Retired U.S. Navy Captain Bob “Shoebob” Carey, the chair of the National Defense Committee (NDC), said thousands of military veterans could lose their homes if Congress and the Department of Veterans Affairs do not extend or replace a discontinued loan relief program.
“The clock is ticking,” Carey wrote in an op-ed in Stars and Stripes. “Thousands of down-on-their luck military veterans are in limbo and risk losing their homes if the government fails to act.”
The Department of Veterans Affairs ended the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase (VASP) program on May 1, 2025. The program allowed the VA to buy delinquent VA-backed loans and modify them to 2.5% interest so veterans could remain in their homes. More than 17,000 veterans were enrolled in the program when it was terminated.
Congress is considering the VA Home Loan Program Reform Act (H.R. 1815), which would allow the VA to offer a partial claim option rather than holding loans on its books. The bill passed the House by voice vote on May 19 and is now under consideration in the Senate.
Advocates, like Carey, have asked VA Secretary Doug Collins to extend the VASP program until the new legislation can be implemented. Without such an extension, veterans may be forced to refinance missed payments into 30- or 40-year loans at current market rates, which are as high as 7%.
Carey is a retired U.S. Navy captain and serves as chairman of the National Defense Committee, a veterans organization focused on military and veteran civil and legal rights. He has held positions in the Departments of Defense and Energy and was a national security adviser to two U.S. senators.
