By Forum Staff
Congresswomen Grace Meng (D-Flushing) and Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island) announced on Tuesday that they reintroduced the Fair Access to Co-Ops for Veterans Act, a bipartisan bill to make it easier for veterans in the Big Apple and across the nation to purchase co-ops.
The legislation would expand the Veterans Home Loan Guarantee program to include co-ops, allowing the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs to guarantee co-op loans taken out by veterans. The bill would also direct the VA to advertise this co-op program to eligible veterans, participating lenders, and interested realtors.
The bill was originally introduced in 2024 by Reps. Meng and Malliotakis.
Last year, a recently married servicemember in the New York Army National Guard reached out to Meng’s office asking why he could not use a major benefit like the VA Home Loan on New York’s most affordable housing option. His story reflects the challenges that roughly 200,000 veterans that call New York home and countless other veterans in towns and cities across the country experience where co-ops are present, like Palm Beach, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, and Baltimore.
“The VA Home Loan Program has been a transformative benefit for service members for over 80 years. This program can’t be fully enjoyed by New Yorkers who served in our armed forces,” Meng testified during a hearing before the House Veteran Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity. “In New York City, about two out of three apartment buildings are co-ops. And if you have seen New York, you know, that is a lot of co-ops. Co-ops, on average are more affordable in New York than condos or homes. They offer a realistic way for working-class New Yorkers to own their place and build equity…Currently, a veteran or servicemember can use their VA home loan to purchase a condo, a townhome, a mobile home, or a manufactured home, but not a co-op. It is our job to serve those who serve us. So, let’s serve them by increasing the accessibility of homeownership to more veterans. Let’s expand the American dream that the VA Home Loan Program helped define over 80 years ago. Let’s give veterans and servicemembers access to co-ops.”
In 2006, Congress passed a bill creating a five-year pilot program allowing veterans to purchase cooperative housing. Prior to this legislation, the VA Home Loans program could not be used for co-ops. However, the pilot program expired in 2011 and has not been renewed since.
The Veterans Home Loan Guarantee program helps Veterans, Servicemembers, and eligible surviving spouses become homeowners. Through the program, loans are provided by private lenders with the VA guaranteeing up to 50 percent, allowing the lender to offer more favorable terms.
“With co-ops making up about a quarter of New York City’s housing market, it’s essential that our veterans—who have given so much for our country—have access to these homes,” Malliotakis said. “I’m proud to partner with Rep. Meng on this bipartisan effort to include co-ops in VA home loan eligibility, helping to expand home ownership opportunities and support veterans in their transition to civilian life.”
