Is this veterans' housing discrimination?

Question

In NY state, my USMC husband and I made an offer via pre-approved VA loan to buy a house. The sellers wanted to know who we were, what we did for a living, and how much we were going to put down for a down payment. They decided upon that information to go with another offer at a lower price. We showed them several forms of pre-approval and credit checks. We are more than qualified to purchase a home at this price. Is this discrimination? Do we have any legal rights?

Answer 1

Was the other loan also VA?  Sometimes, a VA or FHA loan can be a pain for the seller.  If I had the option of a VA loan at full price and a conventional loan for a little less, I'd probably take the conventional.  

That being said, f you had a pre-approval, they didn't need all that other information.  Your credit had already been reviewed and approved.  That should have been enough.  

Back when I was selling real estate 20 years ago, these kinds of questions were common, and hardly anyone had a pre-approval.  An 80% loan was more likely to be approved, and someone on the same job for 20 years was more likely to be approved than someone who was only working a couple years.  

Maybe the VA has some department who takes complaints.  If not, maybe the local real estate board could give you some insight.

Answer 2

Why would you have provided that info? And bigger question, why did you buyer’s agent let you provide that? Only your lender needs that data. No seller has the right to it.   You need to not only call your buyer’s agent’s broker, you need to call the listing agent’s broker an complain!  They should not have participated in this at all.

If there were no agents involved, you just learned an important lesson. People who won’t deal with agents often aren’t on the up and up.

Answer 3

1.  They have a right to ask who you are, after all, your names appear on the sales contract.  Usually only prominent public officials and celebrities can retain the right to "disclose at closing" their names...I don't think that is you.

2.  They have a right to know what you do for a living, ESPECIALLY if you are not using a Realtor.  If you were selling a home, which would you rather sell to?  Someone who worked as a stripper or a business executive.  That has EVERYTHING to do with your ability to close.

3.  They have the right to know how much you are putting down for a down payment b/c that is part of the sales contract, especially if it's earnest money.  The higher the loan percentage, the greater chance you are not getting approved..b/c you probably never bothered to inform them you have a VA loan which does 100% LTV.

It's NOT discrimination.

You want to know why?

Because you didn't have a sales contract b/c you tried to purchase the home on your own without a Realtor.  This is what happens when you start doing things on your own when you have no clue as to how the process works or what is normally disclosed in a sales transaction.

The sellers, however, KNEW that this was normal information and when buyers start bucking providing things like that, then they think something is wrong with the transaction and will go with what they see as a more qualified buyer.

BTW, veterans are not a protected class under fair housing.  There is a landlord in my town that is a 'hippie' and won't rent to anyone who has ever served in the armed forces.....he can do that b/c he's not discriminating on race, religion, creed, national origin, familial status or handicap.