Loan Assistant

Full Job Description

This Loan Assistant position is based in the Loan Administration Value Stream of the Regional Loan Center (RLC).

This position performs a wide variety of administrative and technical duties in support of Loan Administration (LA) with other Loan Specialists.

The Loan Assistant is responsible for developmental and other routine assignments in the administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Home Loan Program.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this job opportunity announcement, 03/18/2026.

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

OR 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.

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 performing technical assignments that involved serving as a trainee studying and examining loan programs, the provisions and applications of regulations, decisions, procedures, legislation and other guidelines governing the various loan program functions in specific phases of loan program activities.

Experience may have been gained in such work as collecting and verifying applications for agriculture, commercial, bank or mortgage loans; servicing a 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 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 bachelor's 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. Major Duties:

• Possess superior knowledge of the principles, practices, concepts and theories of law (Federal and State), regulations, and policies as they relate to the servicing and liquidation of VA guaranteed loans.
• Review and evaluate the borrower’s ability (or lack thereof) to reinstate a delinquent loan as well as the borrower’s potential to repay the loan.
• Conduct audits of loan servicers’ adherence to VA regulations and guidelines as they relate to the following work processes: servicer completed workout and loss mitigation options and servicer completed loan modifications.
• Review servicer completed “Net Value” determinations to ensure compliance with VA established calculation requirements and credit to Veterans’ accounts.
• Review claims under guaranty (initial, appealed, and supplemental) and the transfer of custody and recommend approval of payments; review the electronic loan docket and supporting documents so that the loan and claim comply with VA regulations.
• Analyze post audits to determine if payments were appropriate; or determine if the guaranty is adversely affected or if the security has suffered a decline in value with recommending the proper course of action if violations occurred.
• Follow-up on title documents concerning loans being acquired by VA under 38 CFR 36.4318. Review title documents for accuracy and completeness and forward completed package with recommendation to VA’s legal counsel final approval.
• Use considerable judgment in researching and evaluating such factors as income, reliability of income, current and estimated expenses, credit rating, self-employment earnings, property values, condition of property, and real estate trends and laws.
• Supplement the servicer’s/holder’s efforts in servicing VA guaranteed loans through phone contacts, correspondence, and face to face interviews in an effort to resolve the problem or to cure the default and minimize liquidations and VA losses.
• Instruct services/holders on VA requirements for servicing delinquent VA accounts and procedures to be followed in establishing repayment and forbearance plans, initiating foreclosures, completing modification agreements, and the filing of claims.
• Communicate clearly and competently with Veterans, real estate attorneys, mortgage banking industry professionals, and services/holders in discussing VA regulations and procedures.
• Perform other duties as assigned commensurate with the level of responsibilities contained in the position description, which may include special projects, attending meetings and/or training seminars, or speaking before groups.