At Your Service
For and about Hawaii's militaryBy Gregg K. Kakesako
Sunday, January 20, 2002
See also: For Your Benefit
New law gives vets
no-down home loan
of up to $240,000Eligible veterans can purchase a home costing as much as $240,000 without a down payment under new Veterans Affairs home loan guaranty amounts.
Before President Bush signed the Veterans Education and Benefits Expansion Act of 2001 on Dec. 27, the maximum guaranty was $50,750, which allowed no-down-payment loans of up to $203,000. The new law increases the guaranty on VA home loans to $60,000 from $50,750.
Many lenders will make VA no-down-payment loans for four times the maximum guaranty amount, said Judy Caden, deputy director of VA's Loan Guaranty Service.
The act also changed the American Indian veterans housing loan program, assistance for specially adapted housing, and home loans for National Guardsmen and Reservists. VA's direct loan program for American Indians assists those vets buying on trust land, she noted. VA issues the loan, not a private lender, so the program's different from regular guaranteed home loans.
"It's strictly for veterans living on reservations, because it's difficult to get lenders to make loans in those areas," Caden said.
The act extends the 9-year-old program for four years to Dec. 31, 2005. The program's loan ceiling is $80,000, except in certain high-cost areas where VA has approved up to $120,000, she said.
Loan interest rates are competitive with the mortgage market, she added.
Caden said it has been difficult for people on trust lands to meet income requirements for loans.
So far, VA has only made about 30 loans on trust lands in the continental United States.
"We've had the most success in the Hawaiian and American Samoa homelands," she noted. "We've made more than 200 of these loans in the Pacific areas."
The act also increases specialty-housing grants from $43,000 to $48,000 for severely disabled veterans who need homes built to accommodate wheelchairs.
The grant pays for such things as wider hallways, lowered kitchen appliances and countertops, and bigger bathrooms, Caden said.
Another grant program for housing adaptations for less seriously disabled vets had its ceiling raised to $9,250, up from $8,250, she pointed out. "The money is for some blinded veterans and amputees who need extra help," she said.
The new law also extends housing loans for National Guard and Reserve personnel from September 2007 to Sept. 30, 2009.
Reserve component personnel are authorized the same home loan guarantees as active-duty personnel.
Federal workers, military personnel and Foreign Service employees who travel on their jobs can now keep in their personal accounts the frequent-flier miles they earn, thanks to a new law.
The change was included in the 2002 Defense Authorization bill, which President Bush signed into law Dec. 28.
Previously, those miles could only be used for upgrades to business class, and only on official trips.
In 1994, Congress passed a law barring federal workers from accepting any promotional items -- including frequent-flier miles -- while traveling at government expense.
Last year, a General Accounting Office report found that very few government agencies or employees bothered to collect the frequent-flier miles because of resistance from both the airlines and the workers themselves.
"The current federal policy was well-intentioned as a means for reducing federal travel costs and promoting economy in government," the report concluded.
"However, the practical obstacles to achieving significantly greater savings are such that few agencies have overcome them."
Moving up
Pearl Harbor: Cmdr. Lindsay Hankins to command the USS Greeneville, relieving Cmdr. David Bogdan.
Gregg K. Kakesako can be reached by phone at 294-4075
or by e-mail at gkakesako@starbulletin.com.
