Loan Assistant

Specific duties include:

• The incumbent reviews submitted documentation including VA forms resolving data discrepancies to make eligibility determinations and issue Certificates of Eligibility.

• Reviews the underwriting of loan applications submitted to VA for guaranty in-order to ensure lender compliance with VA underwriting guidelines and regulations such as fees and charges.

• Answers incoming calls and personally handles inquiries through personal or written contacts to guide counsel and instruct program participants on aspects of the VA Home Loan program while ensuring prompt and courteous service.

• Recommends approval or disapproval of restoration of entitlement release of liability and substitution of entitlement applications; and audits releases or assumptions processed and approved by lenders requesting additional documentation as necessary.

• Maintains records and controls in compliance with established procedures; prepares reports and quality control reviews and performs all functions relative to the maintenance of lender files. To include lender monitoring underwriter approvals and review of supervised/non-supervised lender applications.

• Underwrites complex loan applications; by analyzing the financial capacity of joint mortgagors marginal loan applicants Veterans who receive pensions income based on operations of business firms multi-family housing rentals or unstable incomes.

• Collects researches analyzes interprets retrieves and inputs data for/from a variety of computer systems including Microsoft Word Excel SharePoint and Salesforce applications.

• Conducts training and outreach with individual lenders throughout assigned areas to survey operations and meet with underwriters processors loan originators and loan closers/shippers to ensure they are complying with laws regulations and all VA Home Loan program directives.

• Completes post guaranty loan reviews and based on findings from the review notifies mortgage lenders of technical errors any actions necessary for correction and makes recommendations of specific training needs.

• Provides preliminary recommendation for Funding Fee refunds by researching computer systems and the Funding Fee Payment System (FFPS).

• Maintains section registers logs feeder information and other systems of records needed for quality control and reports. Establishes and maintains a diary system to ensure all required actions are completed in a timely manner.

• Resolves problems which occur with coding of loans into Loan Production computer systems while protecting data from unauthorized release loss alteration or deletion.

Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory qualification and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. The grade progression for this position is GS-07 GS-09 and GS-11.
Work Schedule: Full time Monday through Friday (8:00AM - 4:30PM local time)
Compressed/Flexible: Available
Telework: This position is eligible for situational (ad hoc) telework only. The selectee is required to report to the official duty station each scheduled workday. Telework may be approved only on a case-by-case basis with supervisory approval. Routine or recurring telework is not authorized for this position.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Loan Assistant GS-07 PD#37715
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized.
Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position you may be required to serve a 1 year or 2-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public determining if your employment advances the public interest we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the Agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the Agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification in writing that your continued employment advances the public Conditions of Employment are as follows:

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary or trial period
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Required to attend an 8 week training session which may require travel.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements I-9 Acceptable Documents.
• Effective May 7 2025 drivers licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.

To qualify for this position applicants must meet all requirements by the cut-off date and/or closing date of this job opportunity announcement 07/17/2026.

Note: All applicants must meet both the Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR) and the Specialized Experience as defined below:

Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR):
Experience
Experience that demonstrated competence in agricultural commercial realty or other types of loans. Experience may have been gained in such work as reviewing and passing upon applications for agricultural commercial bank or mortgage loans; servicing a loan portfolio of a bank or other loan association; performing financial analysis of commercial concerns for investment purposes; appraising real estate to determine property valuation; or similar work.

OR

Education
Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- finance business administration economics accounting insurance engineering mathematics banking and credit law real estate operations statistics or other fields related to the position such as agriculture agricultural economics farm livestock or ranch management or rural sociology.

In addition to the IOR applicants must possess specialized experience and/or education as described below:

Specialized Experience:
To qualify at the GS-07 grade level: Applicants must have one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-05). Specialized experience is experience that has given the applicant the knowledge skills and abilities (KSAs) to be successful in the position. Specialized experience for this position is defined as: experience assisting with mortgage loan origination or servicing tasks related to residential mortgage loan processing OR experience with residential real estate sale transactions.

OR

Applicants may substitute education for experience to qualify at the GS-07 grade level: Applicants may substitute qualifying education instead of experience required at the GS-07 level by the following options:
Undergraduate Degree with Superior Academic Achievement. If you have been awarded a bachelors degree in finance business administration economics accounting insurance engineering mathematics banking and credit law real estate operations statistics or another field related to the position such as agriculture agricultural economics farm livestock or ranch management or rural sociology from an accredited college or university AND that degree demonstrates one of the following Superior Academic Achievement provisions you may qualify in full for this position without any experience:
a. Ranked in the upper 1/3 of your college class or major subdivision; or
b. Earned election to a national scholastic honor society that meets the requirements of the Association of College Honor Societies other than freshman honor societies; or
c. Earned a grade point average (GPA) of 2.95 or higher on a 4.0 scale based on all completed undergraduate courses or all undergraduate classes completed during the final two years; or earned a GPA of 3.45 or higher on a 4.0 scale based on all completed undergraduate courses in your major or all undergraduate courses in your major completed during the final two years.

Regarding the Superior Academic Achievement provisions if more than 10% of your undergraduate course work (credit hours) was taken on a pass/fail or similar basis you can qualify only on the basis of your class standing or membership in an honor society. If you qualify based on your education you must include a copy of your college transcript along with your application. If you are selected for the position an official college transcript will be required when you begin work.

OR

Applicants may substitute graduate education: You must have at least one full academic year of graduate level course work from an accredited college or university with major study in finance business administration economics accounting insurance engineering mathematics banking and credit law real estate operations statistics or another field related to the position such as agriculture agricultural economics farm livestock or ranch management or rural sociology. One year of full-time graduate education is normally determined by the school you attended. If that number cannot be determined then 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered equivalent to one academic year of graduate study. Part-time graduate education is creditable on a pro-rata basis. If you qualify based on your education you must include your college transcript along with your application to support your claim. If you are selected for the position an official college transcript will be required when you begin work.

OR

Applicants may combine education and experience to qualify at the GS-07 grade level: Applicants may combine graduate level education and specialized experience to qualify for the position. If you have some but not all of the graduate education (as per the IOR requirements identified in this section of the announcement as noted above) AND some specialized experience as described above you may still qualify by combining the amount of creditable education and experience that you do have. To do so first calculate the percentage of qualifying education you have as a percentage of the education required. Next calculate the percentage of specialized experience you have as a percentage of the experience required. Then add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100% for you to qualify for the position at the grade GS-7 level. For example an applicant who has 9 semester hours of graduate education (i.e. 50% of graduate education required) and 6 months of acceptable specialized experience (i.e. 50% of the experience required) would satisfy the qualification requirements for the position. If you qualify based on a combination of graduate education and specialized experience you must submit a copy of your official or unofficial college transcript with your application.

Note: Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g. Peace Corps AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g. professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies knowledge and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience you document to include volunteer experience.