Citation Nr: 18146559
Decision Date: 10/31/18	Archive Date: 10/31/18

DOCKET NO. 12-28 879
DATE:	October 31, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to basic eligibility for home loan guaranty benefits is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The appellant served on active duty from September 1977 to October 1977, for a total of less than 90 days.
This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an August 2012 decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Loan Center in Atlanta, Georgia.
In January 2015, the Board remanded this appeal for additional development.
1. Entitlement to basic eligibility for home loan guaranty benefits is remanded.
As discussed by the Board in its January 2015 remand of the issue of entitlement to basic eligibility for home loan guaranty benefits and its June 2018 remand of the issues of entitlement to service connection for a sleepwalking condition and an acquired psychiatric disorder other than posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the issue of basic eligibility for home loan guaranty benefits is inextricably intertwined with the separately appealed issue of entitlement service connection for a sleepwalking condition.  Although the appellant does not meet the minimum active duty service requirements for the claimed home loan guaranty benefits, he may be eligible if he was discharged or released due to a service-connected disability or if he had a service connected disability which in medical judgement would have warranted a discharge for disability at the time of the separation from service.
These intertwined issues originated from different Agencies of Original Jurisdiction (the VA Regional Loan Center and the VA Regional Office) and must be decided by the Board in separate decisions. The issue of entitlement to basic eligibility for home loan guaranty benefits cannot be decided by the Board prior to a decision on the issue of entitlement to service connection for a sleepwalking condition.  
The record reflects that VA-generated evidence has been added to the claims file since this claim was last adjudicated.  However, a new supplemental statement of the case (SSOC) was not issued with consideration of the new evidence.  Therefore, remand is required for the AOJ to consider this evidence in a SSOC.
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
1. Complete any further development deemed necessary in light of the expanded record.
2. Then, readjudicate the claim and issue a new SSOC.  The claim should not be returned to the Board until after 



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the VA Regional Office decides the pending issue of entitlement to service connection for a sleepwalking condition.
 
KRISTY L. ZADORA
Acting Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	M. Thomas, Associate Counsel