A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
An NPR investigation has been reporting on a debacle within the Department of Veteran Affairs that left thousands of vets on the verge of losing their homes. After our first stories aired, the VA halted foreclosures and stood up a rescue program. We can now report that 15,000 veterans have so far been saved from losing their homes and have new affordable mortgages, but there's a movement in Congress that could kill the rescue program. We're joined now by NPRs Quil Lawrence and Chris Arnold for more. So, Chris, the VA home loan is supposed to be a great deal, right? I mean, so how did these 15,000 veterans get in trouble?
CHRIS ARNOLD, BYLINE: These are vets who were on what's called a COVID mortgage forbearance. This was after the pandemic hit and shut down the economy and millions of people lost their jobs. This is a way to take a break from making your mortgage payments but then have a sanctioned, affordable way to catch up. And Congress set it up and stuff. These vets, though, got stuck when the VA made a really big blunder and turned off a key part of this program when there were still tens of thousands of veterans in the middle of it. We did a story like a year and a half ago when we uncovered this. Back then, there were 40,000 vets that were about to lose their homes. And it wasn't their fault. So the VA stopped the foreclosures for a year while it rolled out this rescue, and now that's finally up and running. And as you were saying, 15,000 veterans so far have gotten these new loans and that they can afford. And they're going to keep their homes.
MARTÍNEZ: All right, so that's good news at least. But, Quil, you're reporting now that some in Congress want to kill that rescue program.
QUIL LAWRENCE, BYLINE: Right. There are some Republicans who don't like that this program works by having the VA buy these delinquent loans and then put it on the VA's books - or essentially, put all the risk on the taxpayers. So there are two new bills in Congress, one that would basically shut down the rescue program, and the other would replace it with something else. But the problem is who knows how long it might take to replace it? And both the housing advocates on one side and the mortgage industry on the other side, they say that right now this rescue program is the only way for these vets to stay in their homes and not get foreclosed on.
MARTÍNEZ: Now, Chris, what kind of reaction are you hearing from veterans?
ARNOLD: Well, I mean, some are relieved, you know, if they've already gotten into the program and it's been a long time and now they're finally OK. But there are thousands of others who are not approved yet for this new mortgage. Some are scared by these moves in Congress. And, look, I mean, basically, from their perspective, the VA threw them a lifeline during the pandemic, and they grabbed hold of it, but then the VA cut the rope. And now they finally have a way to save their homes with this new loan rescue program, and there's talk of cutting the lifeline again. And they're just tearing their hair out about this.
LAWRENCE: Yeah, and one of the dozens of veterans we talked to is Kevin Conlon (ph). He served two tours in Iraq, survived a bunch of bomb blasts there. He lost his best friend there. He struggled with trauma and thoughts of suicide for a while. He nearly lost his house in this VA error, and now he's hearing that the rescue program to keep him in his home could be scrapped.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
KEVIN CONLON: You're talking about getting rid of something that would keep me and my family in a home that we love, that we need. And to do that to us is just - it's intentionally cruel.
MARTÍNEZ: And then you got all this playing out in the middle of this restructuring by the Trump administration. So how's that factoring in, Chris?
ARNOLD: Right. I mean, we already know thousands of people have been quickly fired from the VA. They want to fire 80,000 more, apparently. VA won't say is that in the loan division or where, and they won't comment on this legislation. And all this is stressing out a lot of veterans, who are still at risk of losing their houses.
MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR's Chris Arnold and Quil Lawrence. Thanks, you two.
LAWRENCE: Thanks a lot.
ARNOLD: Sure thing. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
