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 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 have 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 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 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) 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.

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 veteran was a bona fide resident of Texas (the two years residence 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 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
   5. (5) 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) A veteran may be able to obtain more than one housing assistance loan under this chapter, provided that all previous loans have been repaid in full and that only one home may be financed by a veteran at any time.
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; amended to be effective August 24, 1999, 24 TexReg 6517.