The Board has remanded the case due to a duty to assist error, specifically regarding records within constructive possession of VA that were not associated with the claim file prior to the decision on appeal.
The deciding factor: The AOJ had a duty to obtain these records regardless of their relevance and must continue efforts to obtain them unless they do not exist among the VistA systems records.
- Claimed conditions
- Housebound status, Need for regular aid and attendance
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 6, 2024
- Citation
- A24072159
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,902 · Granted: 11% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation A24072159.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran is granted special monthly compensation (SMC) based on the loss of use of her left foot and the need for regular aid and attendance due to her service-connected disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate development of evidence regarding the appellant's housebound status prior to May 8, 2013. The VA needs to obtain a retrospective opinion addressing whether the appellant was permanently housebound as a result of his service-connected disabilities for that period.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to inadequate examination for housebound status or permanent need for regular aid and attendance, requiring a new examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that there was a pre-decisional duty to assist error in the AOJ's handling of the SMC housebound claim, and thus remands the case for further development.
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