WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate passed Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s bipartisan Protecting Affordable Mortgages for Veterans Act that safeguards veterans from predatory loan practices and helps them more easily access their earned homeowner benefits. The legislation, cosponsored by Republican Senator Thom Tillis, now heads to the U.S. House.
“Veterans deserve full access to the homeowner benefits they’ve earned. I thank my Senate colleagues for passing my Protecting Affordable Mortgages for Veterans Act, so veterans can securely achieve the dream of homeownership, and I urge my colleagues in the U.S. House to quickly take up the bill,” said Sinema.
“I applaud Senator Kyrsten Sinema for her diligent work to ensure all American veterans retain one of the cornerstones of financial security and community building: the power of homeownership. As a REALTOR® and veteran, I’ve been sickened to see my veteran brothers and sisters fall victim to predatory lending. This bill makes an important change to existing law that helps protect veterans from unscrupulous lenders and keep more veterans in their homes,” said G-II Varrato II, Ret. USAF, Arizona Director of the Veterans Association of Real Estate Professionals.
Currently, an unintended consequence in existing law makes it more difficult for veterans to use the VA home loan guaranty to refinance their mortgages. Sinema’s bipartisan Protecting Affordable Mortgages for Veterans Act fixes this problem and allows Arizona veteran homeowners save money, pay off their mortgages, and avoid falling prey to predatory lenders. Sinema also championed the Protecting Affordable Mortgages for Veterans Act last year in the U.S. House.