Under the VA's Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) program, also known as Chapter 31, the Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA) is paid based on your rate of pursuit once your Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor (VRC) certifies your enrollment for that term. This certification is a required administrative step; until your VRC submits it internally, the payment system has no record that you are actively enrolled, and MHA will not disburse even if you are attending classes and paying tuition out of pocket.
Delays like this are almost always tied to the certification step rather than a VA-wide processing problem. Common causes include a VRC with a heavy caseload, a case manager change, a school certifying official who submitted enrollment information late, or an administrative backlog at the Regional Processing Office. Email and voicemail to a single point of contact can get lost, so if you are not getting a response, it is worth escalating rather than waiting indefinitely.
Official 2026 VA monthly compensation, including the 2.8% COLA increase.
Dependent add-ons start at a 30% rating. Child-only and dependent-parent rates: see the full 2026 pay chart.
| Rating | Monthly (2026, incl. 2.8% COLA) |
|---|---|
| 10% | $180.42 |
| 20% | $356.66 |
| 30% | $552.47 |
| 40% | $795.84 |
| 50% | $1,132.90 |
| 60% | $1,435.02 |
| 70% | $1,808.45 |
| 80% | $2,102.15 |
| 90% | $2,362.30 |
| 100% | $3,938.58 |
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Analyze my claim free →Steps that typically help: call the VA regional VR&E office directly (not just email your individual counselor) and ask to speak with a supervisor or the VR&E Officer if your counselor is unresponsive. You can also contact the VA's general helpline or use the IRIS online inquiry system to formally document the issue and create a paper trail, which can prompt a faster response than informal emails. If you have a school VA certifying official, ask them to confirm your enrollment was submitted on their end, since the delay sometimes originates there rather than with the VRC. Keep records of every call, email, and date so that if MHA payments are backdated once your enrollment is finally certified, you have documentation supporting the correct amount owed.
If you are relying on MHA for living expenses and the delay is causing financial hardship, say so explicitly when you contact the regional office, since hardship cases are sometimes prioritized for expedited handling.
The concrete next step is to call your VR&E regional office directly, ask for your VRC's supervisor if you get no response, and request written confirmation that your enrollment certification has been submitted for processing.
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