G-II Varrato II, a Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Phoenix Metro Branch associate abd Arizona State Director of Veterans Association of Real Estate Professionals (VAREP) — was instrumental in ruling changes by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to favor veterans.
“No other veterans’ organization has ever accomplished what we just did. With my guidance, the congressman’s team was able to send the letter to the correct people and departments at both the FHFA and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB),” Varrato said.
VAREP is a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing sustainable homeownership, financial literacy education, and economic opportunity for the active-military and veteran communities.
Recent Veterans’ Affairs studies revealed that 85 percent of active and retired military personnel did not receive any training or exposure to VA mortgage loan options.
The studies showed that 62 percent of older veterans and 25 percent of their younger counterparts had experiences with mortgage lenders who did not even discuss VA options.
Responding to these studies, VAREP decided to gain the attention of members of Congress. That’s when, with guidance from Arizona State Director Varrato, VAREP contacted Congressman Raul M. Grijalva (D-AZ).
“The State Rep. subsequently urged 45 other members of Congress to write a bipartisan letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) asking that Form 1003 include military identification data-collection points that enable the lender to add an additional disclosure and comparison of the VA loan option along with the current comparison requirements of the FHA versus Conventional loan options,” said Varrato, who is a retired U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt., 820th CES Red Horse.
In a letter from FHFA Director Melvin Watt to Grijalva, Watt stated, “The Federal Housing Finance Agency currently is taking steps to ensure that lenders are aware of loan applicants’ military service by requiring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to develop a new Universal Loan Application Dataset (ULAD) that includes data elements designed to capture a borrower’s current and prior military service.”
Varrato’s and VAREP’s efforts will help pave the way to financially optimize home ownership options for those who serve in the U.S. military.
