What is VA entitlement?
Entitlement is the amount VA will back if you can't repay — its guaranty to the lender. On loans above $144,000, that guaranty is up to 25% of the loan amount. Because lenders want that 25% covered, your entitlement is what lets you borrow with no down payment. Your Certificate of Eligibility shows how much you have.
With full entitlement — you've never used the benefit, or you've restored it — VA says (opens in a new tab) there's no VA loan limit. That doesn't mean any size of loan: the lender still decides what you can afford from your credit, income and debts, and the loan can't be more than the appraised value or the price, whichever is lower.
How do you restore your entitlement?
You can restore used entitlement in three situations: you sold the home and paid that loan off in full; another eligible Veteran assumes your loan and swaps in their own entitlement; or you paid the loan off in full but kept the home, which you can do only once. You ask the same way you request a Certificate of Eligibility.
VA lets you restore (opens in a new tab) entitlement you've used if one of these is true:
- You sold the home you bought with the earlier VA loan, and paid that loan off in full.
- Another eligible Veteran takes over (assumes) your loan and swaps in their own entitlement for the same amount of entitlement you used.
- You paid the earlier loan off in full but kept the home. You can only do this once.
You ask for restoration the same way you ask for a Certificate of Eligibility: online, through your lender, or on VA Form 26-1880.
Can you have two VA loans at the same time?
Often, yes. If you still own a home with a VA loan, you may have remaining entitlement to buy another home you'll live in, for example after a move to new orders. How much you can borrow depends on your county's loan limit and how much entitlement your first loan used.
VA's own method for working out remaining entitlement:
- Find the entitlement charged for your earlier loan on your Certificate of Eligibility.
- Find your county's one-unit loan limit on the FHFA list (opens in a new tab). VA uses the same limits, and the one-unit figure even for a multi-unit home.
- Take 25% of that limit.
- Subtract the entitlement already charged. What's left is your remaining entitlement.
VA's worked example: a county limit of $900,000 gives $225,000. Subtract $50,000 already used and $175,000 is left. Most lenders would lend up to four times that, $700,000, with no down payment.
Above that amount you can still buy, but VA says (opens in a new tab) most lenders want your entitlement, a down payment, or both together to cover at least 25% of the loan.
What are the VA loan limits in Hawaiʻi, Nevada and California?
For 2026, Maui County's one-unit limit is $1,299,500, and Hawaiʻi's other counties are at $1,249,125. In Nevada and California, every county's one-unit limit falls between the national baseline of $832,750 and $1,249,125. To use the entitlement method, take 25% of your county's figure.
VA's limits follow FHFA's, and they're set county by county. Hawaiʻi's limits are among the highest in the country, and a home in Reno or Sacramento can have a different limit from one in Las Vegas or Los Angeles.
To use the method above, take 25% of your county's figure. On Maui, for example, 25% of $1,299,500 is $324,875: the entitlement figure you'd subtract your used entitlement from. Look up your own county on the FHFA list (opens in a new tab).
What else changes the second time?
Three rules still apply the second time. You need to live in the home. The funding fee can be higher: after first use, a purchase with less than 5% down carries a 3.3% fee, unless you're exempt. And the lender looks at both homes, counting your current mortgage and any rental income it can document.
- You need to live in the home. VA's purchase loan (opens in a new tab) is for a home you'll occupy, not an investment property.
- The funding fee can be higher. After first use, a purchase with less than 5% down carries a 3.3% fee, unless you're exempt. See the VA funding fee.
- The lender looks at both homes. Your current mortgage counts in your debts, and rental income from the first home counts only as far as the lender can document it.
More on the program: VA home loans. Not sure where you stand? The readiness check takes two minutes.
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