VA Certificate of Eligibility

Before you get a VA loan, you will need a VA Certificate of Eligibility. If you are a military veteran, we will be happy to help you get one. Fill out our request form and we will send a blank VA Form 26-1880 (Request for a Certificate of Eligibility) to you by mail or email. Please do not send our request form to the VA. It will be disregarded. [ CERTIFICATE OF ELIGIBILITY REQUEST ]

You are eligible for VA home loan veteran benefits if you served on active duty in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard and were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable after either:

• 90 days or more, any part of which occurred during wartime, OR
• 181 continuous days or more (peacetime)

• enlisted (and service began) after September 7, 1980, OR
• were an officer and service began after October 16, 1981

You must have completed either:

• 24 continuous months or more, OR
• the full period for which ordered to active duty, but not less than 90 days (any part during wartime) or 181 continuous days (peacetime)

Wartime and Peacetime, as used in the General Rule for Eligibility, refer to the following periods of time:

• were discharged for a service-connected disability, or
• were discharged for the convenience of the government after completing at least 20 months of a 2-year enlistment, or
• completed not less than 90 days (any part during wartime) or 181 continuous days (peacetime), and

• were discharged because of a hardship, or
• were determined to have a service-connected compensable disability, or
• were discharged or released from active duty for a medical condition which pre-existed service and has not been determined to be service-connected, or
• received an involuntary discharge or release from active duty for the convenience of the Government as a result of a reduction in force, or
• were discharged or released from active duty for a physical or mental condition not characterized as a disability and not the result of misconduct but which did interfere with your performance of duty

• are an unmarried spouse of a veteran who died while in service or from a service connected disability, or
• are a spouse of a serviceperson missing in action or a prisoner of war.

If you are now on active duty, you are eligible after having served on continuous active status for at least 90 days. When an ending date is established for Persian Gulf War service, a minimum of 181 days of continuous active duty will be required for persons who did not have wartime service.


"Selected Reserve" means the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve of any of the Reserve components which consists of units and individuals who participate actively in paid training periods and serve on paid active duty for training each year.
A veteran, who is not otherwise eligible, who completes a total of 6 years as a member of the Selected Reserve (need not be ordered to active duty) is eligible if he or she either:

• received an honorable discharge
• was placed on the retired list
• was transferred to the Standby Reserve or an element of the Ready Reserve other than the Selected Reserve after service in the Selected Reserve characterized as honorable
• continues to serve in the Selected Reserve

The 6 years service need not be continuous nor in the same Reserve or National Guard unit. However, active duty regular military service cannot be combined with Reserve service to reach the 6 year requirement.

• certain United States citizens who served in the armed forces of a government allied with the United States in World War II.
• individuals with service as members in certain organizations, such as Public Health Service officers, cadets/midshipmen at service academies, officers of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, merchant seamen with WWII service, and others.

** Please Note: The VA has the final authority on issuing eligibility **



FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION # 18  
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Q: VA Loans and Rental Properties - Can I use my VA loan to buy a rental property?

A: The idea of buying a building intended as a rental property is sound-but VA mortgages aren't intended for this purpose. If you buy a home with a VA home loan, you must certify that you intend to "personally" live in the house. There are naturally exceptions made for houses that are in the building stages when the sale is made, but the general rule is you must occupy the house within sixty days of the loan closing. The occupancy requirement applies to all VA guaranteed loans except one; the Interest Rate Reduction Refinancing Loan or IRRRL. For these loans, the veteran is required to certify that the dwelling was previously occupied as the home.