Recently, the VA issued a reminder to all program participants regarding their ServiceNow portal.
In 2023, the VA consolidated the email addresses of the eight Regional Loan Centers into a single email portal address, named the ServiceNow portal. On June 6, 2023, VA issued Circular 26-23-11 to explain the transition to the new portal for all VA Loan-related inquiries. This includes questions on loan origination, underwriting, appraisals, condos, builders, and more. The VA encourages participants to use this portal for all inquiries, ensuring questions are documented and answered efficiently. Since its inception, the ServiceNow portal has addressed over 100,000 questions from program participants, a significant milestone.
The portal address is: https://www.benefits.va.gov/HOMELOANS/contact.asp
From my experience, questions submitted through the portal are typically answered within 48 hours. There are several reasons to use the portal instead of calling the VA directly:
- Documentation: Submitting questions through the portal provides a written response from the VA, which you can (and should) add to your loan file.
- Consistency: You can use the written response for future cases with similar issues, helping you document your loan files consistently.
- Confidence: The written VA response gives you a clear basis for loan decisions, ensuring the VA won’t second-guess your reasons. If the VA does challenge your decision, the written response can clarify any potential errors in the underwriting decisions.
One word of caution: occasionally, you might receive a response that doesn’t seem right for your situation. In such cases, you can appeal the response and request a supervisory review directly from the VA.
For more VA loan-related information, please call, Jeff Wilson, at (941) 867-9593 or send a note at [email protected].
