WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) released the following statement after the Federal Housing Financing Agency (FHFA) directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to develop a new universal loan application dataset (ULAD) that will capture information about a borrower’s current and prior military service. FHFA will use the ULAD as the basis for an updated uniform residential loan application (URLA). The move comes after Rep. Grijalva led 45 of his Congressional colleagues in calling for a veteran status identifier to be included on the URLA to ensure more veterans are aware of VA home loan options, and to obtain vital data on how many veterans obtain VA home loans.

“I commend FHFA for their swift action to ensure veterans are informed of every option available to them, and for collecting the data needed to analyze the effectiveness of our veteran outreach,” Rep. Grijalva said. “Veterans earn benefits like the VA home loan through their service to our nation, yet without this data, we cannot ensure that veterans are even aware that benefits like zero down payments were available to them. This small step will change that, and make a huge difference for veterans looking to buy a home.”

###