Well, howdy there, Internet people, it's Bell again.

So today, we're going to talk about Trump, homeless vets, and the end of a program.

There's a program run by Veterans Affairs called VASP, or the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase Program.

It's not exactly a well-known program,

but expected to become well-known. It's relatively new. It's only been around about a year,

and during that period, it's helped thousands of veterans stay in their homes when they fell

behind on mortgage payments. You see, people with loans backed by Fannie Mae,

Freddie Mac, or the Federal Housing Administration have access to programs that allow homeowners

to catch up on missed payments without having to refinance into the higher interest rates of today.

The change in interest rates could lead to a

situation where the payments are out of reach and people lose their homes. If VASP didn't exist,

those with VA-backed loans don't have options. Trump ended VASP. The VA has announced it won't accept any new enrollees.

The Center for Responsible Lending says that, quote, as of February 2025, there were about 81,000 active duty service members or veterans who had already missed three or more payments on their VA mortgages

and were in default. These are people at risk of foreclosure. There is talk about replacing the

program with something that would tack their missed payments onto the end of the loan. But at time of

recording, there's no replacement.

Republican Representative Mike Boast of Illinois, who is the chair of the House Veterans Affairs

Committee, said, quote, we had serious concerns about the impact VAS would have not only on the future of VA's home loan program,

but the mortgage lending business as a whole.

There's a nonpartisan organization that represents the interests of the mortgage lending business.

The vice president for residential policy over the Mortgage Bankers Association said, quote,

We are very worried. We don't like to foreclose on anyone, and especially not on veterans.

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