A couple of comments were posted over the last week concerning renting out a home financed with a VA loan. These are great questions and were answered by Anne Lloyd, a loan specialist with You Served sponsor VA Mortgage Center.com. This topic deserve a little more attention as I’m sure it’s one that is frequently asked by active duty members issued orders to move and vets that have had to relocate over the last few years of a troubled economy.
First question was from Tanya.
My husband and I have owned our home with a VA loan for 14 years. Due to the economy, we were forced to move last year and rented it out. Every time we speak to our mortgage co, they always ask if we are currently occupy the home and we say yes because we were scared and didn’t know if we could rent. How do we go about being on the up and up with our mortgage co? I am tired of always being afraid of them as we have in the past been seriously late on our payments before we rented out that our mortgage co threatened us every day with foreclosure. Any info appreciated.
Here is Anne’s answer.
Hi Tanya, that sounds like a challenging situation. Though it’s perfectly acceptable to rent out a home with a VA Loan (especially after 13 years as a primary residence!), it’s probably wise to be honest with your mortgage company. If for no other reason, it’s important to carry the proper insurance coverage since you have liability as home owners of a rented property. If you’re concerned about the mortgage company’s reaction, it might be a good idea to speak with someone at your VA Regional Loan Center first. Get his or her name and contact information so that if the mortgage company does question your ability to rent out the home with a VA loan, you can put them directly in touch with the VA. (You can find your Regional Loan Center here: http://www.benefits.va.gov/homeloans/rlcweb.asp). Like anything, you’ll have to make the decisions yourself, but that’s what I would do in that situation. Best of luck!
Solemei asked the next question.
As a veteran and no longer active duty, my husband and I bought our condo at the height of the bubble in 2006 (we are underwater here in Nevada). My husband has been promoted to VP of IT/SSO and must relocate. We would like to rent out our condo for the amount of the mortgage payments plus HOA monthly fees. I can’t get a straight answer from our regional VA office in Phoenix, AZ. We don’t want to just walk away and risk ruining our chances of using my VA to purchase our future home. Our lender is giving us the runaround as well. Any thoughts or recommendations? As of right now, he is commuting over 100 miles on a daily basis since his promotion in January 2011.
Anne’s answer will probably help a lot of folks.
Solemei, it should be just fine to rent out your condo, even with a VA loan on it. The only time it’s an issue is if you rent it out immediately after purchasing without using the property as your primary residence. As long as you bought the property as a primary residence and used it that way, it’s OK to rent it out later, particularly in the case of relocating for a job. If you’re having trouble getting a straight answer from your Regional Loan Center, you might try speaking to another region to see if you can find someone more helpful to put your mind at ease. Good luck
Do you have any quesitons about renting out a VA loan backed house? Leave them in the comments and I will ask Anne to take a look!
