Pappas Continues to Fight for Veterans Put at Risk of Losing Their Homes
Today Representatives Chris Pappas (NH-01), a member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee (HVAC) and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, and Mark Takano (CA-39), Ranking Member of HVAC, held a press conference with National Fair Housing Alliance Vice President Public Policy and Senior Counsel for Fair Lending, Maureen Yap and Senior Attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, Alys Cohen to call attention to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) ending of the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase (VASP) program - the only VA program that guaranteed foreclosure avoidance for veterans experiencing severe financial hardship, helping them stay in their homes.
“It’s important to understand that 80,000 veterans at risk have been put at risk by the abrupt ending of the VASP program… I’ve heard from veterans directly that are concerned about their future,” said Congressman Pappas. “This isn't about statistics, it’s not about hypothetical situations, it’s about real people. It’s about real veterans that swore an oath to give everything up to and including their lives for the United States of America who deserve our unwavering commitment to be able to provide them a roof over their head and to make sure they won’t get foreclosed on. So this shouldn’t be a partisan issue. This is a moral issue, and something that we will continue to call VA on to address and to make sure that they are providing the kind of support that our veterans need, whether that’s in the form of a foreclosure moratorium or reimplementing VASP while we work on this partial claims program. We need a solution today so that veterans like Daniel in my district get the help and support that they deserve.”
Watch Congressman Pappas’s remarks here or the full press conference here.
The VASP program was created as a “last-resort” option for veterans and their family members facing foreclosure on VA-backed loans following the expiration of pandemic programs, which when coupled with rising interest rates, increased the risk of default for thousands of veterans. Before its termination, VASP was the only program of last resort that existed for veterans facing immediate foreclosure, and helped over 17,000 veterans since the program launched in 2024. By abruptly ending this program on May 1 with no alternative in place, 80,000 veterans and their families now face the prospect of losing their homes with no relief mechanism in place.
Background:
In April, Pappas spoke out forcefully against the administration abruptly ending the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase Program (VASP) during a House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity markup. He joined a bicameral letter pressing Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Doug Collins to immediately reverse his decision to abruptly end VASP. Earlier this month, in a HVAC markup, Pappas spoke out against the decision to end VASP, and in a HVAC hearing with VA Secretary Collins, Pappas rebuked the Secretary for ending the program.
In January, Pappas joined a letter to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Acting Secretary Todd Hunter demanding answers about how VA is implementing President Trump’s Inaugural Executive Order to freeze hiring across the executive branch and how it is hurting veterans’ access to the health care and benefits they earned. In March, Pappas condemned reports that the Trump administration is planning to cut 80,000 staff from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which could have catastrophic consequences for America’s veterans and cause significant delays and disruptions for those seeking medical treatment, as well as support for housing, addiction, mental health, and other lifesaving services. These firings would also result in job losses for thousands of veterans, who make up 25% of VA's workforce.