Behind on Your VA Loan? The New Partial Claim Program, Explained

The short version

If you have fallen behind on a VA home loan, the VA now has a tool that can bring you current without raising your monthly payment. The Partial Claim program, open for submissions since June 15, 2026, lets the VA pay your servicer the amount you have missed. That amount becomes a separate, interest-free lien on your home. You pay nothing on it each month, and you repay it only when you sell the home, refinance, or pay off the loan.

You do not apply to the VA directly. You start by calling your loan servicer, the company that mails your monthly statement, and asking to be reviewed for VA home retention options, including the partial claim.

What the partial claim actually does

When you miss mortgage payments, the overdue amount piles up and the servicer can eventually foreclose. Under the partial claim, the VA works with your servicer to pay the amount needed to bring your loan current, according to VA.gov. Your original loan goes back to good standing at its original rate and payment.

The missed payments do not vanish. They become a junior lien against your home held by the VA, with three features that matter:

• No interest. The amount never grows.
• No monthly payment. It sits behind your mortgage until the loan ends.
• Deferred repayment. You repay it when the loan is paid off, refinanced, or the home is sold.

Per the VA's announcement, the program can cover up to 25% of your original loan balance, or up to 30% if you previously used the COVID-era partial claim. It was created by the VA Home Loan Program Reform Act, signed July 30, 2025, and is authorized for five years.

The three-month trial comes first

Before the partial claim is finalized, you must complete a trial payment plan: three straight months of on-time payments at your regular mortgage amount. This proves you can carry the loan going forward. If your income has not recovered enough to make the normal payment, a different option, like a loan modification, may fit better.

Do you qualify?

• The loan must be a VA-guaranteed loan. Conventional, FHA, and USDA loans do not qualify.
• The home must be the one securing that VA loan.
• You need a genuine hardship behind the missed payments, like a job loss, medical event, or a death in the family. Your servicer will ask you to document it.

One timing note: servicers have until November 28, 2026 to build the partial claim into their systems, so some are further along than others. Ask yours directly whether it is processing partial claims yet, and what it can offer in the meantime.

The other six tools to avoid foreclosure

The partial claim joins six options that VA loan technicians have long used, per VA.gov: a repayment plan that adds a bit to each month's payment until you catch up, special forbearance that buys you time, a loan modification that rolls missed payments into a new loan schedule, extra time to arrange a private sale, a short sale, and a deed in lieu of foreclosure. The last two can reduce your future VA home loan benefit, so treat them as last resorts.

What to do this week

1. Call your servicer now, not after another missed payment. Say you have a VA-guaranteed loan, describe the hardship, and ask to be evaluated for VA loss mitigation, including the partial claim.
2. Loop in the VA. Call a VA loan technician at 877-827-3702, Monday through Friday. They will counsel any veteran or surviving spouse for free, even on a non-VA loan, and they are automatically assigned to your case once a VA loan is 61 days past due.
3. Ignore the rescue offers. Companies that promise to save your home for an upfront fee are a red flag. The VA and your servicer do this work for free, and VA.gov warns specifically about foreclosure relief scams.

Falling behind on a mortgage feels like a cliff edge. It is usually a slope with several exits, and the partial claim just added one of the gentlest. The only wrong move is not calling.