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Topic 1. Program Participants
Program Participants
Any person or entity conducting business related to the VA loan guaranty program is considered a program participant. This includes, but is not limited to
lenders
employees of lenders
loan holders
loan servicers
builders
real estate brokers or agents
management brokers
repair contractors
compliance inspectors
fee appraisers
salespersons, and
manufactured home manufacturers, dealers or park operators.
Note: A person is not considered a program participant just because he or she obtains a VA loan.
Program Participant Also A Veteran
VA may impose sanctions against a program participant who is also a veteran eligible for loan guaranty benefits. This does not preclude the veteran from using his or her entitlement to obtain a VA-guaranteed loan.
Full Exclusion
A participant who is fully excluded may not
conduct any type of VA loan guaranty business, or
have another party conduct such business on his or her behalf.
Partial Exclusion
Partial exclusion may involve limitations on
the role the participant may play, or
how the participant conducts VA loan guaranty business.
Program Participants and Excluded Parties
Program participants may not
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do VA business with an excluded party if the type of transaction involved is prohibited by the terms of the party’s exclusion, or
allow an employed excluded party to perform prohibited duties.
Violation of the above restrictions may result in VA sanctions against the program participant doing business with (or employing) the excluded party.
Identifying Excluded Parties
Participants may check the List of Parties Excluded From Federal Procurement and Nonprocurement Programs published by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA).
The list can be obtained
in hard copy by subscription through the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402, and
electronically, via the Internet at www.epls.arnet@gsa/gov.
Note: Contact GSA at (202)501-4740, or, online at epls.support@gsa.gov for details.
Nature of Exclusion
Some of the parties on this list may be excluded from
participation in the programs of all Federal agencies, including VA, or
a specific program of a specific Federal agency.
Cause and Treatment Codes
The cause and treatment codes provide information on the nature of the exclusion. These codes are described in the document and at the GSA website, above.
Obtaining Information on Excluded Party
Call the contact person for the agency that placed the excluded party on the list if
more detail is necessary to confirm the identity of a party on the list, or
to clarify the nature or length of the sanction.
Non- procurement List
For parties placed on the non-procurement list by VA (indicated by the code “VA”), obtain any necessary clarifying information from the local VA office with jurisdiction over the city and state listed in the excluded party’s address.
Parties Not on GSA List
Some of the VA sanctioned parties may not appear on the GSA list. Information on such parties can be obtained by contacting the local VA office.
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Lender Check On Excluded Parties
Lenders and other parties may want to check whether a program participant has been excluded prior to
employing the program participant, or
participating in a VA loan guaranty-related transaction, if the program participant is also a party to the transaction.
Note: This does not refer to a veteran using entitlement to obtain a VA loan.
Reasons For Lender Check
The following illustrates some of the reasons why a lender/other party would want to check on a participant’s exclusion.
A lender hiring an underwriter for its VA lending activities may want to verify that the underwriter is not an excluded party.
A lender making a loan to a veteran for new construction is told by another lender that the builder has had problems with some of its HUD/FHA transactions. The lender may want to verify that the builder is not an excluded party.
A management broker establishing a panel of contractors to do repairs to VA-owned properties must ensure that none of the panel members are excluded parties.