VA loans have a lot of unique features that are not part of any other mortgage program. One of those features is the ability to "pause" your loan. If you are the only borrower on the loan documents, and you are deployed overseas, clearly you cannot pay the mortgage. You would need to speak to the lender who holds your lien and takes payments on the loan. This is what they can do to help you.
Arrange for Direct Deposits and Withdrawals
If you are not already placing your military pay into a checking account with the lender that has your VA loan, consider doing so. Even though you want to remain a customer of the bank where you handle most of your other finances, there is a way you can open and hold two accounts at two different banking institutions. Then request that the payroll officer on your nearest military base transfer exactly the amount you need to cover your loan into the checking account of the bank that holds your loan.
That bank has access and your permission to direct withdrawal the amount of your monthly payments every month you are deployed. If there is going to be a problem and you are able to call the bank long distance from your deployed location, you can tell the bank when this issue is going to occur. If not, back-payments and fees may accrue and the house may head into foreclosure.
Pausing Is Akin to Resetting the Loan
Pausing your loan is akin to resetting it. When and if your mortgage begins to go into foreclosure while you are deployed, request a forbearance of interest and/or payments. Your reasonable excuse for the request is that you are deployed. Most lenders are more than willing to work with deployed military personnel when no one else's name is on the loan. When you return to the U.S. after your tour of duty, you can meet with the lender and restart your loan or refinance the loan so that you can continue to make payments on it and bring it current.
Foreclosure Is Not Great, but with VA Loans It Is Not the End of the World Either
If you have already made too many mistakes and your home is knee-deep in foreclosure when you return home, it is okay. There are still ways to turn this around. Even if you cannot find the money to rescue your home from foreclosure, it is not the end of the world for your dreams of home ownership. The VA program cannot erase a foreclosure from your credit report, but your military status still allows you to borrow another VA loan for another home almost immediately after you lose this home.
Share7 September 2019
A few years back, I really started thinking about my financial future. I thought long and hard about how to go about handling various things, and someone told me that I needed to do something to get out of the hole. I started thinking about how to manage my money a little better, but I knew that I needed to start by getting a loan. I found a really fantastic loan that would work for what I needed, and after I got it, I felt great about the terms. After using it to pay off some of my debts, my monthly payments were much more manageable. Find out more about loans on this website.