Replies

That was a contract for your service in lew of low pay. They didn’t do you a favor, you earned it. The military knew that it couldn’t keep skilled people if they couldn’t end up having a piece of the American dream. So they needed to create the program, which on a mass basis they knew would work. After all, they knew you were good, steady enough to handle nuclear weapons, why not a mortgage?

Not to long ago you had to go hat in hand to ‘The Banker’ and near neigh grovel for a house loan. Today it is much simpler. You can do it online. Home loans are written for any credit group. Naturally you pay more for lower scores, but basically if you have had the income for a few years, you can get a loan. This is good, by and large, and no credit goes to the government.

Yes, but there is a difference here:

Your loan was part of the VA benefit programs for those who have served, along with education, health care and other bennies.

It isn’t proper to compare your benefits to Fannie/Freddie, because:

a) You’ve earned your benefits and compensation. Thanks for serving.

b) If every vet bought a house through the VA home loan benefit programs, the government involvement in housing still would be only a small fraction of what the loan activity is today through Fannie/Freddie. I don’t think you understand the magnitude of the problem(s) we’re taking a shot at when we’re talking about getting Fannie/Freddie out of the housing finance game. Fannie/Freddie together are holding home mortgage loans that total over $1 trillion, and they bundle and re-sell much, much more.

The VA benefits for your home loan I see the same way I see all other VA/vet benefits: compensation for your service, and the least we can do, not a handout to some middle-class person who didn’t need a hand-out in the first place (which is what Fannie/Freddie are).

All of the VA-guaranteed credit programs add up to mere 24+ billion per year.