Citation Nr: 18142694
Decision Date: 10/17/18	Archive Date: 10/16/18

DOCKET NO. 16-11 430A
DATE:	October 17, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to Veterans Mortgage Life Insurance (VMLI) under 38 U.S.C. § 2106 is denied.
FINDING OF FACT
During his lifetime, the Veteran did not apply for, and was not approved for, a specially adaptive housing grant.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
The criteria for eligibility for VMLI have not been met.  38 U.S.C. §§ 2101, 2102, 2106.
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran served on active duty from June 1982 to August 1987 and from June 1991 to December 2006.  He died in December 2012.  The appellant is his son.
In January 2017, the appellant testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge.  A transcript of that proceeding is of record.
The appellant asserts that the Veteran was eligible for VMLI prior to his death.
Under applicable criteria, VA is authorized to assist any Veteran who is entitled to disability compensation for the loss of use of one lower extremity together with residuals of organic disease or injury, or the loss of use of one upper extremity, which so affect the functions of balance or propulsion as to preclude locomotion without the aid of braces, crutches, canes or a wheelchair, in acquiring a suitable housing unit with special fixtures or movable facilities made necessary by the nature of the Veteran's disability and necessary land therefore, or in remodeling a dwelling to meet those requirements.  38 U.S.C. §§ 2101, 2102.  The United States shall automatically insure any eligible Veteran who is or has been granted assistance in securing a suitable housing unit under chapter 21, of Title 38 United States Code, against the death of a Veteran.  The amount of insurance provided a Veteran under this section may not exceed the lesser of $90,000.00 or the amount of the loan outstanding on the housing unit.  38 U.S.C. § 2106.
In 1995, VA’s Office of General Counsel issued a precedential opinion holding that a grant of assistance in securing a suitable housing unit is clearly a condition precedent to coverage under VMLI, and having been “granted assistance” within the meaning of 38 U.S.C. § 2106 means when “VA approves the specially adapted housing grant.”  VAOGCPREC 4-95.  It was noted that the administrative act of approval is a determination that an award will be made.  Id.  The opinion went on to quote Pappalardo v. Brown, 6 Vet. App 63, 65 (1993), which held that whether a specially adapted housing grant had been approved by VA before the Veteran’s death was a factual matter requiring adjudication based upon the evidence of record and the applicable law and regulations.  Thus, an award of the VMLI benefit turns on whether the specially adapted housing grant had already been approved.
Here, there is no credible of evidence that a specially adapted housing grant was even applied for by the Veteran prior to his death.  The appellant did not have specific information regarding an application status at the January 2017 Board hearing.  Additionally, the record reflects that a Specially Adapted Housing Agent has verified that there is no record of an application for specially adapted housing as having been submitted by the Veteran during his lifetime.  As a specially adapted housing grant was not awarded to the Veteran prior to his death, the basic criteria for eligibility for VMLI have not been met.  As, on these facts, there is no legal basis to award entitlement to VMLI, the appellant’s claim must be denied as a matter of law.  See Sabonis v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 426, 430 (1994).
 
T. MAINELLI
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	Michael Sanford, Counsel