VAREP s Five-Point Plan w w w. V A R E P. n e t
E stablished in 2011, the USA Homeownership Foundation, Inc. DBA Veterans Association of Real Estate Professionals (VAREP) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) community organization founded by a group of military veterans working in the real estate and financial services industries. Our members share the common goal of advocating equal housing and economic development for the underserved military and veteran communities.
Introduction The Veterans Association of Real Estate Professionals (VAREP) presents its Five-Point Plan to create awareness, find solutions, and advocate equal housing and economic development for the underserved military and veteran communities. THE FIVE-POINT PLAN 1. HOMEOWNERSHIP ADVOCACY. Advocate nationally to develop programs that reduce barriers to homeownership in the military and veteran communities; 2. COMMUNITY OUTREACH. Foster responsible homeownership in the military and veteran communities by providing housing education and counseling services, and through live and online courses on such topics as foreclosure prevention, financial literacy, and understanding credit pre and post-purchase; 3. PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP. Provide a place where real estate and financial service professionals can share ideas, get educated, and be empowered to better serve the real estate needs of service members, veterans, and their families. Non-military members are welcome; 4. VETERAN JOB CREATION. Collaborate with organizations in the financial service sector to support veteran employment, and help implement legislation such as the Vow to Hire Heroes Act, the Health Information Technology Act, the Veterans Benefits Act, the Veterans Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development Act, and Executive Order 13360 (promoting federal contracting opportunities for Service Disabled Veteran Owners of Small Business); 5. AFFORDABLE HOUSING. Provide affordable home buying opportunities for veterans and service members who have gone through VAREP s homeownership education counseling services. Participate in first look property programs; discounted distressed property purchase programs; and distressed property donation programs to acquire, renovate, and resell homes below market value; As America endures the long road to housing recovery, VAREP will serve the housing needs of veterans and service members, ensuring that they have the access to affordable homeownership they deserve. We will be their voice in the legislative and policy arena, encouraging financial institutions and government agencies to create programs that suit their unique needs.
Homeownership Advocacy for Military and Veterans The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that 131,000 veterans are homeless on any given night, and approximately twice that number experience homelessness over the course of a year. These homeless veterans are predominantly male, with roughly five percent being female. Approximately 56 percent are African-American or Hispanic. The primary causes of this problem are: Lack of income due to limited education and lack of skills that can be transferred from military to civilian life (especially true of younger veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan) Combat-related physical and mental health issues and disabilities Substance abuse problems that interfere with job retention Weak social networks due to problems adjusting to civilian life Shortage of affordable housing Lack of pro-veteran housing resources A top priority for these homeless veterans is safe, secure, clean housing that offers a supportive environment free of drugs and alcohol. Even with the advantages offered by VA loans, veterans still face a multitude of barriers when trying to purchase in today s market, which is dominated by REO and short sale properties. Some of the obstacles include credit score tightening, restrictive lending policies, appraisal challenges, prohibitive lender fees and allowable (but costly) fees. The VA loan program s general intent to lessen veterans financial burdens is not suited to this marketplace. VAREP applauds the VA s specialized homeless programs, which served more than 92,000 veterans in 2009; however, this still leaves well over 100,000 homeless veterans annually who need assistance. Additionally, the VA helped 72,391 veterans and service members who were delinquent on their mortgage loans retain their homes or avoid foreclosure in 2011 an increase from 66,030 from 2010. Recommendation The VA s efforts are a good start, but increasing sustainable homeownership among the military and veteran communities will require a holistic and team approach. VAREP asks lawmakers to re-examine the VA loan guarantee program and update it to be more competitive in today s market. VAREP also encourages large financial institutions to create additional pro-veteran programs to complement and fill the gaps in the VA loan guarantee program.
Community Outreach - Provide Housing and Economic Education to Military and Veterans Education is crucial to ensuring responsible and sustainable homeownership among the military and veteran communities. Veterans and service members have unique lifestyles that heavily impact their financial situations. Equipping veterans with solid financial knowledge will give them the tools to be responsible homeowners. Recommendation Educational programs for first-time veteran homebuyers should be taught by veterans who are themselves enjoying the benefits of homeownership, thus creating a vets teaching vets culture. Because of the unique lifestyles of veterans and service members, a combination of online and live classes will be the best formula for success. The goal of the financial literacy program is to put more military families into homes they can afford, with mortgages they can sustain without defaulting. The program will be administered and taught by knowledgeable housing professionals who understand the unique circumstances surrounding military service; education combined with counseling services will make this program a homerun. These services should be conducted by real estate, mortgage, and financial service professionals who are experienced and certified to teach their courses. These people must understand the systems in which military borrowers work; they should be familiar with military rank and pay systems, and in particular with the financial issues that may accompany service-related injuries, hospitalization, and treatment. Certification indicates a significant knowledge base that active-duty service members and veterans can rely on for prompt and accurate service of their housing needs. Certified participating lenders and Realtors will adhere to specific standards of practice, and must be committed to providing quality service to military borrowers.
Professional Membership - A Resource for Those Who Want to Better Serve Veterans Real Estate Needs Many industry professionals would like to meet the real estate needs of service members, veterans, and their families. However, until now no organization existed that could make it happen. VAREP was founded to fill the void. The membership goal of VAREP is to include all professionals in the real estate and financial fields who want to serve the military and veteran communities. A member does not need to have served to join us. Membership Features Military and Veteran Housing Specialist (MVHS). A course created by VAREP to educate real estate professional to better serve military and veteran housing needs. (This course is in development and will be accredited by state DREs for continuing education credits.) Online Talk Radio Show. The VAREP Online Talk Radio Shows brings our members informative interviews with leading professionals and organizations that believe in our mission and share our goals. Community Outreach Events. VAREP will work with local community leaders and financial institutions to hold community events, educating veterans and their families on housing and employment topics so they can participate fully in homeownership and economic prosperity. Online Community. Through blogs, forums, Facebook, and other online social media, members can enjoy discussions and interact to share ideas pertinent to the military and veteran community. Educational Resources. Members will enjoy webinars, downloads, links, and other useful tools to empower them to help military and veteran families. Recommendation We cannot accomplish our mission or Five Point Plan without grass roots memberships as well as corporate membership. We encourage all who support our cause to join.
Veteran Job Creation and Contracting Opportunities While no official study has been conducted to quantify the percentage of veterans working in the real estate, mortgage, and financial service industries, it can be safely assumed the number is relatively low in comparison to non-veteran employees. Careers in real estate, securities trading, banking, mortgage servicing, loan origination or asset management have not been widely available for veterans. This is due partly to a lack of outreach and recruiting; until recently, these industries have not focused on hiring veterans or retiring service members. Current Veteran Job Creation Programs In June of 2011, five top banks Bank of America (BoA), Citibank (C), Credit Suisse (CS), Deutsche Bank (DB), and Goldman Sachs (GS) partnered to form an organization called Veterans on Wall Street (VOWS), dedicated to honoring former military personnel and employees currently in the National Guard and Reserve by facilitating career and business opportunities in the financial services industry. This effort focused mainly on hiring veterans for the retail banking business for BoA, Citi, and backoffice and middle-office functions for GS, CS, and DB. Conspicuously absent were JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo. Five months later in November of 2011, JP Morgan Chase (JPMC), in support of the recently-passed Vow to Hire a Hero Act, initiated its 100,000 Jobs Mission, with the aim of hiring 100,000 veterans by 2020. Most of the founding members of this effort appear to be unrelated to the financial services field: AT&T; Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.; Cisco Systems, Inc.; Cushman & Wakefield Inc.; EMC Corp.; Iron Mountain, Inc.; JPMorgan; Chase & Co.; Modis; NCR Corp.; Universal Health Services; and Verizon Communications, Inc. VAREP applauds these efforts by corporate America to hire veterans, and strongly encourages other financial institutions to follow suit. We would also love to see more veterans placed in key senior-level management positions. VAREP believes the most effective strategy for organizations seeking to hire veterans is to first set up a veteran hiring team composed of veterans from all branches of the armed services so that vets can hire other vets. Veteran versus Diversity Job Creation Legislation In recent years, several laws have been passed that promote multicultural and gender diversity, such as section 342 of the Wall Street Reform Bill (AKA Dodd/Frank) and the recent enhancements to the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA). By design, these laws have compelled many participants in the financial services industry to revise their job-creation programs, resulting in increased diversity within their employee ranks and supplier procurement chains. These bills have also been championed by Congresswoman Maxine Waters of the 43 rd district to impress their importance to the financial services industry.
We have also mentioned the other legislation and executive orders that are intended to encourage veteran job creation. VAREP supports all these efforts, but feels that the measures aimed at veteran job creation and supplier diversity have been less effective than those concerned with multicultural and other diversity categories in the financial industry particularly. These veteran-focused efforts have not received the same emphasis as the Dodd/Frank and HERA laws received through Congresswoman Waters. Additionally, the financial industry needs help to effectively penetrate the detaching military personnel and veteran community. Most financial institutions and government agencies categorize veterans as a subgroup of their multicultural diversity programs and that is where they remain, in obscurity. VAREP understands the difficulties involved with creating jobs for veterans in the financial services industries. That is why we intend to work with these industries to provide qualified individuals and veteran-owned small businesses that they can work with. Recommendation VAREP encourages corporate America and government supplier diversity directors to make a more concerted effort to include veterans in the supply chain. Organizations should start by hiring veteran supplier procurement specialists who are sympathetic, have served themselves, and are passionate about giving other veterans a chance to succeed. These directors can then mentor veteran-owned business owners so that they will succeed when given an opportunity. It is hard for supplier diversity directors to understand the unique issues facing veterans if they have not served. Although some organizations have made efforts to employ veterans and work with veteran-owned businesses, the record of corporate America, government, and GSA organizations has been terrible to date. VAREP applauds the efforts that have been put forth to include multicultural groups; however, we would like to see the same effort made to include the veteran community.
Affordable Housing - Veteran Homeownership through Acquisition, Rehabilitation, and Resale Organizations such as the Neighborhood Community Stabilization Trust (NCST), NSP awardees, financial institutions, GSAs, and others have helped to stabilize communities through discounted distress AKA Real Estate Owned (REO) property purchase and distressed property donation programs to qualified 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. VAREP applauds these efforts especially those that seek to include the veteran community. Recommendation Although recently formed, USA Homeownership Foundation, Inc. DBA VAREP has the expertise in its leadership team to effectively participate in the existing efforts to put qualified, responsible veterans into distressed, rehabilitated homes. We are calling on financial institutions and government entities who want to reach the veteran community in their neighborhood stabilization programs to allow us to participate in the current distressed property disposition programs.
The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation. -George Washington