Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s first bill to become law protects military veteran homeowners
AZ Family
PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) – In office for seven months now, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema will soon have her first bill become law. It’s a rule change designed to protect military veteran homeowners from falling into debt.
As soon as the “for sale” sign comes down, veteran homeowners are bombarded with offers to refinance.
G-II Varrato II, a veteran and the Arizona state director of the Veterans Association of Real Estate Professionals, says while the promise of lower mortgage rates might look appealing, veterans were being left with massive amounts of debt after being coaxed into refinancing multiple times.
“It was easy money for these lenders to continue to churn and churn and churn, and they could tap a single veteran in a number of months and have him load tens of thousands on top of his loan,” Varrato said.
He calls it predatory lending.
He said he went to Sinema, and together they worked on a bill to end this practice.
Now he says veterans who have recently purchased homes won’t be taken advantage of when they move in.
“The veteran can no longer be assaulted by these lenders who wanted to prey on us, and we stopped it,” said Varrato.
The law has passed both the House and the Senate and is now awaiting President Donald Trump’s signature.