How Much VA Entitlement Do I Have Left?

Your VA entitlement determines how much you can borrow using a VA home loan without needing to make a down payment. As a veteran, it’s important to understand how much VA entitlement you have left if you’ve used it in the past. 

Borrowers who have already used part of their VA entitlement, or have previously defaulted on a VA loan may have less entitlement available. This limits a borrower’s ability to buy a home with full VA benefits. You can verify how much VA entitlement you have left by checking your certificate of eligibility (COE), but you can also quickly calculate how much entitlement you’ve used. 

What is VA entitlement?

VA entitlement is the maximum amount the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will repay your mortgage lender if you default on your home loan. Since the mortgage is secured by the VA, borrowers don’t need to make a down payment on their VA home loan. This makes it easier for veterans and qualifying spouses to buy a home when they’re low on funds. 

Veterans can have either full entitlement or remaining entitlement. Borrowers with full entitlement don’t have a loan limit, while borrowers with remaining entitlement do.

Full VA entitlement

Full entitlement means you can use all of your VA entitlement to purchase a home. Borrowers with full VA entitlement have either never used their VA home loan benefit, paid off a previous VA loan and sold the property, or experienced a foreclosure or short sale and repaid the VA in full. 

While the VA has no loan limits on borrowers with full entitlement, lenders may restrict loan amounts for borrowers when they opt-out of a down payment. These restrictions are usually guided by the conforming loan limits in the area the home is located.

A loan limit is the maximum amount a homebuyer can borrow to purchase a single-family home in a specific area. Some lenders only qualify borrowers without a down payment if the mortgage they’re seeking is at or below the city or county’s conforming loan limit. 

The VA guarantees up to 25% of your home loan amount even if it exceeds your city or county’s loan limit. However, you’ll need to find a lender that’s willing to let you borrow above the CLL in your area, or find a property that’s below the conforming loan limit. You can check your county loan limit on the FHFA website. 

If you’re wondering how much you might be able to borrow in a specific area, contact a VA lender near you.

Remaining entitlement

Remaining entitlement means you can use some of your VA benefit to purchase a home. You might have remaining entitlement if you’re currently paying back a VA loan, previously paid a VA loan in full and haven’t sold the home, or if you’ve refinanced your VA loan into a non-VA loan and still own the home. 

Homeowners who experienced a short sale or foreclosure and haven’t repaid their VA loan in full, or transferred their home’s title to the bank that holds their mortgage to avoid foreclosure, may also have remaining entitlement. 

Unlike borrowers with full VA entitlement, borrowers with remaining entitlement are limited to their area’s conforming loan limits— regardless of whether or not the lender imposes restrictions.

Veterans with remaining entitlement could either use their entitlement on its own, or together with a down payment to take out another VA home loan. The VA only guarantees 25% of the CLL, minus the amount of entitlement you’ve already used. Borrowers who have used their entitlement may have to make a down payment to cover the difference between the remaining entitlement and the full 25%. 

How much VA entitlement do I have?

To find out how much VA entitlement you have left, you can go to the VA’s official website, sign into your account, and view your Certificate of Eligibility (COE), located under the "Home Loans" section. 

You can also request your COE by completing a VA Form 26-1880 and sending it in via mail or fax, or by calling the VA’s Home Loan Benefits line at 1-877-827-3702. Lenders can also help you check your entitlement and obtain your COE. 

Your COE proves that either you or a surviving spouse meets the military service requirements to apply for a VA home loan. On your COE, you’ll find an entitlement code that indicates how you earned your entitlement. 

How to calculate VA loan entitlement

Borrowers with full entitlement don’t need to worry about calculating their entitlement. You can borrow as much as your lender is willing to lend without having to make a down payment. 

Borrowers with remaining entitlement will need to calculate how much entitlement they’re currently using to determine how much they have left. To find out how much entitlement you’ve already used, simply multiply your VA home loan amount by 0.25.

VA loan entitlement formula

How many times can you use a VA loan?

There’s no limit or maximum number of times you can use a VA loan. The VA home loan is a lifetime benefit, which means you can use the guaranty multiple times. If you want to reuse your VA home loan benefit to buy or refinance another home, the key is that you must either restore your entitlement or have entitlement remaining. 

How to restore VA entitlement

You can restore your VA entitlement as long as one of the following is true, according to the VA Home Loan Guaranty Buyer’s Guide:

• The home you bought with a prior VA loan has been sold and the loan repaid in full.
• Another qualified veteran agrees to assume your loan and substitutes their own VA entitlement for the original loan amount.
• You’ve repaid your prior loan in full, but haven’t sold the home you bought with that loan. (Note: This is a one-time option.)

Here’s how to request a restoration of entitlement:

• Apply online using your Login.gov or ID.me account.
• Complete VA Form 26-1880 and send it to the VA regional loan center with jurisdiction in your state.