For Veterans who are behind on a VA mortgage, there is an important new option worth knowing about.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has launched the VA Partial Claim Program, a foreclosure-prevention tool designed to help certain VA homeowners who have experienced a financial hardship but are now able to resume making their regular mortgage payment.

This is not a refinance.

It is not loan forgiveness.

And it is not automatic.

But for the right borrower, it may provide a path to get the mortgage current and keep the home.

What Happened

The VA Partial Claim Program is now open for submissions.

The program is intended for VA borrowers who are in default and may be able to recover from a temporary financial setback. The mortgage servicer reviews the borrower through VA’s loss-mitigation process and determines which foreclosure-avoidance option is appropriate.

If the Partial Claim Program is the right fit, the borrower must first complete a three-month trial payment plan.

That means making the regular mortgage payment on time for three straight months.

After that successful trial period, the program may be used to bring the delinquent mortgage current.

What It Means

The missed payments do not disappear.

Instead, the past-due amount is addressed through a separate VA partial claim. That amount is recorded as a no-interest subordinate lien on the property — no monthly payments are required — but it does appear in title searches and must be settled when you sell, refinance, or pay off the loan.

The important point is this:

A Veteran who has recovered from a hardship may not have to come up with every missed payment in one lump sum just to save the home.

That can be a major difference for a family dealing with a job interruption, illness, temporary loss of income, insurance increases, property-tax pressure, or another financial event that put them behind.

What This Program Is Not

It is important to be clear about what this program does not do.

It does not reduce your current mortgage payment by itself.

It does not erase the missed payments.

It does not replace the need to make your regular mortgage payment going forward.

It also cannot cover delinquency amounts exceeding 25% of your unpaid principal balance — or 30% for certain borrowers who already used a COVID-era partial claim. If you are behind by more than that threshold, a partial claim alone may not be enough, and your servicer may need to combine it with another loss-mitigation option.

And it is not an IRRRL, often called an “Earl.”

An IRRRL is a refinance option for an existing VA loan. The Partial Claim Program is a foreclosure-prevention option for a borrower who is behind and needs a workable path to get current.

Two different problems. Two different tools.

What to Do if You Are Behind

Do not wait for a foreclosure notice.

Call your mortgage servicer and ask for a complete review under the VA Loss Mitigation Waterfall. Be specific:

“I have a VA-guaranteed mortgage and need a full review of my foreclosure-prevention options, including the VA Partial Claim Program.”

Your servicer is required to review the available alternatives, which may include repayment plans, forbearance, loan modifications, or a partial claim depending on your situation.

One practical note: the program is new, and some servicers are still building it into their systems. Do not let that stop you from asking for a full VA loss-mitigation review now.

If you cannot get a clear answer from your servicer, you can contact a VA loan technician at 877-827-3702 and select option 6.

The Bottom Line

The new VA Partial Claim Program will not solve every hardship.

But for a Veteran who is behind, has recovered from the event that caused the problem, and can now resume regular payments, it may be a meaningful opportunity to save the home without having to pay every missed payment at once.

The worst move is silence.

Talk to your servicer early. Ask the right questions. And do not pay a third-party company upfront to “save” your home when the VA and your servicer should be the first places you turn.

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Clay Edmonds is the Corporate Educator and Complete Mortgage Advisor at Complete Mortgage LLC in Hollywood, Florida, and the creator of MortgageSimplified.net. With over four decades of experience in real estate finance, Clay focuses on simplifying the mortgage process and helping borrowers and real estate professionals make smarter financing decisions. Solutions@MortgageSimplified.net