Can Military Spouses Get VA Loans?
The VA home loan program is one of the pillars of military service benefits. It is a quality process with many benefits to borrowers including no-money-down loans, an easier qualifying process than typical home loans and a thorough but quick appraisal that benefits the buyer. Many service members wonder, though, how their spouses fit into the VA loan process. Depending on the situation, there are different answers to this.
Current Spouses
If you and your spouse are looking to buy a home and use a VA loan, your spouse is able to cosign for the loan. You may use your spouse’s income information and credit history to help your chances of qualifying for a loan or increasing the amount of loan you are eligible for.
This can benefit you, but just as with a traditional home loan, including a spouse on the loan means you are also factoring in any debts they have that will be used to calculate your debt-to-income ratio. If they have poor credit history, this can also negatively affect your VA loan. You will both be legally responsible for the repayment of the full amount of the debt like you would with a traditional loan, so if they lose their job or otherwise become unable to pay toward their part of the loan, you still will be responsible for the full amount.
Surviving Spouses
Historically, only spouses of service members who had died as a result of military service qualified for VA loan benefits. In 2012, though, the Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act was signed and benefits were extended to surviving spouses who qualified in one of three ways:
- Surviving spouses who have not remarried whose service member spouse died as a result of a service-related disability or in active service
- Spouses whose service member spouses who were prisoners of war or declared missing in action for a minimum of 90 days
- Surviving spouses whose veteran spouse was determined to be wholly disabled and eligible for disability due to any cause at the time of death
Former Spouses
Ex-spouses of service members are ineligible for VA home loans. More complicated, though, is when a couple has purchased a home using a VA loan and then decides to divorce.
Though the VA has fairly stringent occupancy requirements when it comes to who is allowed to live in homes purchased through VA loans, if the spouse cosigned on the loan, the civilian spouse can continue occupying the home even if the service member no longer does.
What becomes problematic in many cases is that as long as the original VA loan is still outstanding, meaning that it has not been paid off in full, the service member is ineligible to restore the entitlement that allows them to borrow using a VA loan. After the loan is paid off, service members can apply to have their entitlement restored.
Every situation is different, so if you have any questions regarding spouses and VA loans, reach out to an expert at National Home Loans to see if a VA loan is right for you.
