Key facts
- Vetted VA has formed its first board of advisors.
- The board comprises three Vetted VA professionals and two executives from the wholesale mortgage industry.
- The advisory board will guide Vetted VA's expansion of educational offerings and professional standards.
- Vetted VA aims to hold one live educational class per day in 2027.
- The organization has tracked over 5,190 VA loans totaling approximately $2.3 billion in origination volume.
Vetted VA, an organization dedicated to credentialing and educating professionals in VA lending, has announced the formation of its inaugural board of advisors. This strategic move aims to formalize the guidance process as the company expands its educational offerings and professional standards.
The newly formed board includes three internal Vetted VA professionals: Gay Veale of Guidon Mortgage Group LLC, Jason Sharon of Home Loans Inc., and Mike Alberico of Carolina Mortgage Advisors LLC. They are joined by two external executives from the wholesale mortgage industry: Mike Kortas, founder and CEO of NEXA Lending, and Tom Ahles, chief growth officer of Edge Home Finance. These industry leaders are expected to provide crucial insights as Vetted VA grows.
According to Vetted VA, the board's primary role will be to offer guidance on enhancing its educational content, refining professional standards, and fostering new industry partnerships. Christopher Griffith, Vetted VA’s founder and CEO, stated that formalizing this advisory process will enable the organization to educate more professionals, reach a greater number of veterans, and ultimately create a more tangible positive impact on their VA home loan benefit experience.
Founded in 2019, Vetted VA employs a ranking system from VVA1 to VVA7, which is earned through over 38 hours of coursework, adherence to service standards, and a commitment to ongoing education. The organization explicitly stated that production volume does not influence a professional's ranking.
Kortas highlighted Vetted VA's achievement in building a community that holds professionals accountable, emphasizing that "Scale means nothing without standards." Vetted VA intends to maintain its independence and remain accessible to all mortgage and real estate professionals, prohibiting recruitment and solicitation within its communities.
Since its inception, Vetted VA has tracked more than 5,190 VA loans, representing approximately $2.3 billion in origination volume. Of these, 2,042 loans, or about 39.5%, were directly sourced through the Vetted VA network. The organization's digital communities now reach nearly 100,000 individuals. Vetted VA has developed nearly 40 hours of educational content and published research, including a 2026 VA Loan White Paper and a November 2025 report on "Rising Diversity in VA Homebuying," utilizing data analytics from Polygon Research. This report indicated a 75% homeownership rate among younger veterans, significantly higher than the 56.6% rate among their nonveteran peers.
Looking ahead, Vetted VA plans a significant expansion of its educational initiatives, targeting one live class daily in 2027. Additionally, the organization is set to host an upcoming VA Summit in collaboration with the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts at AIME Fuse. The formation of the advisory board is seen as a key step in providing the necessary structure for these ambitious expansion efforts.