VA home loans temporarily cover buyer-broker fees

Eligible veterans, active-duty service members, and surviving spouses who use the Department of Veterans Affairs-guaranteed home loan benefit can now use it to pay for certain real estate buyer-broker fees when purchasing a home.

According to a VA release, the move ensures that veterans remain competitive and are not disadvantaged on the homebuying market due to changes that may result from a key class-action settlement involving the National Association of Realtors, which is slated to take effect later this summer. Until the fix was announced on Tuesday, veterans could not pay their buyer-broker fees when using their home loan benefits.

“We always want to put veterans and their families in the best possible position to buy the homes they want, and that’s what this update is all about,” said Under Secretary for Benefits Joshua Jacobs.

Jacobs said the temporary measure means that the class-action settlement does not negatively impact veterans.

“Veterans using VA home loan benefits can now pay reasonable and customary amounts for certain charges — including commissions and other broker-related fees — thus ensuring that they remain competitive in the rapidly changing housing market,” he said.

Veterans using the VA-guaranteed home loan benefit can and should still negotiate their buyer-broker fee, according to the release. Nothing in the settlement prevents veteran home-buyers from asking sellers to pay the fees at closing. All buyer-broker fees charged to veterans using the home loan benefit must also be reasonable and customary within local markets.

For more details about this new update and its impacts, visit here.

Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com .