The U.S. Senate has passed Sen. Tim Sheehy’s bipartisan VA Home Loan Awareness Act as part of the broader 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, marking an early legislative win for the freshman Montana senator.
The bill, which Sheehy introduced as his first piece of legislation in the Senate, is aimed at helping more veterans and military families learn about the VA Home Loan program and whether they may qualify for it. Sheehy partnered on the measure with Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, giving the proposal bipartisan backing from the start.
The legislation would add a disclosure to the standard Uniform Residential Loan Application informing veterans that they may be eligible for a VA home loan and directing them to ask their lender for more information. It also would require the Government Accountability Office to review how lenders adopt the updated disclosure and report back to Congress.
The VA Home Loan program has long been viewed as one of the most valuable benefits available to veterans and eligible spouses. It allows qualified borrowers to buy a home with no down payment, no private mortgage insurance and often more favorable interest rates than conventional or FHA-backed loans. Even with those advantages, only a relatively small share of veterans use the program.
Supporters of the bill point to awareness as a major reason for that gap. Senate backers of the measure say a significant number of veterans who do not use the program simply do not know it is available to them.
The measure advanced as part of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, a sweeping bipartisan housing package that cleared the Senate last week on a strong bipartisan vote. The broader legislation is designed to address housing supply, affordability and access to homeownership, with Sheehy’s bill included as one piece focused specifically on veterans.
For Sheehy, the Senate passage gives him an early bipartisan accomplishment tied to veterans and housing, two areas he has emphasized since taking office. The bill’s next step will depend on final action in Congress on the larger housing package.