Bipartisan legislation proposed by U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) to help Native American military veterans achieve homeownership on Feb. 16 passed the U.S. Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and is headed to the full chamber for consideration.
“I thank my colleagues on the committee for their bipartisan support of our legislation and look forward to working across the aisle to get this bill signed into law,” Sen. Rounds said on Tuesday.
The Native American Direct Loan (NADL) Improvement Act of 2023, S. 185, which Sen. Rounds sponsored on Jan. 31 with original cosponsor U.S. Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), would amend title 38 of the United States Code to improve the NADL program for direct housing loans made to Native American veterans, according to the text of the bill.
“Homeownership is part of the American dream and a key to building wealth,” said Sen. Rounds. “This legislation seeks to improve the NADL program and offers enhanced outreach and other assistance as needed to Native American veterans who are looking to qualify for mortgage financing.”
“By creating expanded access for Native American veterans,” he added, “our bill will help make the dream of homeownership a reality.”
If enacted, S. 185 would reform the NADL program administered by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to make it more accessible to Native American veterans living on trust land, according to a bill summary provided by Sen. Rounds’ office, and would allow Native American veterans to use the NADL program to refinance other existing mortgages on the same property.
The bill also would expand the VA’s existing NADL program outreach to include collaborating with local service providers that are familiar with the mortgage lending process on trust land, the summary says. Their coordinated efforts would offer homebuyer education and housing counseling to assist Native American veterans who want to qualify for mortgage financing.
Additionally, S. 185 would create a relending program to allow Native Community Development Financial Institutions to obtain loans through the NADL program and relend those funds to qualified Native American veterans, according to the summary.