicers
need
more
time
to
become
compliant
with
the
program.

“[B]ased
on
the
number
of
key
operational
questions
that
are
outstanding,
we
have
significant
questions
about
whether
the
VA
or
any
servicer
will
be
ready
to
deploy
VASP
until
much
later
than
that
date,”
the
joint
letter
stated.

The
organizations
make
two
key
requests.
The
first
is
that
the
expectations
of

veterans
should
be
clearly
set
by
“publicly
communicating
that
servicers
and
the
VA
are
working
diligently
to
quickly
adjust
their
existing
operations
to
support
the
new
program
before
the
mandatory
compliance
deadline,
which
we
think
should
be
re-set,
based
on
the
guidance
publication
date,”
the
letter
stated.

Servicers
will
aim
to
implement
VASP
as
soon
as
possible,
but
“servicers
must
have
until
a
date
certain,
preferably
six
months
from
the
final
publication
of
the
VASP
guidance,
to
execute
the
new
program,
which
also
includes
a
new
loss
mitigation
waterfall,”
according
to
the
letter.
“It
is
not
fair
to
Veterans
or
servicers
to
create
a
public
expectation
that
VASP
will
be
available
before
May
31,
2024.”

Second,
pushing
the
mandatory
obligation
date
beyond
Oct.
1
would
allow
the
involved
parties
to
adjust
to
the
program’s
requirements.

“Considering
the
guidance
that
remains
outstanding
and
in
light
of
the
time
it
will
take
the
VA
and

servicers
to
effectively
implement
VASP,
we
support
an
extension
of
the
voluntary
foreclosure
moratorium
to
align
with
the
effective
date
of
VASP
for
eligible
borrowers,”
the
letter
explained.

Both
organizations
“welcome”
the
VASP
program,
they
said,
but
there
has
not
been
enough
guidance
about
how
to
implement
it.

“Mortgage
servicers
are
committed
to
the
successful
launch
and
long-term
viability
of
the
VASP
program
and
realize
its
potential
to
help
struggling
Veterans,”
the
letter
read.
“Achieving
these
goals
and
setting
up
an
effective
VASP
program
will
require
all
stakeholders
to
execute
a
complex
loss
mitigation
and
servicing
transfer
process.
We
are
concerned
with
the
lack
of
information
and
guidance
on
how
to
do
so.”

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