Lawmakers seek answers after VA ends mortgage-assistance program that helped 17,000 veterans

Members of the House Appropriations committee questioned Secretary Collins about the VA Servicing Purchase Program, which had allowed the department to assume at‑risk mortgages to prevent foreclosures for veterans.

Representative Escobar asked why the VA terminated the program without an immediately available alternative to prevent foreclosures. Collins said the program was started within VBA rather than by Congress and that it exposed the VA to large potential liabilities. He said about 17,000 at‑risk mortgages were assumed under the program, representing roughly $5.4 billion in principal, and that continuing the program could have required additional billions in appropriations.

Collins told lawmakers the department decided to stop new enrollments as of May 1 and will not assume new mortgages going forward. He said the department wants to find alternatives that do not leave VA on the hook for long-term property liability and that Congress has proposed legislative options being considered.

Representative Escobar asked for details on how many veterans were waiting for VASP assistance at the time of cancellation, what guidance the VA gave applicants after the program ended, and how many entered foreclosure or serious delinquency during the wind‑down; Collins’s office agreed to provide follow-up information in writing.