Purchased Owner Occupied Home - Can’t Move To It

[Account Closed]

Teammates, I have a work associate who recently closed on a house that he intends to live in when he moves from overseas back to the US (Florida) in a few months. We're US service members and he's currently restricted from moving because of a stop movement order placed on military members as a result of COVID-19. He should have moved already, but now may not for several months...all the while having to make payments on a house he can't occupy. The house is located in an area that's conducive to short-term rental (which is his long term plan with the house), but he's not able to use it as a shot-term rental while he's restricted from moving into it because he financed it with a VA loan. He's planning to talk to his lender to determine if there are any provisions that will allow him to delay payments until he's able to move (could be months still), but I thought I'd throw the question up here to solicit some ideas for what he can do so he's not paying rent (overseas) and a mortgage (FL house) at the same time. I appreciate any ideas anyone is willing to provide.

Best,

Michael

[Michael J Scanlon]

I would talk to the lender and see if he can still rent it. He did "intend to occupy" and clearly has valid reasoning for why he cannot. Intent is typically the deciding factor but its interpreted in different ways.