VA Home Loans

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and VA issued their first, ‘Warning Order’, to service members and Veterans with VA home loans. If you have a VA home loan, then there is a good chance that you have already come into contact with unsolicited offers to refinance your mortgage that appear official and may sound too good to be true. Some lenders marketing VA mortgage refinances may use aggressive and potentially misleading advertising and sales tactics. Here is what you need to know about refinancing your VA home loan, please go to this link to learn more information.

IRRRL Facts

• No appraisal or credit underwriting package is required when applying for an IRRRL.
• An IRRRL may be done with "no money out of pocket" by including all costs in the new loan or by making the new loan at an interest rate high enough to enable the lender to pay the costs.
• When refinancing from an existing VA ARM loan to a fixed rate loan, the interest rate may increase.
• No lender is required to give you an IRRRL, however, any VA lender of your choosing may process your application for an IRRRL.
• Veterans are strongly urged to contact several lenders because terms may vary.
• You may NOT receive any cash from the loan proceeds.

Eligibility

An IRRRL can only be made to refinance a property on which you have already used your VA loan eligibility. It must be a VA to VA refinance, and it will reuse the entitlement you originally used.

• A Certificate of Eligibility (COE) is required prior to closing of an IRRRL, no earlier than three days prior to closing.
• No loan other than the existing VA loan may be paid from the proceeds of an IRRRL. If you have a second mortgage, the holder must agree to subordinate that lien so that your new VA loan will be a first mortgage.
• You may have used your entitlement by obtaining a VA loan when you bought your house, or by substituting your eligibility for that of the seller, if you assumed the loan.
• The occupancy requirement for an IRRRL is different from other VA loans. For an IRRRL you need only certify that you previously occupied the home.

Application Process

A new Certificate of Eligibility (COE) is not required. You may take your Certificate of Eligibility to show the prior use of your entitlement or your lender may use our e-mail confirmation procedure in lieu of a certificate of eligibility.

Loan Limits

VA does not set a cap on how much you can borrow to finance your home. However, there are limits on the amount of liability VA can assume, which usually affects the amount of money an institution will lend you. The loan limits are the amount a qualified Veteran with full entitlement may be able to borrow without making a down payment. These loan limits vary by county, since the value of a house depends in part on its location.

The basic entitlement available to each eligible Veteran is $36,000. Lenders will generally loan up to four times a Veteran's available entitlement without a down payment, provided the Veteran is income and credit qualified and the property appraises for the asking price. See Loan Limits for more information about the limits in your county.

VA Funding Fee

Generally, VA loans require the congressionally mandated funding fee for each use. The funding fee is a set percentage and calculated based on the loan amount. It may be paid at loan closing or included in the loan. Public Law 116-23 established a new VA funding fee rate table for loans closed on or after January 1, 2020, and these rates vary based on loan type, down payment amount, and first versus subsequent use of the benefit. For loans made to purchase or build a home, funding fee rates may be reduced with a down payment of five percent or more of the purchase price. Current VA funding fee rates can be found here.

The following Veteran borrowers are not required to pay the VA funding fee. If you paid a VA funding fee and one of the exemptions apply to you, then you may be eligible for a refund. Please contact your current mortgage servicer or VA Regional Loan Center at (877) 827-3702 to begin the refund process.

• Veterans in receipt of VA service-connected disability compensation prior to loan closing.
• Veterans entitled to receive VA disability compensation but chose to receive military retirement pay in lieu of compensation prior to loan closing.
• Veterans rated, prior to loan closing, by VA as eligible to receive compensation as a result of a pre-discharge claim that results in the issuance of a memorandum rating.
• Veterans entitled to receive compensation, but who are not in receipt of compensation because they are on active duty.
• Servicemember who is serving on active duty and who provides, on or before the date of loan closing, evidence of having been awarded the Purple Heart prior to separation.
• Surviving spouses of Veterans who died in active duty or from a service-connected disability.

The funding fee for second time users who do not make a down payment is slightly higher. Also, National Guard and Reserve Veterans pay a slightly higher funding fee percentage. See Loan Fees for more information about loan costs. Some lenders offer IRRRLs as an opportunity to reduce the term of your loan from 30 years to 15 years. While this can save you money in interest over the life of the loan, you may see a very large increase in your monthly payment if the reduction in the interest rate is not at least one percent (two percent is better). Beware: It could be a bigger increase than you can afford.