Fair Access to Co-ops for Veterans Act of 2025
Officially: “Fair Access to Co-ops for Veterans Act of 2025” Read the full text
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1Short title
This section would let the Act be called the Fair Access to Co-ops for Veterans Act of 2025.
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1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Fair Access to Co-ops for Veterans Act of 2025 .
2Improvement of Department of Veterans Affairs loan guarantee for purchase of residential cooperative housing units
This section would amend several parts of title 38 of the United States Code, the law covering VA benefits, to change how VA-guaranteed loans for cooperative (co-op) housing shares work. First, it would remove a five-year time limit that had applied to VA's authority under section 3710(a)(12) to guarantee co-op share loans, so that authority would no longer be limited to loans guaranteed within five years after that paragraph became law. Second, it would replace subsection (h) of section 3710 with a new rule: VA could not guarantee a loan under the co-op share loan authority in paragraph (a)(12) until the Secretary of Veterans Affairs issues regulations setting requirements for underwriting, loan processing, project standards, share eligibility, valuation, and any other criteria the Secretary decides are necessary, and the Secretary would have to make those regulations consistent with the Federal National Mortgage Association's requirements for purchasing or securitizing cooperative housing loans, but only to the extent the Secretary considers that suitable. Third, it would amend section 3729(b), which sets the fees veterans pay for VA loan guarantees, so that the general fee-amount rule in paragraph (1) would have an exception for a new paragraph (5); that new paragraph (5) would set the fee for a loan guaranteed under the co-op share loan authority as the amount from the standard loan fee table plus an extra 3.25 percent of the total amount of the loan guaranteed, insured, or made, or, if the loan is assumed by someone else, 3.25 percent of the unpaid principal balance on the date the property is transferred. Fourth, it would amend section 3703(a)(1)(A)(i)(IV) to add the new co-op share loan authority (paragraph (12)) to a cross-referenced list that currently includes paragraph (8), so that loans guaranteed under paragraph (12) would receive whatever treatment that provision already gives to paragraph (8) loans when computing the loan amount. Fifth, it would add a new paragraph (3) to section 3704(c), stating that for purposes of that subsection (c) only, stock or membership in a cooperative housing corporation (as defined in section 216(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) that entitles a person to occupy a single-family dwelling unit in a co-op development, project, or structure would be treated as residential property. It would also add a new subsection (i) to section 3714, stating that for purposes of all of section 3714, that same kind of co-op stock or membership would be treated as residential property. Sixth, it would direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to use the Secretary's existing authority under section 532 of title 38 to advertise that loan guarantees for housing cooperative share loans under section 3710(a)(12) are available, and to take other appropriate actions, including issuing guidance, to notify eligible veterans, participating lenders, and interested realtors about the availability of these guarantees and the procedures and requirements for obtaining them. Finally, it would let the Secretary issue guidance to carry out section 3710 as amended by this section before the Secretary finishes writing the regulations that section requires, despite whatever section 501 of title 38 otherwise requires.
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2. Improvement of Department of Veterans Affairs loan guarantee for purchase of residential cooperative housing units (a) In general Section 3710 of title 38, United States Code, is amended— (1) in subsection (a)(12), by striking With respect to a loan guaranteed after the date of the enactment of this paragraph and before the date that is five years after that date, to and inserting To ; and (2) by striking subsection (h) and inserting the following new subsection (h): (h) A loan may not be guaranteed under subsection (a)(12) before the date on which the Secretary prescribes regulations setting forth requirements for underwriting, loan processing, project standards, share eligibility, valuation, and other criteria the Secretary determines necessary. The Secretary shall ensure that such regulations are consistent, to the extent the Secretary determines suitable, with the requirements of the Federal National Mortgage Association for the purchase or securitization of cooperative housing loans. . (b) Loan fees Section 3729(b) of such title is amended— (1) in paragraph (1), by striking The amount and inserting Except as provided in paragraph (5), the amount ; and (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: (5) In the case of an loan guaranteed under section 3710(a)(12) of this title, the amount of the fee shall be— (A) the amount determined from the loan fee table under paragraph (2), plus (B) 3.25 percent of the total amount of the loan guaranteed, insured, or made, or, in the case of a loan assumption, the unpaid principal balance of the loan on the date of the transfer of the property. . (c) Amount of loan Section 3703(a)(1)(A)(i)(IV) of such title is amended by striking or (8) and inserting (8), or (12) . (d) Treatment as residential property Such title is further amended— (1) in section 3704(c), by adding at the end the following new paragraph: (3) For purposes of this subsection, stock or membership in a cooperative housing corporation (as defined in section 216(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) for the purpose of entitling a person to occupy for dwelling purposes a single family residential unit in a development, project, or structure owned or leased by such corporation shall be treated as residential property. ; and (2) in section 3714, by adding at the end the following new subsection: (i) For purposes of this section, stock or membership in a cooperative housing corporation (as defined in section 216(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) for the purpose of entitling a person to occupy for dwelling purposes a single family residential unit in a development, project, or structure owned or leased by such corporation shall be treated as residential property. . (e) Authority To advertise The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall use the authority of the Secretary under section 532 of title 38, United States Code, to advertise the availability of loan guarantees for housing cooperative share loans under section 3710(a)(12) of such title and shall take such other appropriate actions as may be necessary, including by the issuance of guidance, to notify eligible veterans, participating lenders, and interested realtors of the availability of such loan guarantees and the procedures and requirements that apply to the obtaining of such guarantees. (f) Guidance Notwithstanding section 501 of such title, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs may issue guidance to implement section 3710 of title 38, United States Code, as amended by subsection (a), before prescribing new regulations under such section.
Where it is
In the House.