How could Trump ending a VA mortgage program leave veterans on the streets?
Vets could face foreclosure as a result of the White House's actions


The VA Servicing Purchase, or VASP, program was enacted by the Biden administration to help veterans avoid foreclosure by rolling their missed mortgage payments into low-interest loans. But the Trump administration has ended this key lifeline for veterans, and many military and Department of Veterans Affairs advocates are worried it could lead to more veterans foreclosing on their homes.
What did the commentators say?
Cutting the VASP, which has reportedly helped 17,000 vets avoid foreclosure, "leaves millions of military veterans with far worse options than most other American homeowners if they run into trouble paying their home loans," said NPR. Trump's decision to slash the program also "comes at a time when nearly 90,000 VA loans are seriously past due, with 33,000 of those already in the foreclosure process." Given that the average mortgage rate is currently high at almost 7%, according to Freddie Mac, the VASP is "often the only affordable option for homeowners with VA loans."
Many veterans with these loans have "missed multiple payments and are in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure, according to recent data from Intercontinental Exchange," said MarketWatch. These loans "make up a relatively small part of the mortgage market, with conventional loans forming the biggest share," but "resumption of VA-loan foreclosures could result in an increase in overall foreclosure activity by as much as 15% in 2025."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Mortgage companies are also warning about what the program's end could mean. Bankers are "very worried," said Justin Wiseman, the vice president for residential policy at the Mortgage Bankers Association, to CNN. They "don't like to foreclose on anyone, and especially not on veterans," Wiseman said. "We're very worried that without a replacement program for VASP, there will be more foreclosures."
Republicans lambasted the program "because, they argued, the VA becoming the loan holder put taxpayer dollars at unacceptable risk," said Military.com. Despite this, advocates have been "warning the VA that shutting down VASP without replacing it with something else first would result in large numbers of veterans losing their homes," said NPR.
Democrats have criticized the Trump administration for ending the program, even as they work to find an alternative. The VA is "taking a misstep that will push thousands of veterans into foreclosure," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) in a letter to the Trump administration. Ending the VASP is "cruel, wrong, and runs counter to the benefits earned by veterans."
What next?
The nonpartisan Center for Responsible Lending, a housing advocacy think tank, also wrote a letter claiming that ending the program means veterans will "face unnecessary foreclosures, and the claims associated with these foreclosures will unnecessarily raise the budgetary cost of the home loan program for the VA." Many of these "homeowners will be forced to sell their homes and move or face foreclosure, burdening the VA program with claims from foreclosures that could have been avoided."
Blumenthal and Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wisc.) have presented potential replacement plans. These replacement programs would "help vets struggling to keep their homes by moving their missed payments to the back of their loan term so they would pay them back down the road," said NPR. But these bills also have a long way to go to become law, and between this is a "chasm that could swallow thousands of VA home loans."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Justin Klawans has worked as a staff writer at The Week since 2022. He began his career covering local news before joining Newsweek as a breaking news reporter, where he wrote about politics, national and global affairs, business, crime, sports, film, television and other news. Justin has also freelanced for outlets including Collider and United Press International.
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidents
The Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
Does buy now, pay later affect your credit score?
the explainer The company behind the FICO score is going to start including a person's 'buy now, pay later' payment history in its credit models
-
IAEA: Iran could enrich uranium 'within months'
Speed Read The chief United Nations nuclear inspector, Rafael Grossi, says Iran could be enriching uranium again soon
-
Trump's strikes on Iran: a 'spectacular success'?
In Depth Military humiliations 'expose the brittleness' of Tehran's ageing regime, but risk reinforcing its commitment to its nuclear program
-
Will NATO countries meet their new spending goal?
today's big question The cost of keeping Trump happy
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump
-
Trump embraces NATO after budget vow, charm offensive
Speed Read The president reversed course on his longstanding skepticism of the trans-Atlantic military alliance
-
Bibi's back: what will Netanyahu do next?
Today's Big Question Riding high after a series of military victories, Israel's PM could push for peace in Gaza – or secure his own position with snap election
-
Is Trump sidelining Congress' war powers?
Today's Big Question The Iran attack renews a long-running debate
-
Trump judge pick told DOJ to defy courts, lawyer says
Speed Read Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official nominated by Trump for a lifetime seat, stands accused of encouraging government lawyers to mislead the courts and defy judicial orders