Pappas Demands VA Establish Foreclosure Moratorium for Veterans Put at Risk of Losing Their Homes

Today Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01), a member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee (HVAC) and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, led 27 of his colleagues in calling on the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to immediately implement a targeted foreclosure moratorium for veterans with mortgages guaranteed under the VA Loan Guaranty Program. 

This call comes following VA’s abrupt termination 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 – and the department’s continued failure to set up new mortgage relief options under the VA Home Loan Program Reform Act, which was signed into law in July 2025.

Underscoring the veterans and their families being impacted, the lawmakers wrote, “More than 10,000 veterans have already lost their homes since the Administration abruptly terminated the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase (VASP) program in May 2025. With nearly 90,000 additional veterans currently delinquent or already in the foreclosure pipeline, veterans and their families nationwide are facing a housing crisis that is both tragic and preventable.”

Noting the administration’s gap between the termination of VASP and the rollout of a new program, they wrote, “While the VA Home Loan Program Reform Act was signed into law in July 2025 to provide a vital safety net, the program remains non-operational as of May 22, 2026. As noted in the NPR report, "Veterans Mortgages: Foreclosure VA Rescue," the gap between the expiration of previous relief programs and the rollout of this new authority has left veterans with no viable path to avoid foreclosure other than resetting to current, significantly higher market interest rates.” 

They continued, “Veterans and their families should not be losing their homes simply because the administrative infrastructure for a legally authorized relief program is not yet finalized. If a veteran has a reasonable opportunity to have their home saved through the PCP under development, it would be cruel to foreclose on that veteran today.”

The letter was signed by Representatives Becca Balint (VT-AL), Nikki Budzinski (IL-13), André Carson (IN-07), Kathy Castor (FL-14), Judy Chu (CA-28), Herbert C. Conaway, Jr (NJ-03), Lou Correa (CA-46), Danny Davis (IL-07), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), Maxine Dexter (OR-03), Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Shomari Figures (AL,02), Sylvia R. Garcia (TX-29), Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), Maggie Goodlander (NH-02), Adelita S. Grijalva (AZ-07), Timothy M. Kennedy (NY-26), Rick Larsen (WA-02) John B. Larson (CT-01), Morgan McGarvey (KY-03), Kelly Morrison (MN-03), Delia Ramirez (IL-03), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), Terri Sewell (AL-07), Mike Thompson (CA-04), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), and George Whitesides (CA-27).

Read the letter here and below: 

Dear Secretary Collins,

We write to urge the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to immediately implement a targeted foreclosure moratorium for borrowers with mortgages guaranteed under the VA Loan Guaranty Program. This pause is essential to protect thousands of veterans who are currently at risk of losing their homes while the Department finalizes and implements the new Partial Claim Program (PCP) authorized by the VA Home Loan Program Reform Act of 2025.

According to recent reporting by NPR and other major outlets, more than 10,000 veterans have already lost their homes since the Administration abruptly terminated the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase (VASP) program in May 2025. With nearly 90,000 additional veterans currently delinquent or already in the foreclosure pipeline, veterans and their families nationwide are facing a housing crisis that is both tragic and preventable.

With the Administration’s decision to terminate VASP, tens of thousands of veterans lost the only option guaranteed to prevent foreclosure. While other mortgage relief options for veterans do exist, the rising number of veterans facing foreclosure clearly shows they are insufficient to meet this moment. Consequently, as Secretary only you have the power to take decisive action to prevent more veterans from losing their homes.

While the VA Home Loan Program Reform Act was signed into law in July 2025 to provide a vital safety net, the program remains non-operational as of May 22, 2026. As noted in the NPR report, "Veterans Mortgages: Foreclosure VA Rescue," the gap between the expiration of previous relief programs and the rollout of this new authority has left veterans with no viable path to avoid foreclosure other than resetting to current, significantly higher market interest rates.

Veterans and their families should not be losing their homes simply because the administrative infrastructure for a legally authorized relief program is not yet finalized. If a veteran has a reasonable opportunity to have their home saved through the PCP under development, it would be cruel to foreclose on that veteran today. A targeted moratorium would instead allow the veteran time for the Program to be offered by their lender. A foreclosure moratorium would also give VA time to align VA borrowers with those under FHA and USDA programs that already exist for those behind on payments and time for mortgage servicers to deploy the PCP.

Accordingly, we request that VA implement a targeted foreclosure moratorium until the VA Partial Claim Program is fully operational, accessible to mortgage servicers nationwide, and mortgage servicers are able to deploy the new program. Given the current potential for time-sensitive and irreversible impact on veterans, we also request a written response by June 2, 2026, to the following:

1. Will the Department implement a foreclosure moratorium for VA-guaranteed loans? If so, please describe the scope of that moratorium (including eligibility criteria, loan status requirements, and duration) and provide an implementation timeline.
2.  If the Department will not implement a moratorium, please explain its rationale for that decision, identify what legal, statutory, or other constraints it believes prevent VA from doing so, and state whether VA has conducted a formal legal analysis of its authority to implement a moratorium (and if so, provide that analysis).

Our veterans served this country with the promise of a stable future and federal government dedicated to fulfilling that promise. Thank you for your immediate attention to this critical matter. We look forward to your response.

Sincerely,