Citation Nr: 19132001
Decision Date: 04/24/19	Archive Date: 04/24/19

DOCKET NO. 17-28 530
DATE:	April 24, 2019

ORDER

Eligibility for a special home adaptation is denied.

FINDING OF FACT

Eligibility for specially adapted housing was granted in a May 2017 rating decision.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The Veteran is not eligible for financial assistance for a special home adaptation.  38 U.S.C. §§ 2101, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.159, 3.809, 3.809a.

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran served on active duty from August 1966 to August 1968.

In a May 2017 rating decision, the Veteran was granted service connection for loss of use of both lower extremities and the subsequent anatomical loss of the left foot.  He was also found to be eligible for specially adapted housing.

VA offers two types of grants that can be used to renovate a home to make it more accessible for a veteran with disabilities: specially adapted housing and a special home adaptation grant.  See 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.809, 3.809a.  Specially adapted housing is the greater monetary benefit of the two grants.  Once a veteran has been granted eligibility for specially adapted housing, he or she is no longer eligible for a grant for special home adaptation.  See 38 C.F.R. § 3.809a(a).

As the veteran has been granted a certificate of eligibility for assistance in acquiring specially adapted housing pursuant to 38 C.F.R. § 3.809, the Veteran is precluded by regulation from eligibility for a special home adaptation grant pursuant to 38 C.F.R. § 3.809a.  Accordingly, the claim must be denied as a matter of law.  See Sabonis v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 426, 430 (1994).

 

DEREK R. BROWN

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	Mary E. Rude, Counsel