Citation Nr: 21061953 Decision Date: 10/05/21 Archive Date: 10/05/21 DOCKET NO. 18-49 783 DATE: October 5, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to VA home loan benefits is denied. FINDING OF FACT 1. The Veteran served on active duty from October 21, 1983 to October 10, 1985, which is less than the required 24 months. 2. He was not discharged because of a service-connected disability. CONCLUSION OF LAW The basic eligibility criteria for VA loan guaranty benefits have not been satisfied. 38 U.S.C. §§ 3701, 3702, 5303A; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.12a, 3.315(b). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from October 21, 1983 to October 10, 1985. He testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge at a July 2021 Board hearing. This matter comes before the Board on appeal from a July 2018 administrative decision, which denied VA home loan guarantee benefits on the grounds that the Veteran did not meet the minimum eligible service term for VA home loan guaranty benefits. The Veteran contends that the AOJ erred by denying his Certificate of Eligibility for VA home loan guaranty benefits in July 2018. A certificate of eligibility for loan guaranty benefits is granted only to veterans who satisfy the basic entitlement criteria outlined in 38 U.S.C. §§ 3701 and 3702. A person seeking VA benefits must first establish that they have attained the status of veteran. Holmes v. Brown, 10 Vet. App. 38, 40 (1997). Eligibility for VA benefits is governed by statutory and regulatory law that defines an individual's legal status as a veteran of active military, naval, or air service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 101 (2), 101(24), 3701; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.1, 3.6. A minimum active-duty service provision requires that each veteran who initially entered service after September 7, 1980 must generally have completed 24 months of continuous active duty to establish eligibility for any benefit administered by VA that is based on length of active service. U.S.C. § 5303A(b)(1); 38 C.F.R. § 3.12a. Here, the Veteran entered service in October 1983 and served on active duty for 23 months and 10 days. As this is less than 24 months, he does not meet the minimum required active service requirement. Id. In addition to the minimum active-duty service provision above, VA loan guaranty benefit eligibility requires at least 181 days of service on active duty for all serving after May 7, 1975. But while the Veteran meets the required 181 days of service on active duty, he fails to meet the minimum active-duty requirement under U.S.C. § 5303A(b)(1). However, there are exceptions to the general rule governing minimum durations required for active-duty service. In pertinent part, these include instances in which a person was discharged or released from active duty before completion of the requisite period because of a service-connected disability, or that the official service department records show that he or she had at the time of separation from service a service-connected disability which in medical judgment would have warranted a discharge for disability. Id. Here, there is no evidence that discharge from service was due to a service-connected disability because service connection is not in effect for any disability at this time, and there is no evidence that the Veteran was discharged from service due to disability. In this case, the Veteran asserts that he should be entitled to a certificate of eligibility for home loan guaranty and granted an exception to the rules, because he is only 11 days short of the loan guaranty requirement of 24 months. During service, he served as a medical specialist. He also argues that he left service voluntarily under honorable discharge. He stated that he even requested a transfer within the Andrews Airbase hospital to another unit several times but was denied. See September 2018 VA Form 9. The Board does not dispute the general facts as they are presented by the Veteran, although as noted above, 24 months of minimum active-duty service are required for Veterans who entered service during his era, thus even if 181 days of service had been achieved this would not be sufficient. Therefore, the Board finds that the relevant exceptions provided within VA regulations to the minimum service duration are not applicable in this case. Although the Veteran argues that he should be granted an exception on other grounds such as achieving 181 days of service, leaving service voluntarily and was discharged under honorable circumstances, the Board does not have discretion to extend benefits to those that have not met the minimum requirements. (Continued on the next page) In a case such as this, in which the facts are not in dispute and thus the law and not the evidence is dispositive, the Board must deny the claim based on the lack of legal merit or the lack of entitlement under the law. See Sabonis v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 426 (1994). The appeal must be denied. KELLI A. KORDICH Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board N. Yeh, Associate Counsel The Board's decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.