A joint VA loan is a VA-guaranteed loan on which the veteran takes title with at least one person who is not the veteran's spouse. VA guarantees only the veteran's share of it, so an evenly split loan carries a guaranty worth 12.5% of the total rather than 25%, and the file has to go to VA for prior approval before it can close. The relationship does not matter to VA. A partner you are not married to, a parent, an adult child, a sibling, a friend or a business partner can all be on the loan. What changes is the arithmetic underneath it: 38 CFR 36.4308 limits the guaranty to the portion of the loan allocable to the veteran, so on an illustrative $500,000 loan shared by one veteran and one non-veteran the guaranty comes to $62,500 rather than $125,000.
That single sentence explains almost every surprise people run into on these files. The extra approval step, the cash the lender asks for, the smaller funding fee, and the reason some lenders will not do them at all are all downstream of it. Here is the whole structure, sourced to VA's own regulation and handbook, with the Nevada title question that a national guide will not raise with you.
Key takeaways
- A non-spouse co-borrower makes it a joint loan, and joint loans need VA prior approval. 38 CFR 36.4308(a) requires the prior approval of the Secretary whenever the veteran takes title with anyone other than a spouse. A lender with automatic authority cannot close it on its own, so the review sits on top of normal underwriting.
- VA guarantees your share, not the loan. The guaranty is computed only on the portion allocable to the veteran. On a loan above $144,000 that is 25 percent of your portion, so an even split between one veteran and one non-veteran produces a guaranty worth 12.5 percent of the total loan.
- The cash question is a lender question, not a VA rule. VA.gov says most lenders want entitlement, a down payment, or both to cover at least 25 percent of the total loan. VA's handbook tells the lender to satisfy itself that its investor can live with the limited guaranty. Ask before you write an offer.
- The funding fee gets smaller, not bigger. It is charged only on the portion allocable to a veteran using entitlement. VA's Lenders Handbook allocates the loan equally between borrowers first, then applies the ordinary fee-tier rate to just the veteran's half, so the dollar fee on a joint loan runs lower than the fee on the same loan amount financed by the veteran alone.
- Nevada decides how you own it, and the default is probably not what you want. Under NRS 111.060 two co-owners take title as tenants in common unless the deed expressly declares a joint tenancy, and tenancy in common carries no right of survivorship.
Sources: 38 U.S.C. 3703(a); 38 CFR 36.4308 and 36.4302(a); VA.gov home loan limits page, last updated August 12, 2025; FHFA 2026 conforming loan limit values, county file. Figures are illustrative only and are not a quote, offer, or commitment to lend. Not legal advice.
Article history
- September 1, 2026, published. Built after a search of the 73 pages then live on this site found the phrase joint VA loan used exactly once, loosely, on the divorce guide to mean two spouses, and found 38 CFR 36.4308 cited nowhere at all. Reciprocal links added to sibling pages during this same build have since raised both counts, so the measurement above describes the site as it stood before the page existed, not as it stands now.
- September 1, 2026, the regulation read at the source and cross-checked. VA's Lenders Handbook still points readers at 38 CFR 36.4307 for joint loans. That section number is now the interest rate reduction refinancing loan. Joint loans live at 36.4308, confirmed against the eCFR structure index for Title 38 and again against the Government Publishing Office's own annual edition of the CFR, which returns identical text.
- September 1, 2026, the guaranty arithmetic tested against VA's own examples. The tier logic behind the estimator on this page reproduces all four worked examples printed in VA Pamphlet 26-7, Chapter 7, including the $22,500 result on a $50,000 portion and the $28,800 result on a $72,000 portion, before any figure was published here.
- September 1, 2026, two citation defects found by fact-check and corrected before publication. The 38 CFR 36.4308(a) blockquote had been trimmed mid-sentence without an ellipsis while still being presented as verbatim, and it now carries the paragraph in full. Separately, the top guaranty tier had been attributed to 38 CFR 36.4302(a) as a flat 25 percent when that paragraph still reads "the lesser of $60,000 or 25 percent." The page now quotes the regulation accurately and explains why the statute, not the regulation, is the figure to use.
- September 1, 2026, the funding fee section rewritten on advertising-counsel review. The section had reproduced VA's own dollar worked example, which states a down payment amount and percentage. Those are independent triggering terms under Reg Z, 12 CFR 1026.24(d)(1)(i), and this page deliberately states no rate, annual percentage rate, payment amount or repayment term, so it cannot carry the disclosures a trigger would require. The allocation rule is now explained as a mechanism rather than in dollars. Nothing about the rule itself changed.
What is a joint VA loan?
A joint VA loan is a VA-guaranteed loan where the veteran and at least one other person are both liable for the debt and both own the property, and the other person is somebody other than a non-veteran spouse. VA's Lenders Handbook defines it as a loan for which the veteran and other persons are liable and the veteran and the other obligors own the security.
The definition is easier to hold on to backwards, by the cases that are not joint loans. A loan to a veteran and a spouse who is not a veteran is not a joint loan. Neither is a loan to a veteran and a spouse who is a veteran but is not using entitlement on this purchase. Both of those close like an ordinary VA loan, with the guaranty computed on the whole amount.
There is a third case worth knowing if you are engaged. VA's handbook treats a loan to a veteran and a fiance who intend to marry before closing, and who will take title as veteran and spouse, as a loan to a veteran and spouse conditioned on the marriage, rather than as a joint loan. The paperwork follows the title you will hold at closing, not the one you hold when you apply.
Everything else with two names on it is a joint loan. That includes two veterans who are not married to each other and are both using entitlement, one veteran plus several non-veterans, and any mix in between. If you are still deciding whether a co-borrower is the right move at all, the Nevada VA loan requirements guide covers what a single borrower has to clear on their own first.
| Who is on the loan | VA prior approval? | Guaranty is computed on | Funding fee is charged on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Veteran and spouse, where the spouse is not a veteran or is a veteran not using entitlement | No. Not a joint loan. A lender with automatic authority can close it | The entire loan amount | The whole loan amount |
| Veteran and one or more people who are not the veteran's spouse | Yes. The file goes to VA before closing | Only the portion allocable to the veteran | Only the portion allocable to the veteran |
| Two or more veterans, not married to each other, all using entitlement | Yes | The total loan amount | Each veteran's equal share of the loan |
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
Source: 38 CFR 36.4308(a) and (b); VA Pamphlet 26-7, Lenders Handbook, Chapter 7, Topic 1, change date March 11, 2019. Row three reflects VA's rule that on a joint loan where every borrower is a veteran using entitlement, the maximum potential guaranty is calculated on the total loan amount.
Can you use a VA loan with a co-borrower who is not your spouse?
Yes. A VA loan allows a co-borrower who is not your spouse, and VA sets no rule about the relationship between you. An unmarried partner, a parent, an adult child, a sibling, a friend and a business partner are all acceptable to VA. The eligibility that makes the loan possible comes from your service record, and that is unaffected by who signs beside you.
Two conditions travel with it. The first is occupancy. VA's handbook is direct about this: the veteran using entitlement on a joint loan must certify an intent to personally occupy the property as a home. A joint loan does not open a door to an investment purchase, and the Nevada occupancy requirements guide on this site covers what that certification actually commits you to.
The second is that the whole loan amount still appears on the note and the deed of trust, even though only your portion appears on the Certificate of Commitment and the Loan Guaranty Certificate. Both of you are on the hook for the entire debt. VA's split is an accounting rule for the guaranty, not a division of who owes what.
ImportantNumber of units is capped differently when more than one veteran is on the loan. VA allows a property owned by two or more eligible veterans to have four family units plus one additional unit for each participating veteran, plus one business unit. Two veterans can therefore buy up to six family units. Go past that and the loan is not eligible for guaranty at all. The two to four unit VA guide covers the single-veteran case.
Why does a joint VA loan need VA prior approval?
A joint VA loan needs VA prior approval because the regulation says so, and because VA has to decide how much of the loan is properly yours before it can issue a guaranty on it. The rule and the reason sit in the same sentence:
Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, the prior approval of the Secretary is required in respect to any loan to be made to two or more borrowers who become jointly and severally liable, or jointly liable therefor, and who will acquire an undivided interest in the property to be purchased or who will otherwise share in the proceeds of the loan, or in respect to any loan to be made to an eligible veteran whose interest in the property owned, or to be acquired with the loan proceeds, is an undivided interest only, unless such interest is at least a 50 percent interest in a partnership. The amount of the guaranty or insurance credit shall be computed in such cases only on that portion of the loan allocable to the eligible veteran which, taking into consideration all relevant factors, represents the proper contribution of the veteran to the transaction. Such loans shall be secured to the extent required by 38 U.S.C. chapter 37 and the regulations concerning guaranty or insurance of loans to veterans.38 CFR 36.4308(a), Joint loans, quoted in full. Source: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-38/chapter-I/part-36/subpart-B/section-36.4308
Paragraph (b) is the spouse exception. It says the joinder of the spouse of a veteran-borrower in the ownership of residential property does not require prior approval and does not stop VA issuing a guaranty on the entire amount of the loan. That one paragraph is the whole reason a married couple's VA purchase closes like any other and yours does not.
VA's Lenders Handbook states the operational version of the same rule: any joint loan for which the veteran will hold title with any person other than the veteran's spouse must be submitted for prior approval, while a loan where the veteran and the veteran's spouse hold title can be closed automatically by a lender with automatic authority.
Valley West takeTreat the approval step as a date problem, not a paperwork problem. It sits on top of underwriting rather than inside it, and it is invisible to a seller's agent comparing your offer against a conventional one. If you are buying with a non-spouse co-borrower in Clark County, negotiate the closing date with that review in mind and say so in the offer, so nobody reads a longer timeline as a weaker buyer. The Las Vegas VA offer guide covers how to present a VA offer without giving up ground, and getting preapproved before you write the offer is what makes a longer timeline read as organised rather than shaky.
How much of the loan does VA actually guarantee on a joint VA loan?
A joint VA loan is guaranteed only on the veteran's allocable share, not on the whole loan. The procedure in VA's Lenders Handbook is four steps: divide the total loan by the number of borrowers, multiply by the number of veterans using entitlement, compute the maximum potential guaranty on that portion as if it were the whole loan, then guarantee the lesser of that figure or the combined entitlement available.
The maximum potential guaranty is tiered: 50 percent of the portion up to $45,000; a flat $22,500 between $45,000 and $56,250; the lesser of $36,000 or 40 percent between $56,250 and $144,000; and 25 percent of the portion once it passes $144,000 on a home purchase. Almost every Nevada purchase lands in that last tier, which is why the estimator above reports a guaranty equal to a quarter of the veteran's share.
Read that top tier from the statute rather than from the regulation, because the two no longer agree. 38 U.S.C. 3703(a)(1)(A)(i)(IV) says the guaranty on a loan of more than $144,000 is 25 percent of the loan, full stop. 38 CFR 36.4302(a)(4) still reads "the lesser of $60,000 or 25 percent of the original principal loan amount where the loan amount exceeds $144,000," which is the pre-2020 text. The Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019 struck the dollar cap out of the statute for loans guaranteed on or after January 1, 2020, and the regulation has not been rewritten to match.
Where a regulation and its authorising statute disagree, the statute controls. So a page or a calculator that still applies a $60,000 ceiling is running on a superseded number, and the estimator above deliberately does not.
A veteran with full entitlement therefore has no county loan limit either, because 38 U.S.C. 3703(a)(1)(C)(i) sets the maximum entitlement available at 25 percent of the loan with no dollar cap. A veteran who has used entitlement and not had it restored is a covered veteran under clause (ii), and their ceiling is 25 percent of the conforming loan limit less the entitlement already charged. That is where the Clark County 2026 limit of $832,750 starts to bite, and the entitlement guide walks through the subtraction.
The estimator
Joint VA loan coverage estimator
Enter a base loan amount and the make-up of the borrower group. This applies VA's own four-step joint-loan procedure and assumes the veteran has full entitlement available. Illustrative only and not a quote, offer, or commitment to lend.
VA's guaranty covers 12.5% of this loan. Bringing total coverage to 25 percent leaves $62,500 to be covered another way. Illustrative only and not a quote, offer, or commitment to lend.
Method: total loan divided by the number of borrowers, multiplied by the number of veterans using entitlement, then the 38 U.S.C. 3703(a)(1)(A)(i) guaranty tiers applied to that portion. The 25 percent coverage line is VA.gov's statement of what most lenders want covered, not a VA requirement and not a Valley West requirement. Assumes full entitlement; a veteran on partial entitlement is capped by the county limit instead. Figures are rounded to the nearest dollar.
This tool states no interest rate, annual percentage rate, monthly payment amount, or repayment term, and it is not a Loan Estimate. Subject to credit, income, property, and underwriting approval. Valley West Mortgage · NMLS #65506 · Equal Housing Opportunity.
| Borrower mix on a $500,000 base loan | Veteran portion | Maximum VA guaranty | Guaranty as share of loan | Gap to 25% coverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 veteran, 1 non-veteran | $250,000 | $62,500 | 12.5% | $62,500 |
| 1 veteran, 2 non-veterans | $166,667 | $41,667 | 8.3% | $83,333 |
| 2 veterans using entitlement, 1 non-veteran | $333,333 | $83,333 | 16.7% | $41,667 |
| Veteran and spouse (not a joint loan) | Entire loan | $125,000 | 25.0% | $0 |
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
Illustrative only, rounded to the nearest dollar, and not a quote, offer, or commitment to lend. Method: 38 U.S.C. 3703(a)(1)(A)(i)(IV) applied to the portion produced by VA Pamphlet 26-7 Chapter 7's four-step procedure. The final row is the 38 CFR 36.4308(b) spouse exception, where the guaranty is issued on the entire loan. Assumes full entitlement in every row.
Find out what your entitlement supports on a two-name purchase, current as of September 1, 2026. A short review replaces the estimate above with your real Certificate of Eligibility, your real allocable portion, and a real answer on what your file needs to close.
Start my free VA review No obligation · Secure online start · Options subject to approvalWill you need a down payment on a joint VA loan?
VA does not require a down payment on a joint VA loan, and VA publishes no joint-loan down payment figure at all. Cash comes up because of a market convention that VA describes in its own words on its loan limits page:
Most lenders require that your entitlement, down payment, or a combination of both covers at least 25% of your total loan amount.VA.gov, VA home loan limits, page last updated August 12, 2025. Source: https://www.va.gov/housing-assistance/home-loans/loan-limits/
Put that beside the arithmetic from the section above and the whole issue resolves. One veteran and one non-veteran splitting a loan evenly produce a guaranty worth 12.5 percent of the total. A lender working to a 25 percent coverage convention is looking at a gap of the same size, and cash is the ordinary way that gap gets filled.
VA is explicit that this is the lender's call rather than VA's. The Lenders Handbook tells the lender it must satisfy itself that the requirements of its investor or the secondary market can be met with this limited guaranty. VA also warns the lender, on the Certificate of Commitment itself, that no part of the guaranty applies to the non-veteran's portion, and that in a foreclosure with a loss the holder absorbs any loss attributable to that portion. That is the risk the cash is answering.
TipAsk the lender two specific questions before you write an offer: does your investor accept a joint VA loan at all, and what coverage does it require on the non-veteran portion. Those answers vary between lenders and they change what you can offer. Nothing on this page is a Valley West requirement, and no figure here is a quote or a commitment to lend.
How is the VA funding fee calculated on a joint VA loan?
The VA funding fee on a joint VA loan is charged only on the portion of the loan allocable to a veteran who is using entitlement and is not exempt. VA's Lenders Handbook says the actual loan amount is allocated equally between the borrowers for this purpose, whether or not a down payment is made and regardless of where those funds came from.
Nothing is assessed on three categories: the non-veteran's portion, the portion of a veteran who did not use entitlement, and the portion of a veteran who used entitlement but is exempt from the fee.
VA lists those exemptions on its funding fee page. They include a veteran receiving compensation for a service-connected disability, a veteran eligible to receive it but taking retirement or active-duty pay instead, a surviving spouse receiving Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, a service member with a pre-discharge memorandum rating dated before closing, and an active-duty service member who documents a Purple Heart before closing.
VA's Lenders Handbook allocation is easiest to see as a mechanism rather than in dollars. The down payment percentage on the whole transaction sets which fee tier applies, the same as it would on a single-borrower loan. What changes on a joint loan is the base the tier rate is applied to: only the veteran's half of the loan amount, not the whole loan, so the resulting fee is smaller than it would be on the same loan amount financed by the veteran alone. The 2026 Nevada funding fee guide on this site carries the full tier table and every exemption.
One footnote that catches people: the percentage of entitlement you are using has no bearing on the fee. The fee tier is set by first or subsequent use and by the down payment on the transaction, and the fee base is set by the allocation rule. Those are three separate levers and none of them is your entitlement percentage.
Whose credit and income carry the file on a joint VA loan?
On a veteran and non-veteran joint VA loan, both borrowers are underwritten, but the compensation between them runs one way only. VA's Lenders Handbook puts it plainly, and the asymmetry is the part worth remembering:
Income strength of the Veteran may compensate for income weakness of the non-Veteran, but income strength of the non-Veteran cannot compensate for income weakness of the Veteran in analyzing the Veteran's ability to repay his or her allocable portion of the loan.VA Pamphlet 26-7, Lenders Handbook, Chapter 7, Topic 1, underwriting considerations, change date March 11, 2019. Published by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs at https://www.knowva.ebenefits.va.gov/system/templates/selfservice/va_ssnew/help/customer/locale/en-US/portal/554400000001018/topic/554400000027323/VAP26-07-Lenders-Handbook
Read that as a planning rule rather than a technicality. A high-earning non-veteran co-borrower does not rescue a veteran whose own income is thin against the allocable share. The combined income of both borrowers can still be considered in evaluating repayment ability, and the credit of the non-veteran has to be satisfactory in its own right, but the veteran's side has to stand up first.
The handbook also separates credit from income. Satisfactory credit of one veteran cannot compensate for another's poor credit on a two-veteran loan, which is a stricter rule than most people expect from a program with no minimum credit score. VA's residual income test still applies to the household, and the Nevada residual income guide covers the West region figures that govern it.
Can a lender simply decline a joint VA loan?
Yes. A lender can decline a joint VA loan application outright, and VA says doing so does not violate the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. This is the part of the structure almost nobody publishes, and it explains why several lenders will tell you they do not do these at all:
The applicability of the guaranty to only a portion of the loan in the case of a Veteran/non-Veteran joint loan may cause a lender to refuse to accept an application for such loan. This may appear to conflict with the ECOA prohibition against discrimination based on marital status; however, the lender may refuse the application under these circumstances without violating ECOA. This is based on an exemption for VA being a special purpose credit program.VA Pamphlet 26-7, Lenders Handbook, Chapter 7, Topic 1, Equal Credit Opportunity Act Considerations, change date March 11, 2019. Published by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs at https://www.knowva.ebenefits.va.gov/system/templates/selfservice/va_ssnew/help/customer/locale/en-US/portal/554400000001018/topic/554400000027323/VAP26-07-Lenders-Handbook
The practical consequence is that a joint VA loan is a lender-availability question before it is anything else. That is not a comment on any particular company, and it is not a claim about who does or does not offer them. It means the first call you make should establish whether the structure is on the menu, because a decline here is about the guaranty, not about you.
It also means the answer can differ between the same lender's investors. Ask about the specific investor the file would be delivered to, not just about the lender.
How should two Nevada co-buyers take title?
In Nevada, two co-buyers who say nothing about it take title as tenants in common, and tenancy in common carries no right of survivorship. The statute is one sentence long and it is worth reading exactly as written:
Every interest in real property granted or devised to two or more persons, other than executors and trustees, as such, shall be a tenancy in common, unless expressly declared in the grant or devise to be a joint tenancy.NRS 111.060, Tenancy in common: Definition. Source: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-111.html
The default matters more on a joint VA loan than on almost any other purchase, because the two people on the deed are often not married and often have not written anything down about what happens if one of them dies. Under a tenancy in common, a deceased co-owner's share passes through their estate. The surviving co-owner keeps their own share and may find themselves owning a house with somebody's heirs while still liable for the whole note.
The alternative has to be said out loud on the paperwork. NRS 111.065 provides that a joint tenancy in real property is created by a will or transfer only when it is expressly declared in that will or transfer to be a joint tenancy. There is no way to end up in a joint tenancy by accident in Nevada, which is exactly why this is a conversation to have with a Nevada attorney and your title officer before closing rather than a box to tick at the signing table.
Married couples sit in a different regime again. NRS 123.220 makes property acquired after marriage by either spouse or both spouses community property unless a written agreement between the spouses, a decree of separate maintenance, or one of two named statutes provides otherwise. That is also the reason a Nevada spouse's debts can show up in a VA file even when the spouse is not on the loan.
Two names on the deed usually means two names on the homeowners policy as well, and the lender will want that policy bound before the file can close either way. Valley West Insurance walks through the coverage a Las Vegas closing needs bound in advance, which is worth reading at the same time as the title question rather than in the last week.
ImportantHow you hold title is a legal decision with tax and estate consequences, and it is outside what any mortgage company can advise on. Valley West Mortgage does not give legal or tax advice. Take the question to a Nevada attorney, and bring the answer to the title company before the deed is drawn.
What happens later if one of you wants out?
Getting a name off a joint VA loan takes a refinance, a sale, or a qualified assumption, and until one of those happens the veteran's entitlement stays tied up in the property. A deed that moves title does not move the debt, and it does not release the guaranty.
That is the same mechanic that makes VA loans complicated in a Nevada divorce, and the routes out are identical. The Nevada VA loan and divorce guide lays out the four exits side by side, including who ends up liable and whose entitlement is freed under each one. A joint VA loan between two unmarried people has the same four doors and none of the family-court machinery for forcing somebody through one, which is the argument for writing a co-ownership agreement at the start.
Entitlement is the piece people underestimate. It stays charged for as long as the loan is outstanding, which shapes what you can do next. If a second purchase is anywhere in your plans, read how many times you can use a VA loan before you commit to a structure that parks your benefit in somebody else's house.
If you have not confirmed what you are working with yet, start with the Certificate of Eligibility. It is the document that shows what has been charged and what is left, and every number on this page depends on it.
The bottom line on joint VA loans in Nevada
A joint VA loan is a real, usable structure, and it is the only way a veteran buys with a non-spouse using the VA benefit. It just behaves differently from the loan most guides describe.
- Taking title with anyone other than your spouse makes it a joint loan under 38 CFR 36.4308, and joint loans go to VA for prior approval before closing.
- The guaranty covers your allocable portion only, which is 12.5 percent of the total on an even two-person split above $144,000, against the 25 percent a lender is usually working toward.
- Whether cash is needed, and how much, is a lender and investor decision. VA publishes no joint-loan down payment figure.
- The funding fee shrinks with the allocation, and it is not charged on the non-veteran's portion at all.
- Your income has to carry your own share. A strong co-borrower cannot make up for a thin veteran file, though the reverse is allowed.
- A lender may decline the structure outright without an ECOA problem, so establish availability early.
- In Nevada you are tenants in common unless the deed says otherwise, so decide that with an attorney rather than by default.
Everything above is educational information about VA program rules, not legal advice and not a commitment to lend. Start from the Las Vegas VA home loans hub if you want the wider picture, or run the numbers on a single-borrower purchase with the VA loan calculator.
What else do Nevada veterans ask about joint VA loans?
Can you use a VA loan with a co-borrower who is not your spouse?
Yes. A VA loan can carry a co-borrower who is not your spouse, and VA puts no restriction on who that person is, so an unmarried partner, a parent, an adult child, a sibling, a friend or a business partner can all be on the loan. What changes is the structure. Taking title with anyone other than your spouse makes it a joint loan under 38 CFR 36.4308, which means the file goes to VA for prior approval before it closes and the guaranty is computed only on the portion of the loan allocable to you. The veteran using entitlement also has to certify an intent to occupy the home personally.
Does a joint VA loan need VA approval before closing?
Yes, when the veteran holds title with anyone who is not the veteran's spouse. 38 CFR 36.4308(a) says the prior approval of the Secretary is required, and VA's Lenders Handbook repeats it: any joint loan where the veteran holds title with any person other than the veteran's spouse must be submitted for prior approval. A lender with automatic authority cannot simply close it. Build the extra review time into your contract dates, because it sits on top of normal underwriting rather than inside it.
How much of a joint VA loan does VA guarantee?
Only the veteran's allocable share. VA divides the loan by the number of borrowers, multiplies by the number of veterans using entitlement, and computes the maximum guaranty on that portion as if it were the whole loan. On a loan above $144,000 the guaranty is 25 percent of that portion under 38 U.S.C. 3703(a)(1)(A)(i)(IV). One veteran and one non-veteran splitting a loan evenly therefore get a guaranty worth 12.5 percent of the total. These figures are illustrative and not a quote, offer, or commitment to lend.
Do you have to make a down payment on a joint VA loan?
VA does not impose one. The reason cash usually comes up is that VA.gov states most lenders require your entitlement, down payment, or a combination of both to cover at least 25 percent of the total loan amount, and a guaranty on half the loan reaches only 12.5 percent. VA's Lenders Handbook puts the decision on the lender, saying the lender must satisfy itself that the requirements of its investor or the secondary market can be met with this limited guaranty. Ask the lender you are working with what its investor requires before you write an offer.
Is the VA funding fee charged on the whole joint loan?
No. On a veteran and non-veteran loan the fee applies only to the portion allocable to a veteran who is using entitlement and is not exempt. VA's Lenders Handbook allocates the actual loan amount equally between the borrowers for this purpose, whether or not a down payment is made and regardless of where those funds came from. No fee is assessed on the non-veteran's portion, on a veteran who did not use entitlement, or on a veteran who is exempt. VA lists the exemptions, including veterans receiving compensation for a service-connected disability.
How should two unmarried co-buyers take title in Nevada?
Deliberately, and in writing on the deed. NRS 111.060 makes tenancy in common the default: every interest in real property granted to two or more persons is a tenancy in common unless the grant expressly declares a joint tenancy. Tenancy in common carries no right of survivorship, so a co-owner's share passes through their estate rather than to the other owner. NRS 111.065 requires joint tenancy to be expressly declared in the transfer. Decide this with a Nevada attorney before closing, not after.
What sources are cited in this article?
Sources
- 38 CFR 36.4308, Joint loans, paragraphs (a) and (b). Text read from the eCFR versioner API for the current Title 38 issue and confirmed identical against the Government Publishing Office annual edition of the CFR. ecfr.gov/current/title-38/chapter-I/part-36/subpart-B/section-36.4308 and govinfo.gov, 38 CFR Ch. I (7-1-24 Edition), section 36.4308 (PDF).
- 38 CFR 36.4302(a), Computation of guaranties or insurance credits, for the lower guaranty tiers: 50 percent of the portion up to $45,000; a flat $22,500 where the portion is more than $45,000 but not more than $56,250; and the lesser of $36,000 or 40 percent where it is more than $56,250 but not more than $144,000. Note that its top tier, paragraph (a)(4), still reads "The lesser of $60,000 or 25 percent of the original principal loan amount where the loan amount exceeds $144,000 and the loan is for the purchase or construction of a home or the purchase of a condominium unit." That is pre-2020 text. This page and its estimator apply the amended statute instead, per the note in the guaranty section above. ecfr.gov/current/title-38/chapter-I/part-36/subpart-B/section-36.4302.
- Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019, Public Law 116-23, section 6, which amended 38 U.S.C. 3703. Section 6(d) provides that "The amendments made by this section shall apply with respect to a loan guaranteed under section 3710 of title 38, United States Code, on or after January 1, 2020." Read from the amendment notes published with the section text. uscode.house.gov, 38 U.S.C. 3703, Effective Date of 2019 Amendment.
- 38 U.S.C. 3703(a), Basic provisions relating to loan guaranty and insurance, including clause (i)(IV) for the 25 percent guaranty above $144,000 and subparagraph (C) for full and partial entitlement. uscode.house.gov, 38 U.S.C. 3703.
- VA Pamphlet 26-7, Lenders Handbook, Chapter 7, Topic 1, Joint Loans, change date March 11, 2019. The definition, the prior-approval rule, the four-step guaranty procedure, the underwriting compensation rule, the ECOA note, the Certificate of Commitment and Loan Guaranty Certificate wording, and the funding fee allocation rule all come from this chapter. VA Lenders Handbook on KnowVA.
- VA.gov, VA home loan limits, for the statement that most lenders require entitlement, a down payment, or both to cover at least 25 percent of the total loan amount. Page last updated August 12, 2025. va.gov/housing-assistance/home-loans/loan-limits.
- VA.gov, VA funding fee and loan closing costs, for the purchase fee tiers effective April 7, 2023 and the exemption list. Page last updated January 15, 2026. va.gov/housing-assistance/home-loans/funding-fee-and-closing-costs.
- FHFA 2026 conforming loan limit values, county file, for the $832,750 one-unit limit in Clark County and every other Nevada county. fhfa.gov/data/conforming-loan-limit.
- NRS 111.060, Tenancy in common: Definition, and NRS 111.065, Joint tenancy in real and personal property: Creation. leg.state.nv.us NRS Chapter 111.
- NRS 123.220, Community property defined. leg.state.nv.us NRS Chapter 123.
Keep reading
- VA home loans in Las Vegas, the hub this guide sits under
- VA loan entitlement in Las Vegas, how the guaranty is charged and restored
- VA occupancy requirements in Nevada, the certification the veteran signs
- The 2026 VA funding fee in Nevada, every tier and exemption
- VA loans and divorce in Nevada, the four ways a name comes off a loan
- VA loans for surviving spouses in Nevada, a different two-name situation
- VA loan calculator, estimate the numbers on a purchase
Your next step
Find out whether a two-name purchase is the right structure before you go under contract.
Ten minutes with a local Nevada team replaces the estimate above with your real numbers, read off your own file rather than an average. Here is how it works:
- Soft credit review. It will not affect your score.
- Certificate of Eligibility. Your entitlement charged and what remains, confirmed rather than guessed.
- A written plan with the structure on it. So you know what the file needs before an offer, not after.
Subject to credit, income, property, and underwriting approval. Not a commitment to lend. Educational information, not legal advice. Valley West Mortgage · NMLS #65506 · Equal Housing Opportunity. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or any government agency.