Veterans who purchase a home using their VA Loan Benefits should be pulling their paperwork out and considering a refinance right now. O
n average, if you purchased a home with a current interest rate above 5% – you might save over $225 a month with a VA Loan Refinance!
The Department of Veterans Affairs offers a special refinancing loan program called the Interest Rate Reduction Refinancing Loan or IRRRL (A mouth full!).
This loan is available to Veterans who own their home with a VA home loan. The VA program does not require a credit check – and depending on the circumstances, might not require an appraisal. The VA IRRRL must result in a lower interest rate, lower monthly payments, or both.
Who is eligible to get a VA IRRRL?
The VA Lender’s Handbook states, “Generally, the party(ies) obligated on the original loan must be the same on the new loan”.
This means that if 2 people were originally on the mortgage loan, those same 2 people must be on the new “streamlined” loan. The VA loan requirements also state the veteran must still own the property.
What about Divorce? If a divorced spouse wishes to keep the house, and do a refinance – the Veteran Spouse must agree to be obligated to the new loan, and they must continue to commit their entitlement. “A person without entitlement cannot get an IRRRL or any other type of VA loan.”
The Underwriting Guidelines for VA Loans specifically covers a veteran and a non-veteran co-borrower who bought the house together with a joint mortgage loan. “In a situation where the veteran sold his or her interest in the property to the non-veteran co-borrower and the veteran no longer has any ownership, a VA IRRRL is not possible.”
In the event that 2 Veteran’s were on the original loan – and one of the qualifying veteran’s does not want to be on the new loan… call us. There’s a way to do this (usually) but it’s way too complicated to try and explain here 919 649 5058.
If you are looking for a VA Loan Refinance, and you want more information about a Streamline IRRRL – please call Steve Thorne 919 649 5058. We appreciate your service, and we offer today’s best mortgage rates!
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