Page 18 - The Panozzo Team - VA Home Loan Guide

ACRONYMS AND MILITARY JARGON

1. VA – Veterans Administration

2. FHA – Federal Housing Administration

3. Certificate of Eligibility – Certificate of eligibility – This determines if the Veteran
has eligibility to use a VA home loan.

4. ACTIVE DUTY – This is when the service member is currently serving his or her
country full time.

5. RESERVIST – This is a member of the military reserves and typically serves one
weekend a month and two weeks in the summer.

6. NATIONAL GUARD – This is the primary reserve military force partly maintained by
the states but also available for federal use.

7. SURVIVING SPOUSE – This is the spouse of a service member who was married to
the active-duty or veteran service member at the time of their passing.

8. VA ELIGIBILITY – If a Veteran has “eligibility” then they are able to use their VA
home loan after completing a satisfactory period of service.

9. VA ENTITLEMENT – This tells the lender how much home the Veteran can buy with
no down payment. If a Veteran has full entitlement then there is no loan limit. If

a Veteran has partially charged entitlement then the amount the Veteran can
qualify for is reduced.

10. VA FUNDING FEE – The VA funding fee is a one-time payment that the Veteran pays
on a VA home loan. This fee helps to lower the cost of the loan for US taxpayers
since the VA home loan doesn’t require a down payment or monthly mortgage
insurance. (This is actually rolled into the loan and not paid by the Veteran out
of pocket at closing).

11. TIDEWATER INITIATIVE – This is initiated when the appraiser doesn’t think the
home is worth the agreed upon contract sales price. The lender and Realtors
have 48 hours to provide comps to the appraiser to support the sales price.

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