On June 15, 2026, the Department of Veterans Affairs quietly opened a new federal safety net for veterans who fall behind on a VA-guaranteed home loan. The program is called the VA partial claim program, and it is built to keep veterans in their homes when a job loss, medical bill, or income drop puts the mortgage out of reach. Most veteran homeowners have never heard of it, and most servicers will not have it fully up and running until the November 28, 2026 compliance deadline. That gap matters, because the borrowers most likely to need this option are the ones least likely to be told it exists. Here is what the partial claim actually does, who can use it, and what a struggling VA borrower should do right now.
What Did the VA Just Roll Out for Veteran Homeowners?
Before June 15, a veteran behind on a VA mortgage had a short menu of choices and none of them felt great. Forbearance pauses payments but does not erase the missed ones. A loan modification can stretch the term or change the interest rate, but it usually rewrites the original mortgage. Selling, a short sale, a deed in lieu, or eventually foreclosure rounded out the list. Each option either left the veteran owing a lump sum at the end of forbearance or replaced the loan they originally chose.
The partial claim works differently. When a veteran qualifies, the VA pays the past-due amount directly to the loan servicer and creates a no-interest second lien on the home for that amount. The original mortgage stays exactly as it was. No new rate. No new term on the primary loan. No surprise lump sum at the end of forbearance. The veteran resumes the regular monthly payment they were already used to, and the partial claim balance sits quietly in second position until the home is sold, the loan is refinanced, or the original loan is paid off. The VA gives borrowers a long runway — up to roughly thirty years — before the partial claim must be repaid in full.
This is structured to be a gap-bridging tool, not a refinance and not debt forgiveness. The arrears do not disappear. They are simply moved out of the primary mortgage and into a separate, no-interest, no-monthly-payment lien that the veteran repays later. The program replaces the older COVID-era VA Servicing Purchase pathway, which is being wound down. One of the meaningful design choices here is timing: the VA is accepting partial claim submissions now, but servicers — the company a veteran actually sends their payment to — have until November 28, 2026 to be fully ready to process them. Some servicers will be ready in weeks. Others will take the full window. A veteran calling today may need to ask for a callback or escalate to a different team if the first answer is “we are not set up for that yet.” That is the single most common mistake to avoid: hearing “no” from front-line staff and assuming the program does not apply. It does. The implementation is on a clock, and the borrower’s job during this window is to stay on the servicer’s radar without falling further behind. VA-guaranteed home loans have always carried borrower protections written into the program; this is the newest one.
How Does a Partial Claim Actually Stop Foreclosure?
The mechanics are simple once the moving parts are named. A foreclosure starts when missed payments stack high enough that the servicer refers the loan to its foreclosure department. The partial claim is designed to stop the stack before it gets that high.
Step one is the borrower’s call. The veteran tells the servicer, in plain language, that there has been a hardship and that they want to be evaluated for VA loss-mitigation options including a partial claim. Step two is documentation. The servicer will ask for evidence of the hardship — a layoff letter, medical bills, reduced pay stubs, a deployment order, anything that shows the income drop or expense shock was outside the borrower’s control. Step three is the qualification review. The servicer checks that the loan is still VA-guaranteed, that the home is still the veteran’s primary residence, that the borrower can resume the regular monthly payment now that the gap is cleared, and that the unpaid arrearage falls within the program’s funding limits.
The funding limit most veterans ask about
The VA caps how much it will advance through a partial claim. In broad strokes, the program is designed to cover the lesser of the borrower’s past-due amount or roughly 25 percent of the loan’s unpaid principal balance. That cap is what keeps the partial claim aimed at borrowers who are behind but recoverable, not borrowers whose payment was never affordable to begin with. If the missed payments and program-eligible advances exceed that cap, the partial claim alone will not fully close the gap, and the servicer will typically pair the partial claim with another loss-mitigation tool or steer the borrower toward a different option entirely.
Step four is the closing. If approved, VA disburses the funds, the servicer applies them to the missed payments, and the loan is brought current. A subordinate-lien document is recorded in the property records showing the partial claim balance. From that moment on, the borrower has one monthly payment again — the original VA mortgage — and a second silent lien they will repay later. The partial claim itself carries no interest and no required monthly payment. A practical view of how a loan officer fits into this process is in our explainer on what a loan officer actually does from application through closing, which carries over into hardship work.
Who Qualifies for the New VA Partial Claim Program?
The eligibility rules are straightforward, but a few details trip people up. The loan has to be a VA-guaranteed mortgage that is still actively backed by the VA guaranty — assumed VA loans where the original veteran has been released of liability can complicate this. The property has to be the veteran’s primary residence; second homes and investor properties are excluded. The borrower must be currently behind or at imminent risk of falling behind because of a documented hardship, not simply because the borrower wants a payment reset. And the borrower has to demonstrate the ability to resume the regular monthly payment once the past-due amount is cleared. That last part is the one most likely to disqualify an application: if the underlying monthly payment is no longer affordable on the borrower’s current income, the partial claim by itself is not the right tool.
When a partial claim is not the answer
A partial claim is not a rate-reduction product. If the underlying problem is that the veteran’s interest rate is materially higher than what is currently available and the borrower is still paying on time, the better conversation is about a rate-reducing VA streamline refinance, which uses a different VA program entirely and does not require any delinquency. The partial claim is also not a debt-forgiveness program. The advanced funds are repayable, just not on the same schedule as the primary mortgage. Veterans whose hardship is permanent rather than temporary — the income that paid the mortgage is not coming back — often end up in a different conversation about loan modification, short sale, or a deed-in-lieu arrangement, sometimes paired with a partial claim and sometimes not. The point of the qualification step is to match the borrower to the right tool, and a partial claim only fits a specific window.
One nuance worth flagging: a veteran does not have to be in active foreclosure to apply. In fact, the program is most useful when the borrower asks early, before the foreclosure clock has advanced. Servicers cannot start the formal foreclosure process the moment a payment is late, and there is a defined window in which loss-mitigation review is supposed to happen first. Calling during that window — rather than after the foreclosure paperwork has begun — is what gives the partial claim the most room to work.
What Should a Struggling VA Borrower Do Right Now?
For any veteran who is already behind, or who can see a gap coming in the next month or two, the action plan is short and concrete.
First, do not stop paying on purpose. Some borrowers hear about a new federal safety net and assume they need to be behind to qualify. Becoming intentionally delinquent does not strengthen a partial claim application and does damage the credit profile that the loan servicer will weigh. Stay current as long as possible and start the conversation early.
Second, call the loan servicer directly — the company that mails the monthly statement, not the loan officer who originated the mortgage. Say out loud that you are a VA borrower experiencing a documented hardship and that you want to be evaluated for VA loss-mitigation including the partial claim program. Ask the representative to note the request in the file, send a written summary of the options the servicer offers, and confirm the timeline for processing. If the front-line representative says the partial claim is not available yet, ask when implementation is expected, ask to be escalated to the loss-mitigation department, and ask for a written confirmation that the request was logged. The November 28, 2026 servicer compliance deadline is the date by which every servicer has to be ready; until then, persistence matters.
Third, assemble the paperwork that the servicer will request. Recent pay stubs, a hardship letter that describes what changed and when, medical bills if a health event drove the gap, a layoff or reduced-hours notice if the income drop was employment-related, and a current bank statement that shows what monthly payment is realistically affordable today. Having the file ready shortens the review and signals seriousness.
Fourth, get a second opinion from a loan officer who has worked with VA borrowers through hardship before. A good second opinion can confirm that a partial claim is the right tool, surface whether a refinance is a better path, and translate servicer language into plain English. Fellowship Home Loans has helped veteran families through every stage of a VA loan, and a brief conversation can clarify the next step before the situation escalates. To talk through your specific scenario with someone who understands the new program and the broader VA loan toolkit, reach out to a Fellowship loan officer.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did the VA partial claim program go into effect?
The VA began accepting partial claim submissions on June 15, 2026. Loan servicers — the companies that actually receive a borrower’s monthly payment — have until November 28, 2026 to be fully ready to process partial claim requests. During that window, borrowers may find that some servicers are accepting applications immediately while others are still building their internal workflow.
Do I have to be behind on my VA loan to qualify?
You generally need to be in default or at imminent risk of default because of a documented hardship. The program is built for borrowers who cannot make their current payment on schedule, not for borrowers who simply want a rate reduction or a payment reset. Being at imminent risk — for example, a job loss that has just happened but has not yet caused a missed payment — can be enough to start the conversation. Talk to the servicer before missing payments, not after.
Does a partial claim affect my credit score?
Missed payments that led up to the partial claim are reported on credit normally. Once the partial claim brings the loan current, the primary mortgage typically returns to on-time reporting. The recorded second lien for the partial claim balance is a public record on the property, but it does not carry monthly payments and does not behave like a high-utilization credit account.
Can my VA loan servicer say no to the partial claim?
Yes. The servicer reviews each application against VA program rules and decides whether the borrower meets the eligibility criteria. If a servicer denies the request, ask for the reason in writing. Common denial reasons include arrears that exceed the program funding cap, an inability to resume regular payments after the gap is cleared, or a property that is no longer the borrower’s primary residence. A denial is not always final, and a hardship that changes over time can support a renewed request.
What if my servicer says the program is not available yet?
The program is in a phased rollout window through November 28, 2026. If front-line staff say the partial claim is not yet available, ask to be transferred to the loss-mitigation department, ask the servicer to document the request in your file, and ask for the expected implementation date. Persistence matters in this window because the borrowers who get processed first are typically the borrowers who stay on the servicer’s radar.
Will I still owe the past-due amount?
Yes. A partial claim is not debt forgiveness. The VA pays the past-due amount to the servicer and then holds a no-interest second lien on the property for that same amount. There is no monthly payment on the partial claim, but the full balance is repayable when the home is sold, when the primary mortgage is refinanced or paid off, or at the end of the partial claim’s repayment window — which can run up to roughly thirty years.
Can a partial claim be combined with a loan modification?
In many hardship scenarios, yes. A partial claim handles the past-due gap; a loan modification can adjust the going-forward monthly payment if the underlying problem is that the regular payment itself is no longer affordable. Servicers often evaluate borrowers for the full menu of VA loss-mitigation options together and propose the combination that best fits the borrower’s situation. A loan officer experienced with VA hardship workouts can help compare the offer the servicer puts on the table against the alternatives.
