Compliance Statement — 38 U.S.C. § 5901
How RateMyVSO complies with the federal statute and regulations governing representation of VA disability claimants.
The Governing Law
Representation of veterans before the Department of Veterans Affairs is governed by federal statute and regulation:
- 38 U.S.C. § 5901 — prohibits any person from acting as agent or attorney in the preparation, presentation, or prosecution of a VA claim without VA recognition.
- 38 C.F.R. § 14.629 — sets the accreditation requirements for VSOs, claims agents, and attorneys.
- 38 C.F.R. § 14.630 — the one-time exception: a non-accredited person may assist one veteran on one claim, without charging a fee, and only after filing VA Form 21‑22a. Assisting a second time requires full accreditation.
- 38 C.F.R. § 14.626 — states the purpose of these rules: to ensure veterans receive responsible, qualified representation.
- 38 U.S.C. § 5905 — prohibits any person from charging a fee for assistance with an initial claim; fees may only be charged by accredited agents or attorneys after a Notice of Disagreement has been filed.
The General-vs-Specific Line
Under these rules, anyone is free to publish general education about VA benefits: what a diagnostic code is, how VA math works, what a nexus letter does, what the rating criteria for PTSD look like, how the appeals process works under 38 C.F.R. § 3.2500, and so on. That is what RateMyVSO does.
Accreditation is required the moment discussion narrows to specific advice about a particular veteran's service record, medical conditions, financial situation, or the strength or strategy of a specific claim. RateMyVSO does not do that. We never evaluate the strength of your case, tell you what to file, recommend which appeal lane to choose, determine your eligibility for a benefit, or prepare any claim document on your behalf.
What RateMyVSO Does — and Does Not Do
We do
- Publish plain-English explanations of VA diagnostic codes, rating criteria, and regulations from 38 C.F.R. Parts 3 and 4.
- Publish statistics and grant-rate analysis from publicly available Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions.
- Maintain a free, searchable directory of VA-accredited representatives, drawn from the VA Office of General Counsel Accreditation Database.
- Host a veteran-written review and rating system for accredited VSO representatives, so veterans can find responsible and qualified representation consistent with the purpose of § 14.626.
- Provide free reference tools like the VA Math Calculator and the Combined Rating Estimator that perform arithmetic on publicly available VA rating rules.
- Publish portable AI prompts that veterans can use on their own with free tools like Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini. The prompts themselves counsel the AI to explain regulations, not render specific advice.
We do not
- Prepare, present, or prosecute VA disability claims on behalf of any veteran.
- Collect a veteran's personally identifiable claim information (SSN, VA file number, service number) for any claim-preparation purpose.
- Evaluate the strength of any specific veteran's case.
- Recommend which form, remedy, appeal lane, or strategy a specific veteran should pursue.
- Render eligibility determinations about whether a specific veteran qualifies for a specific benefit.
- Charge any fee of any kind. Every tool, page, and directory entry is free.
- Act under the one-time exception in 38 C.F.R. § 14.630. We do not provide one-off individualized claim assistance at all.
Fee Prohibition
Under 38 U.S.C. § 5904 and § 5905, it is unlawful for any person to charge a veteran a fee for assistance with an initial VA claim. Fees may only be charged by accredited agents and attorneys after the VA has rendered an initial decision and a Notice of Disagreement has been filed, and only in accordance with the fee agreement and reasonableness rules at 38 C.F.R. § 14.636. RateMyVSO charges nothing, ever. Everything on this site is free.
If You Need Help With a Specific Claim
The people authorized by federal regulation to help you with a specific VA disability claim are:
- Accredited VSO representatives — work for free. Our directory lists them by state.
- Accredited claims agents — may charge fees only after a Notice of Disagreement is filed.
- Accredited attorneys — same fee rule.
You can also verify accreditation directly through the VA's official directory at va.gov/ogc/apps/accreditation, or call the VA benefits hotline at 1-800-827-1000.
Reporting a Concern
If you believe any content on RateMyVSO crosses from general education into specific claim advice that would require accreditation under 38 U.S.C. § 5901, please contact us. We review every concern and correct content that even arguably approaches the line.
Effective: 2026-04-22. This statement applies to all pages and tools on ratemyvso.net.