The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) guarantees mortgages on behalf of its beneficiary population. These beneficiaries will also be eligible to refinance VA-guaranteed home loans under certain conditions. Refinancing programs are available for nearly all of its mortgage solutions. These include fixed-rate and adjustable-rate dwelling loans. On occasion, for example with a VA streamline refinance, minimal credit scoring demands are extremely low. In addition, income verification and evaluation requirements are relaxed.
Availability
VA refinancing is available to active duty and former military personnel and eligible family members. Some programs offer an opportunity to consolidate debt. Others permit for money to be pulled from the house 's equity on refinancing. Still others offer the opportunity to obtain a lower interest rate. You can even change your loan type. A good instance of that is going from an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) into a new fixed-rate product with a lower interest rate.
VA Streamline Refinance
Among the most popular of the VA refinance programs is the streamline version. It's formally known as IRRRL, or an Interest Rate Reduction Refinancing Loan. It usually requires that the refinancing of a preexisting VA loan result in a lesser interest rate. However, even that's not mandatory if you're going to be more refinancing an ARM into some fixed-rate mortgage. There's also no credit rating or assessment requirement, even though lenders may require either or both anyhow.
Credit Requirements
Refinancing a VA home loan can be simpler than in non-government-backed versions. That's because the VA guarantees the loan against default. Therefore, lenders are more prepared to forgo the more rigorous credit underwriting required of a non-VA refinance. The criteria is a lack of any late mortgage payments to the 12 months preceding the application for refinance. Some lenders also allow for a single late payment within that exact same period. Check with your lender.
Factors
Absolutely no judgments on a credit record are permitted so as to refinance. Particular varieties of collections (e.g., medical), however, are. They'll must be clarified to your lender before consent can be granted. For the IRRRL, the refinance loan number can't exceed the outstanding balance of the old home loan. The only exceptions to this rule would be when certain fees and closing prices are added. These include refinance financing fees and loan discount points.
Non-VA Home Loans
For veterans with great credit holding a non-VA home loan, it could be possible to obtain a VA-guaranteed refinance. It could be given under the terms of the Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 2008. Veterans at a sub-prime or high-interest-rate loan would be the intended beneficiaries. There's a significant requirement, however, with this program. As with the IRRRL, the home being refinanced should be worth at least as far as the sum to be borrowed.