08/21/2026

Formulario 9 del VA y la apelación sustantiva: por qué importan en el caso Freund

Beneficios de Veteranos, Recursos para lesionados, Discapacidad VA,

Si su VA disability appeal was closed between December 12, 1990, and February 6, 2025, and you filed a Substantive Appeal with Formulario VA 9 or other written documents, the VA may be re-examining your case as part of the Freund contra Collins proposed settlement.

This case involves the sistema de apelaciones heredado, which ended on February 19, 2019. If you or a loved one filed an appeal after that date, know that your case sits squarely under the Appeals Modernization Act (AMA), and the Freund case does not apply to you.

At the center of the Freund case is a VA system failure. Between 1990 and 2025, the VA’s database failed to properly recognize Substantive Appeals, documents that constituted formal requests to move the appeal to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals for review. Most of the claims that were impacted were in the legacy appeals system.

Even if a veteran submitted all documents by the deadline, the VA’s database only looked for VA Form 9 filed in the system by the first of every month to move the case forward, missing thousands of valid, timely filings and wrongly closing appeals.

Where VA Form 9 fit into the legacy appeals process

During the legacy era, the VA Form 9, “Appeal to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals” became the most common method for veterans to file their Substantive Appeal, but it was not the only one.

The VA used to accept any written document showing the veteran intended to continue their appeal to the Board as the Substantive Appeal, including:

• Formulario VA 9
• A letter expressing their intent to appeal to the Board
• A statement outlining their position and request to proceed with an appeal
• Another written filing that communicated a request to advance their case

Many veterans chose different paths to filing their Substantive Appeal depending on what was most convenient for them. As long as the document showed a clear intent to appeal to the Board, it satisfied the requirement for the Substantive Appeal. The distinction later became central to the Freund settlement because some valid filings were not recognized by the VA database.

When the Substantive Appeal needed to be filed

Under the legacy system, after you submitted an initial appeal, the VA would have responded with its decision first and then with a Statement of the Case (SOC) second, explaining its reasoning for the decision. If you didn’t agree with the decision and wanted to continue to the Board, you generally had:

1. 1 year from the date the VA’s decision was issued, or
2. 60 days from the date the SOC was issued,

to submit your Substantive Appeal using VA Form 9 or another written document and finalize that appeal to the Board.

What happened if the Substantive Appeal deadline was missed

If the deadline was missed to file the Substantive Appeal, with VA Form 9 or through other valid documents, then the appeal would end right there, and it would not move forward to the Board. This was often a devastating outcome for veterans seeking swift disability benefits.

While you could pursue the claim again by reopening it at the regional office, doing so would make the effective date reset to the date that the request was reopened. In practice, that meant losing years of potential back pay.

Why the VA Form 9 is at the center of the Freund lawsuit

The Freund case exists because the VA’s appeals-tracking database during the Legacy era was programmed to close appeal cases on the first of each month if it did not see a VA Form 9 on file. This process resulted in thousands of wrongful closures in two ways:

1. Non-Form-9 filings: The system was programmed to look specifically for the VA Form 9 even though other valid written documents prior to March 24, 2015, including statements, letters, and similar filings, could have qualified as Substantive Appeals. The automated process missed them.
2. Timing lag: A veteran’s Substantive Appeal in the form of VA Form 9 could have been filed on time but not recorded in the tracking system until after the automated cycle had already closed the appeal. The filing was timely; the system simply had not caught up.

In both situations, the veteran did everything right, and the appeal was still closed as though no Form 9 or other valid document had been filed.

How to find out whether you actually filed a Substantive Appeal

Decades later, most veterans understandably do not remember which forms or documents they filed as part of their appeal, if they filed them at all. And even so, memory alone is not reliable enough to know for certain if a Substantive Appeal was filed on VA Form 9 or through another qualifying document.

• Sign a power of attorney (VA Form 21-22 or 21-22a) with a abogado acreditado por el VA or an accredited Oficial del Servicio de Veteranos (VSO), who can review your file for a Form 9 or other Substantive Appeal document quickly and directly.
• File a Privacy Act request on your own for your complete file from the VA. But be prepared to wait – this can take up to a year to process.

The most common questions asked by veterans are whether they filed a Substantive Appeal, when they filed it, and which document they used to file it. Because the deadlines and the document type matter so much in the Freund case, this is one area where it is worth confirming against the actual record rather than relying on memory.

What this means for a potential Freund claim

The takeaway for veterans is straightforward: your records can show whether your appeal was wrongly closed or not, and getting to those records quickly usually means working with an accredited representative. A VA-accredited attorney can review your file to confirm whether a timely Substantive Appeal was treated as missing, and tell you honestly whether your case falls under the Freund settlement.

Cómo Deuterman puede ayudar con su reclamación de Freund

If you think you were affected, know that you were let down by a system failure that wasn’t your fault. The Freund proposed settlement is your second chance. Deuterman Law Group specializes in Apelaciones por discapacidad del VA and has helped thousands of veterans navigate complex cases like those affected by the Freund proposed settlement.

A Deuterman Law Group, we’re dedicated to helping affected veterans understand their rights and navigate the claims process. The Freund proposed settlement offers a second chance for veterans whose cases were wrongly closed—and in many cases, substantial financial recovery.

Comuníquese hoy con Deuterman Law Group for an attorney to review your file and guide you through the settlement process. If we don’t win, you don’t pay.

Preguntas Frecuentes

P1: ¿Qué es el caso Freund?

Respuesta: El caso Freund es un acuerdo propuesto de demanda colectiva en el que el Departamento de Asuntos de los Veteranos ha acordado revisar miles de apelaciones de discapacidad que su software heredado, el Sistema de Control y Localizador de Apelaciones de Veteranos (VACOLS, por sus siglas en inglés), pudo haber cerrado erróneamente.

P2: ¿Cuál fue el período de tiempo afectado por el caso Freund?

Respuesta: El acuerdo propuesto se remonta a un período de 35 años, abarcando las apelaciones cerradas entre el 12 de diciembre de 1990 y el 6 de febrero de 2025.

P3: ¿Cuántos veteranos se vieron afectados por el caso Freund?

Respuesta: Más de 92.000 veteranos identificados pueden haberse visto afectados: 28.258 apelantes cuyos casos serán auditados automáticamente por el VA; aproximadamente 64.000 veteranos adicionales o familiares sobrevivientes que recibirán una notificación del VA; y un número desconocido de otros que utilizaron un formulario de apelación diferente y no fueron detectados por la revisión automatizada del VA.

Pregunta 4: What is a VA Form 9?

Respuesta: VA Form 9 is the form most veterans used to file a Substantive Appeal, the step that formally continued an appeal to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals after the VA issued its Statement of the Case.

P5: What was the deadline to file a Substantive Appeal?

Respuesta: You had 60 days from the date of the Statement of the Case, or one year from the date of the original VA decision, whichever was later to file your Substantive Appeal using a VA Form 9 or another valid document.

P6: What happened if I missed the Substantive Appeal deadline?

Respuesta: The appeal ended. You would generally have to reopen the claim at the regional office, and your effective date would usually be set from the date you requested to reopen — often costing years of potential back pay.

Q7: Did a Substantive Appeal have to be on a Form 9?

Respuesta: For most of the legacy era, yes. But before March 24, 2015, other written documents that clearly showed you intended to continue your appeal to the Board could also qualify, including a letter, a statement, or another written filing that communicated a request to advance the case.

Q8: How do I find out whether I filed a Substantive Appeal?

Respuesta: Have a VA-accredited attorney or VSO review your file quickly after you sign a power of attorney, or file a Privacy Act request to get access your complete file, though this can take up to a year.