1. (a) The Veterans Land Board (board) shall be the final authority in defining and interpreting all eligibility requirements, and whether a veteran loan applicant has actually satisfied those requirements. The board may prescribe the procedures and forms to be used by veteran loan applicants to evidence eligibility.

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 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;

   3. (3) meets the following service requirements:

      1. (A) has served not less than 90 continuous days of active duty or active duty training time in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, United States Public Health Service, or the reserve component of one of the listed branches of service, unless discharged earlier because of a service-connected disability, which service must have been after September 16, 1940; or
      2. (B) has completed all initial active duty training required as a condition of the enlistment or appointment in the Texas National Guard; or
      3. (C) has at least 20 years of active or reserve military service as computed when determining the applicant's eligibility to receive retired pay under applicable federal law.
   4. (4) has not been dishonorably discharged from military service; and

   5. (5) was a 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 board may require an affidavit from the applicant setting forth residence addresses for this two year period. In addition, the board 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 board 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 board 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;

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 identified as 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 or missing veteran was a bona fide resident of Texas (the two years residence alternative is not available);
   3. (3) the deceased veteran had served on active duty or active duty training time in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Public Health Service, or reserve component of one of the listed branches of service after September 16, 1940, 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; and
   4. (4) certification is received from the VA that the unmarried surviving spouse is currently entitled to benefits as the spouse of a veteran who died in the line of duty or is missing in action. This requirement may be satisfied upon the presentation of other evidence.
4. (d) A veteran may be able to obtain more than one housing assistance loan under this chapter, provided that all previous Veterans Housing Assistance Program loans have been repaid in full and that only one home may be financed by a veteran at any time. However, 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 the land program.
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. The total amount of these two loans shall not exceed the maximum amount allowable for a similar home mortgage loan through the VA or any successor agency.

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; amended to be effective August 24, 1999, 24 TexReg 6517; amended to be effective October 22, 2000, 25 TexReg 10375.