VA Brokered Loans

Willy saw an ad on TV touting the advantages of VA brokered loans.  Willy and his wife were considering refinancing their house.  Rates had dropped since they bought it and they figured that there was little point in refinancing as long as the rates kept dropping.  They saved some money for "points" and waited.  The time appeared right.  Rate were low and seemed to have bottomed out.  That is when Willy was the ad on TV.

The ad on TV made the VA brokered loan seem incredibly attractive.  Willy called the VA on the phone and they gave him more details.  The loan was only available to WWII veterans who served overseas and who had never taken out a VA brokered loan.  That was why they were able to offer such a fantastic rate...about 2% lower than the market...because the target audience was so narrow.

Willy qualified.

He took a day off work and rode the Metro downtown to the VA office.

The application process took over two hours.  The application form was huge.  It was a book.  Willy took his time.  The form asked countries served in, time spans in-country and on, and on, and on.  Willy did not want to make mistakes because he could not afford another day off work.  Fortunately he came prepared and had his information with him.

The office staff was a bit geeked.  Sure, they ran the ads on TV but what were the odds of a WWII vet walking into their office forty years after the war ended and never having taken advantage of a VA loan?

The office manager sat Willy down in her office and went through the application line-by-line.  Willy had been very thorough.  There was only one item that Willy had left blank in the +30 page application.

The office manager looked up at Willy.  "You did not specify which branch of the service you were in."

"I would have," said Willy, "but I did not see it listed."

The office manager was a bewildered.  The form listed Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard.

"Well," she asked "what branch of the service were you in?"

Drawing himself up to his full 5' 6" he proudly announced, "The Luftwaffe."

Before he could blink he found himself standing in the alley behind the building.