On Tuesday, December 27, 2022, President Biden signed H.R. 7735, the Improving Access to the VA Home Loan Benefit Act of 2022, into public law (P.L. 117-308). The full Senate had passed the bill by unanimous consent – in the same form by which it passed the full House last fall – just eight days earlier. The enactment of this MBA-endorsed legislation will help to ensure servicemembers, veterans, and their families have access to more affordable, sustainable homeownership opportunities through the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) Home Loan Program. The reforms included in H.R. 7735 will direct the VA to revisit existing program requirements to make appraisals more readily available and less cumbersome for buyers and lenders by requiring the VA to review appraisal certification requirements, encourage hybrid appraisals, employ emerging technologies, and revisit policies on property inspection waivers, minimum property requirements, and comparable sales. MBA President and CEO Bob Broeksmit, CMB, applauded the bill’s passage in a press statement.

Why it matters: MBA has strongly advocated for this bill and its Senate companion, S. 4208, throughout the prior year.  Those efforts included Mark Jones, MBA’s current Chairman-elect, and CEO and Co-Founder of Amerifirst Home Mortgage, testifying before the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity on May 18, 2022. After the House passed H.R. 7735 in September, MBA issued a Mortgage Action Alliance call to action that urged members to contact their senators to pass the legislation. 

What’s next: MBA again thanks all our members who helped execute this year-long advocacy effort. We will continue to work with the VA, the new Congress, industry members, and other key stakeholders to ensure veterans and their families have access to more affordable, sustainable homeownership opportunities.

For more information, please contact Alden Knowlton at (202) 557-2741, Borden Hoskins at (202) 557-2712, Ethan Saxon at (202) 557 2913 or Tallman Johnson at (202) 557-2866.