Hawaii disabled veterans still awaiting action on home loan fee refunds

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Despite facing a July 31 target deadline, the Veterans Benefits Administration has yet to provide refunds to tens of thousands of disabled veterans who were erroneously charged home loan funding fees.

Most veterans are required to pay such fees to the Department of Veterans Affairs when home loans are originated, but those vets who received service-related disabilities  – including 21,164 veterans in Hawaii – are exempt from paying the fee, according to the VA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG). 

The share of the Hawaii’s veterans with disabilities is 19.6 percent – the 28th highest percentage among the 50 states and Washington, D.C.

Nearly 73,000 disabled veterans nationwide are estimated to be owed refunds for inappropriate charges related to home loans, an OIG report issued earlier this year says. The total of all the overcharges is estimated at $286.4 million, according to the report.

Individual veterans were overcharged by an average of $4,483, though some of the charges were as high as $19,470, the OIG reported in its review. The time period studied went from the calendar year 2012 through 2017.

The OIG concluded that managers knew about tens of millions of dollars in inappropriate fee charges in recent years but failed to take corrective action.

“Disturbingly, as of January 2019, (the Veterans Benefits Administration’s) Loan Guaranty Service management had not taken action to issue refunds to these exempt veterans,” the OIG report states.

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Percentages of State Veteran Populations With Disabilities  

State# of Veterans% of Veterans in the Adult Population# of Disabled Veterans% of Veterans With DisabilitiesRank Based on % of Veterans With Disabilities
Nebraska127,3409%35,58327.9%1
Oklahoma286,9269.9%78,26427.3%2
Alaska68,14512.8%16,81824.7%3
Minnesota331,5168%80,70324.3%4
South Dakota62,6619.8%14,94223.8%5
Texas1,513,2947.7%357,56823.6%6
Alabama351,4619.4%81,51823.2%7
Virginia696,68511%159,34622.9%8
North Carolina683,2219%155,08522.7%9
Georgia662,3338.8%149,27422.5%10
South Carolina373,89010.1%83,96922.5%11
New Mexico157,41310%35,07722.3%12
North Dakota49,5608.8%10,96422.1%13
West Virginia145,1719.9%31,79221.9%14
Arkansas213,9499.5%46,69221.8%15
Maine114,00010.7%24,90421.8%16
Colorado383,6999.4%82,89021.6%17
Montana84,93611.1%19,03221.6%18
Wyoming47,39010.7%10,02921.2%19
Kentucky289,8378.6%60,74221%20
Washington552,86310.2%115,76920.9%21
Tennessee450,8999%94,16620.9%22
Nevada216,27510%44,54320.6%23
Oregon301,3309.7%60,78820.2%24
Mississippi180,2518%36,27020.1%25
Florida1,480,1339.4%298,10320.1%26
Idaho118,3139.9%23,32619.7%27
Hawaii108,02210.1%21,16419.6%28
Arizona497,3379.8%95,41919.2%29
Utah129,7486.4%24,40818.8%30
Missouri438,1009.4%82,32518.8%31
Louisiana267,9387.6%50,21718.7%32
California1,720,6355.9%317,88818.5%33
Indiana410,7508.2%75,04918.3%34
Kansas192,3408.9%34,80618.1%35
Maryland392,7718.6%68,60817.5%36
Wisconsin367,2278.3%63,41617.3%37
District of Columbia27,7545.1%4,69516.9%38
New Hampshire103,2829.8%17,04016.5%39
Rhode Island62,8907.5%10,18416.2%40
Iowa203,2778.6%32,68216.1%41
Massachusetts340,2886.4%54,76016.1%42
Vermont42,4848.4%6,70215.8%43
Delaware68,7779.5%63,14015.5%44
Michigan602,6307.8%92,92615.4%45
Ohio779,1878.7%118,69515.2%46
New York789,5535.1%114,14814.5%47
Pennsylvania840,2588.3%114,05013.6%48
Illinois643,4606.5%86,68813.5%49
New Jersey371,3835.4%48,71913.1%50
Connecticut188,7596.7%24,24812.8%51
Source: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

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