Clearly a stain on free enterprise almost as dark as the scene in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), cited in an FBI report, where a banker, "'basely, inquires concerning collateral before endorsing a
GI loan to be made with his depositors' money.'" Yes, everybody knows that in America bankers--humanitarians all--always hand out collateral-free loans.
Figure 3 shows the amortization of the 30-year, no-downpayment 4 1/2%
GI loan. The loan balance does not start to outrun the depreciation until the end of the sixth year and the 10% cushion is not provided until somewhere between the 15th and 16th year.
* VA authorized an increase to 5 1/4% for the interest charged on
GI loans.
"
GI Loans: Colored Vets Who Borrow Cash Prove Sound Business Investments," Ebony II no.
GI loans helped some 4.3 million vets purchase residences in the decade after World War II.