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REPUBLICAN PRESS RELEASE

December 13, 2007

Buyer and Michaud Join in Bipartisan Effort to Help Veterans Buy Homes

For more information, contact: Brian Lawrence, (202) 225-3527

Washington, D.C. —U.S. Representatives Steve Buyer (R-Ind.), and Mike Michaud (D-Maine), today announced joint legislation to help a greater number of veterans afford to enter the housing market.

Buyer, the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, and Michaud, the Chairman of the Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Health, teamed up to introduce H.R. 4539, the Department of Veterans Affairs Loan Guaranty Cost Reduction Act of 2007. The Buyer-Michaud bill increases the maximum amount of the home loan guaranty that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides to veterans. The current maximum amount is $417,000, and the new maximum would be $521,250 in most areas.

“Rising housing costs are keeping many veterans out of the market,” Buyer said. “And those who are able to purchase the American Dream are paying significantly higher closing costs.”

“Congressman Michaud and I designed this bill to make it easier for veterans to obtain their own home. It will hold down closing costs by capping funding fees at current levels, thereby reducing equity requirements for refinancing loans. It will also increase the VA guaranty rate to thirty percent for loans on homes designated as affordable housing. Under our bill, VA would also be able to offer assistance with closing costs on those affordable homes.”

Michaud added, “The provisions related to affordable housing should encourage developers to devote more resources to low-cost housing and enable more veterans to become homeowners. With affordable housing so scarce in many areas of the nation, the increased guaranty and closing cost assistance should be very advantageous to both our nation’s veterans and home builders.”

Since its inception as part of the WWII GI Bill, the VA Loan Guaranty Program has guaranteed 18.23 million loans to veterans worth $935.5 billion.

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Larry Scott  --

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