FOR RELEASE: July 06, 2001

EVANS INTRODUCES “RESERVIST HOME LOAN 
FAIRNESS ACT” 
Senior Lawmaker Calls for Eliminating Added Home Loan Fee
for Guard and Reserve 

Washington, DC – Calling a requirement that members of the Guard and Reserve pay a higher fee to use the VA Home Loan Guaranty Program, “clearly unfair and unwarranted”, Congressman Lane Evans (IL-D) has introduced legislation to eliminate the higher fee requirement for members of the Guard and Reserve.  Evans’ legislation, The Reservist Home Loan Fairness Act, H.R. 2095, provides a uniform funding fee schedule for qualifying members of the selected reserve and active duty members when they apply for a VA Guaranty Home Loan.  In addition, the legislation will overcome a barrier to the full integration of the Guard and Reserve into the Armed Forces Total Force concept, added Evans, a member of both the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee and the Committee on Armed Services.  

The VA Home Loan Program, as it exists today, charges qualifying Reservists additional funding fees equal to three-fourths of one percent of the total cost of the loan.  On a typical loan, Reservists pay about $1,000.00 more – this is just not fair. 

“Members of the Guard and Reserve often face a lack of recognition for their military contributions and must overcome various real and perceived barriers to gain their acceptance in the Total Force,” says Evans.  “They sometimes perceive these barriers as continuing proof of “second-class citizenship.”  He notes that the efforts of the Reserves have increased over 13-fold since the late 1980s.  By any measure, Reservists contribute as full-partners to our military Total Force.  

Congress can remove this barrier to integration by correcting the disparate funding fee rate Reservists and veterans of the Reserves pay for VA Guaranty Home Loans compared with their active duty counterparts.  The Reserve Officers Association and the Enlisted Association of the National Guard strongly support the initiative.  Reservists may serve in harm’s way alongside their active duty counterparts, yet they pay an additional 0.75 percent in funding fees for homes purchased under the comprehensive VA Home Loan program.  Evans’ legislation has been referred to the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs where he hopes the measure will receive speedy consideration and approval.  “At its core, this legislation is really a fairness issue”, concluded Congressman Evans.

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