,,ii #aafth ,,congress #ast ,session ,s4 #bjgc ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,july #aj1 #bjai,mr4 ,boozman 7for himself and ,mr4 ,tester7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs ,a ,,bill ,to address fees erroneously collected by ,department of ,veterans ,affairs for housing loans1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,fees erroneously collected by ,department of ,veterans ,affairs for housing loans 7a7 ,findings ,congress makes the following findings3 7#a7 ,the ,department of ,veterans ,affairs offers a ,department-backed home loan for which veterans are generally required to pay fees to defray the cost of administering the home loan4 7#b7 ,veterans are exempt from paying the fees if they are entitled to receive disability compensation from the ,department of ,veterans ,affairs4 7#c7 ,between ,january #a1 #bjab1 and ,december #ca1 #bjag1 veterans paid fees of more than #bhf1jjj1jjj in association with ,department-backed home loans despite being exempt from such fees4 ,fees paid included #fe1hjj1jjj in fees that could have been avoided4 7#d7 ,of those erroneously paid fees1 #ahi1jjj1jjj in fee refunds are still due to veterans4 7#e7 ,more than #gj1jjj veterans may have been affected by these erroneously paid fees4 7b7 ,plan ,to identify individuals who were erroneously charged fees 7#a7 ,erroneous charges ,january #a1 #bjab1 to ,december #ca1 #bjag 7,a7 ,in general ,not later than #ij days after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the ,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs shall submit to ,congress a plan to identify individuals described in subsection 7c77#a7 of section #cgbi of title #ch1 ,united ,states ,code1 from whom a fee was collected under such section during the period beginning on ,january #a1 #bjab1 and ending on ,december #ca1 #bjag4 7,b7 ,contents ,the plan submitted under paragraph 7#a7 shall include the following3 7i7 ,the number of individuals who may be due a refund of the fee4 7ii7 ,a timeline for the refunding of fees4 7#b7 ,erroneous charges before ,january #a1 #bjab 7,a7 ,in general ,not later than #ahj days after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the ,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs shall submit to ,congress a plan to identify individuals described in subsection 7c77#a7 of section #cgbi of title #ch1 ,united ,states ,code1 from whom a fee was collected under such section before ,january #a1 #bjab4 7,b7 ,contents ,the plan submitted under paragraph 7#a7 shall include the following3 7i7 ,the number of individuals who may be due a refund of the fee4 7ii7 ,a timeline for the refunding of fees4 7c7 ,automated refund process 7#a7 ,in general ,the ,secretary shall develop an automated process for refunding fees collected under section #cgbi of title #ch1 ,united ,states ,code1 from individuals described in subsection 7c77#a7 of such section4 7#b7 ,prohibition ,for any individual identified under the process developed under paragraph 7#a71 the ,secretary shall process the refund without requiring further request4 7d7 ,plan ,to process refunds ,not later than #ij days after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the ,secretary shall develop a plan to process refunds of fees that were collected under section #cgbi of title #ch1 ,united ,states ,code1 from individuals described in subsection 7c77#a7 of such section4 7e7 ,annual report on refunds 7#a7 ,in general ,not less frequently than once each year1 the ,secretary shall submit to ,congress an annual report on refunds of fees collected under section #cgbi of title #ch1 ,united ,states ,code4 7#b7 ,contents ,each report submitted under paragraph 7#a7 shall include1 for the period covered by the report3 7,a7 ,the number of fees collected under such section that were refunded and applied to a home loan balance4 7,b7 ,the number of such refunds for which the ,secretary received documentation of the application of a refund to a home loan balance4 7f7 ,accuracy of certificates of eligibility 7#a7 ,in general ,the ,secretary shall update such policies as may be necessary to ensure that certificates of eligibility are accurate at the time they are used for the purposes of determining eligibility for housing loans guaranteed1 insured1 or made under chapter #cg of title #ch1 ,united ,states ,code1 and for pursues of determining eligibility for exemption from the collection of fees under section #cgbi of such title4 7#b7 ,report ,not later than #ahj days after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the ,secretary shall submit to ,congress a report on the solution developed under paragraph 7#a74 7g7 ,manner of refunds ,in the case of a fee that was erroneously collected under section #cgbi of title #ch1 ,united ,states ,code1 from an individual described in subsection 7c7 of such section1 the ,secretary may refund the fee directly to the individual1 notwithstanding any current loan balance of the individual or the manner in which the fee was originally collected4 7h7 ,refunds generally ,section #cgbi7;c7 of title #ch1 ,united ,states ,code1 is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph3 7#c7 7,a7 ,the ,secretary shall develop a process for determining whether a fee has been collected under this section from an individual described in paragraph 7#a74 7,b7 ,if the ,secretary determines that such a fee has been collected under this section from an individual described in paragraph 7#a71 the ,secretary shall pay to such individual an amount equal to the amount of the fee collected4 7,c7 ,notwithstanding any other provision of law1 a payment under this paragraph shall not be subject to ,federal1 ,state1 or other tax liability or reporting requirement4 4 7i7 ,audit plan 7#a7 ,plan required ,the ,secretary shall develop a plan to audit the ,department on an annual basis to determine the rate at which fees are erroneously collected under section #cgbi of title #ch1 ,united ,states ,code4 7#b7 ,reports ,not later than #fj days after the completion of any audit conducted pursuant to the plan developed under paragraph 7#a71 the ,secretary shall submit to ,congress a report on the findings of the ,secretary with respect to the audit4