How to Obtain a Veterans Affairs
Certificate of Eligibility
The Veterans Affair (VA) determines your
eligibility,
if you qualify, a VA Certificate of Eligibility will be issued for you to
use during the mortgage loan process.
Eligibility applications can involve one or more of the
following:
- An original determination of eligibility for the home mortgage loan benefit.
- A request to replace a lost certificate of eligibility.
- A request for restoration of the benefit after payment in full of a
previous VA home mortgage loan.
- Issuance of a certificate reflecting a current outstanding mortgage loan for
refinance purposes.
What happens when I request a certificate of eligibility
through my mortgage lender:
In many cases, your mortgage lender will be able to obtain a Certificate of
Eligibility for you by using ACE (Automated Certificate of Eligibility).
ACE is an internet based application that is able to determine
eligibility and issue an online Certificate of Eligibility in a matter
of seconds.
If there is insufficient data in their records, the certificate will
have to be requested directly from the Veterans Affair.
Requesting a certificate from VA:
- Complete
VA Form 26-1880, Request for a Certificate of Eligibility for VA
Home Loan Benefits.
- Send the completed form 26-1880 and any supporting evidence(see 3
and 4 below) to
VA Loan Eligibility Center
PO Box 20729
Winston-Salem, NC 27120
For overnight delivery:
VA Loan Eligibility Center
251 N. Main Street
Winston-Salem, NC 27155
Under normal circumstances a response can be anticipated in roughly 10
days. This time frame will vary during periods of heavy activity.
- Include photocopies of your most recent discharge or separation
papers covering active military duty, which show active duty dates and
type of discharge. If you served on regular active duty (not a
reservist) and were discharged after 1975 or you have previously had a
VA loan, it may not be necessary for you to provide documentation of
your military service. However, it is best to provide such evidence
with your form 26-1880 if it is readily available so as to avoid
possible delays in processing your request.
- If you are seeking restoration of your previously used benefit, you
should include any evidence of payment in full of your prior loan (copy
of HUD-1, settlement statement for example) that you have in your
possession. Normally VA receives notification that a loan has been
paid, but this does not always happen. VA determines your eligibility
and, if you are qualified, VA will issue you a certificate of
eligibility to be used in applying for a VA loan.
If you were discharged from regular active duty:
If you were separated after January 1, 1950, the appropriate
documentation of your military service would be DD Form 214, Certificate
of Release or Discharge from Active Duty. If you were discharged
after October 1, 1979, DD Form 214, copy 4 would be appropriate. A
photocopy of DD214 will suffice.
Do not submit an original
document.
If your service was in Selected Reserves:
You must provide documentation sufficient to establish that you
served a minimum of 6 years with points earned for weekend drills or
active duty for training and received an honorable discharge.
Since there is no uniform document similar to DD214 for proof of service
in the Selected Reserve, a number of different forms may be accepted.
For those who served in the Army or Air National Guard and were
discharged after at least 6 years of service, NGB Form 22 may be
sufficient.
Those who served in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps or Coast
Guard Reserves may need to relay on a variety of forms. Often it
will be necessary to submit a combination of documents such as an
Honorable Discharge certificate together with a Retirement Points
Statement.
If you remain on active duty:
If you are now on regular active duty and have not been previously
discharged from active duty service, you must submit a statement of
service which includes the name of the issuing authority (base or
command), and is signed by or at the direction of an appropriate
official. The statement must identify you (SSN), and provide your
date of entry on active duty and the duration at any time lost. If
you remain on active Selected Reserve duty, the statement of service
should be from your unit CO and should cite the length of time you have
served with the reserve unit.