VA Benefits Explorer

Outreach, case management, and contracted community residential care for homeless veterans who need a structured living environment while working toward stable housing.

Guide: 4 things to gather, 7 steps

VA-backed home loan with no down payment as long as the sales price is not above the home's appraised value, no private mortgage insurance, and competitive interest rates for purchasing a primary residence. You may need to pay a one-time VA funding fee.

Guide: 11 things to gather, 14 steps

Refinance of an existing VA-backed home loan to get a lower interest rate, or to move from an adjustable or variable rate to a fixed one. You go through a private lender, and closing costs can add up to thousands of dollars.

Guide: 6 things to gather, 7 steps

Replaces your current mortgage with a new VA-backed loan so you can take cash out of your home equity or refinance a non-VA loan into a VA-backed loan. You go through a private lender, and closing costs can add up to thousands of dollars.

Guide: 5 things to gather, 7 steps

Direct VA loan for Native American veterans, and veterans married to a Native American, to buy, build, or improve a home on federal trust land, as a low-interest, 30-year fixed mortgage. It can also refinance an existing NADL to lower the interest rate.

Guide: 5 things to gather, 7 steps

Grant of up to $126,526 (FY 2026) to build, buy, or modify a permanent home for veterans with certain severe service-connected disabilities, such as the loss or loss of use of more than one limb, blindness in both eyes, or certain severe burns. The grant can be used up to 6 times.

Guide: 9 things to gather, 13 steps

Grant of up to $25,350 (FY 2026) to adapt, build, or buy a home for veterans with certain service-connected disabilities: the loss or loss of use of both hands, certain severe burns, or certain breathing injuries. The grant can be used up to 6 times.

Guide: 5 things to gather, 7 steps

Allows veterans who meet the SAH or SHA grant rules to adapt a family member's home while living there temporarily. TRA money comes out of the SAH or SHA maximum and counts as one of the grant's 6 uses.

Guide: 5 things to gather, 8 steps

Mortgage life insurance of up to $200,000 for severely disabled veterans approved for SAH or SHA grants, ensuring the home mortgage is paid off upon the veteran's death.

Guide: 4 things to gather, 5 steps

Combines HUD Housing Choice Voucher rental assistance with VA case management services to help homeless veterans find and maintain permanent housing in the private rental market.

Guide: 9 things to gather, 13 steps

VA-funded grants to nonprofit organizations providing short-term financial assistance and case management to very low-income veteran families who are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness.

Guide: 5 things to gather, 7 steps

Funds community agencies to provide transitional housing and supportive services to homeless veterans, generally for up to 24 months (longer when permanent housing has not been found or the veteran needs more time), while veterans work toward permanent housing and self-sufficiency.

Guide: 5 things to gather, 7 steps

VA counsels veterans and surviving spouses who are having trouble making mortgage payments, even when the loan is not VA-guaranteed, and the VA loan technician line is 877-827-3702 (TTY: 711). The options VA lists for avoiding foreclosure and keeping the home are special forbearance, a repayment plan, a traditional, 30-year, or 40-year loan modification, and a VA partial claim. With a partial claim, VA works with the loan servicer to pay the missed payments, and the homeowner repays it when the loan is paid off or the home is sold. A partial claim requires a completed 3-month trial payment plan first, and servicers have until November 28, 2026, to add partial claims to their systems.

Guide: 12 things to gather, 14 steps

Walk-in clinics at VA medical centers, outpatient clinics, and Community Resource and Referral Centers where one team of medical staff, nurses, social workers, mental health and substance use counselors, and homeless program staff provides care, case management, and help toward permanent housing.

Guide: 4 things to gather, 6 steps

A Certificate of Eligibility (COE) is the first step toward a VA-backed home loan or a Native American Direct Loan, and it shows the lender that the borrower has the VA home loan benefit. Veterans, service members, and National Guard and Reserve members can request one online on VA.gov, through a lender, or by mail with VA Form 26-1880. Surviving spouses of veterans who died on active duty or had a service-connected disability use VA Form 26-1817 if they get DIC, or VA Form 21P-534EZ with supporting documents if they do not.

Guide: 10 things to gather, 14 steps