Wednesday, 4 March 2015

Take Advantage Of The Disabled Veterans Loans

By Leslie Ball


It is a common practice by democratic governments to give special attention to the retired soldiers. In case these soldiers are incapacitated in any way due to injuries picked from war or training, they deserve even better treatment and attention. A good example is the measures the U. S. Government has put in place to ensure that the welfare of the veterans who picked injuries in service are taken care of. The disabled veterans loans are examples of such measures.

The Small Business Administration (SBA), in the summer of 2007, launched the Patriot Express Pilot Loan Initiative as documented by the Small Business Administration of Veteran Business Development. In this initiative, over $1 billion are given every year to the businesses that are owned by the vets who are physically impaired.

The Patriot Express loan facilities are available from the participating financial institutions such as banks, credit unions, and lenders. The SBA works as a guarantee to facilitate the credit advances to the veterans, but it is not the lender itself. As such, the interested and qualified vets are required to apply directly to the chosen participating lender. Normally, the lenders advertise their services and can be contacted in this way. However, the SBA is also willing to help the vets locate the lenders that are close to their area and make a choice from the many available options.

The terms and conditions are almost uniform across all participating institutions with only slight variations. For instance, the upper limit is pegged at $500,000 while the interest rate should be at most 2.25% above the rate of the Wall Street Journal listed seven-year loan. A lender is allowed to charge 1% more on $50,000 or less loan application or 2% for applications below 25,000.

In order to qualify, the vet needs an eligibility certificate normally given by the office of the Veteran Affairs. The lender also needs a documented proof that the vet is receiving an honorable discharge at the time. Lastly, a vet needs to have at least a 51% ownership stake in the business to be financed.

The processing time for most lenders is standard, ranging from two to four weeks. The SBA, however, gets a chance for the final review before the loan can be advanced. The SBA has a turnaround time of 36 hours. Given that the Patriot Express program is a streamlined process, no special paperwork or additional documents are needed. The paperwork is owned by the lender that is participating in the program.

The modification loans are the other example. They target to help the vets modify their homes to accommodate them in their current disability state. This facility has numerous advantages including no or very little down payment, no need for private mortgage insurance, very low-interest rates and no pre-payment penalties. It is also exempted from the VA funding fee.

There are several loan facilities targeted at helping the vets with the special needs to modify their homes to be more accommodating or help them start and grow a business. These are soft funding facilities with very low-interest rates and good terms. As a vet, you need to be on the constant look out and take advantage of these facilities.




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