1. (a) The Veterans Affairs Commission (commission) shall determine all questions of eligibility to participate in the program and shall certify to the chairman whether an applicant is eligible. The Veterans Land Board (board) shall be the final authority in defining and interpreting the eligibility requirements, and the commission shall be the final authority as to whether a veteran loan applicant has actually satisfied those requirements and may prescribe the procedures and forms to be used by veteran loan applicants to evidence eligibility. The board may, in its discretion, agree to review any decision by the commission, but only for the purpose of determining if the eligibility requirements were properly interpreted by the commission. In such event, the board's decision shall be final.

2. (b) For purposes of this program, a veteran is someone who:

   1. (1) is at least 18 years of age;
   2. (2) is a citizen of the United States of America;
   3. (3) is a bona fide resident of Texas at the time of application for a loan. For purposes of this chapter, bona fide resident means a person actually living in the State of Texas, with the intention to remain;
   4. (4) has served not less than 90 continuous days in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, or United States Public Health Service, unless discharged earlier because of a service-connected disability, which service must have been after September 16, 1940, or has completed at least 20 years of active or reserve military service in any of the above branches of service, as computed when determining the person's eligibility to receive retired pay, or has enlisted or received an appointment in the Texas National Guard after completing all initial active duty training required as a condition of enlistment or appointment, and who has not been dishonorably discharged from the Texas National Guard;
   5. (5) has not been dishonorably discharged from military service;

   6. (6) was bona fide resident of Texas at the time of enlistment, induction, commissioning, or drafting; or has resided in Texas continuously for at least two years immediately before the date of application for a loan:

      1. (A) for purposes of determining if an applicant has resided in Texas for two continuous years preceding the date of application, the commission may require an affidavit from the applicant setting forth residence addresses for this two year period. In addition, the commission may require the applicant to furnish documentary evidence of such residence, including, but not limited to, driver's licenses, voter registrations, tax receipts, W-2 forms, etc.;
      2. (B) if there is doubt about an applicant's bona fide residence at time of enlistment, induction, commissioning, or drafting, the commission may require that an affidavit of Texas residence be submitted to show evidence of at least two years of continuous residence in Texas immediately prior to the date of application. The commission may establish other procedures for verifying that the veteran applicant was a bona fide resident of Texas at time of enlistment, induction, commissioning, or drafting;
   7. (7) has not previously participated in the Veterans Housing Assistance Program as a home purchaser. For purposes of this chapter an eligible veteran may obtain both a purchase money loan and a home improvement loan under the veterans housing assistance program. An eligible veteran may also receive a loan under, however, an eligible veteran is entitled to no more than one of each kind of loan, as a veteran purchaser/borrower.

3. (c) If a veteran dies after the date of filing an application for a loan and before the transaction has been completed, the surviving spouse shall be eligible to complete that transaction if the spouse otherwise meets the qualification requirements of the participating lending institution. In addition, the unmarried surviving spouse of a veteran who dies in the line of duty or is missing in action shall be eligible to participate in the program if the following requirements are satisfied:

   1. (1) the surviving spouse has not remarried and is a bona fide resident of Texas at the time of filing the application with the board;
   2. (2) at the time of enlistment, induction, commissioning, appointment or drafting, the deceased veteran was a bona fide resident of Texas (the two years resident alternative is not available);
   3. (3) the deceased veteran was a citizen of the United States at the time of death;
   4. (4) the deceased veteran had served on active duty in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, or Public Health Service, after September 16, 1940, or had completed 20 years of reserved military service in any of the above branches of service, which is creditable for retirement under applicable federal laws, or enlisted or received an appointment in the Texas National Guard. The deceased veteran need not have served at least 90 continuous days of active duty;
   5. (5) neither the deceased veteran nor the unmarried surviving spouse previously participated in the Veterans Housing Assistance Program; and
   6. (6) certification is received from the United States Veterans Administration that the unmarried surviving spouse is currently entitled to benefits as the spouse of a veteran who died in the line of duty. The line of duty requirement may be satisfied upon the presentation of other evidence.
4. (d) Notwithstanding anything in these sections to the contrary, the board, in its discretion, may waive the requirement that an applicant is only entitled to one of each kind of loan available through the Veterans Housing Assistance Program. An applicant wishing to participate in the program who has previously obtained a loan of the kind which is being applied for shall submit to the board an affidavit setting forth the circumstances for the board to consider in granting a waiver. Reasons for being permitted to participate in the program again may include, but are not limited to, loss of a board financed home by reason of change in employment, or any condemnation action not the fault of the applicant.
5. (e) If both a husband and wife are individually eligible to participate in the program, nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit each of them from applying for a loan to jointly purchase the same home. Therefore, the board may make two loans for the purchase of the same home by two veterans who are husband and wife, but only in the event that both spouses together satisfy the loan qualification requirements of the participating lending institution.

Source Note:The provisions of this §177.5 adopted to be effective May 4, 1984, 9 TexReg 2263; amended to be effective November 10, 1986, 11 TexReg 4487; amended to be effective June 11, 1990, 15 TexReg 2917; amended to be effective December 10, 1993, 18 TexReg 8797; amended to be effective February 3, 1995, 20 TexReg 355.