New Jersey
New Jersey VA IRRRL: Streamlining in a Strict-Rules State
What New Jersey veterans should know about the VA rate-reduction refinance, from attorney closings up north to title-run closings down south.
Home Loans Inc is not licensed in New Jersey and cannot take a New Jersey application. We lend in South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa and Wyoming.
Two Jerseys
North Jersey calls a lawyer. South Jersey calls title.
New Jersey cannot even agree on how to close a loan. In the northern half of the state, attorney-conducted closings are common. Down south, title companies do most of the work. Either way, a title company can close and disburse a refinance, so nothing is wrong if your closing looks different from your cousin's up north.
The state is wet-funding. Money moves at signing instead of days later.
Here is the other blunt fact. Home Loans Inc is not licensed in New Jersey. I cannot take your application. What I can do is make sure you know the IRRRL rules better than the average loan officer you dial.
Who is refinancing
From McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst to Cape May
Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in Burlington County puts Air Force, Army, and Navy members on one installation. Naval Weapons Station Earle in Colts Neck handles ammunition supply. Picatinny Arsenal in Dover does Army research and manufacturing. Coast Guard boot camp runs at Training Center Cape May.
Plenty of those folks bought with VA loans in Central Jersey near the joint base, in the pricey North Jersey suburbs outside the city, in the more affordable South Jersey suburbs outside Philly, or down the Shore. The IRRRL treats all of them the same. VA usually does not require an appraisal, so a seasonal Shore market or a sky-high suburb is not the obstacle it would be on a purchase.
Jersey's guardrails
A state that watches loan fees closely
New Jersey takes high-cost lending seriously. Its high-cost fee trigger is one of the lowest in the country, and a loan that crosses it requires housing counseling before closing. There is also a net-tangible-benefit standard, which lines up neatly with VA's own requirement that a streamline leave you better off.
Translation: a lender who piles fees onto a New Jersey IRRRL runs into two walls, the state's and VA's. That is good news for you. You still have to compare offers, but the system leans your way.
Prepayment penalties are effectively barred on standard first-lien residential loans in New Jersey, so getting out of your current VA loan should not cost a penalty. Taxes are tame too: no state refinance tax and no percentage-of-loan mortgage tax, just recording fees. New Jersey uses judicial foreclosure, which should never matter on a loan built to cut your payment.
Before you call anyone
Your New Jersey streamline checklist
- Your current mortgage is a VA loan. No VA loan, no IRRRL.
- At least 210 days have passed since your first payment was due, and six payments are made. The later one controls.
- The fees come back to you through monthly savings within 36 months.
- You lived in the home at some point. You do not have to live there today.
- Your spouse knows they will probably sign. If they hold an interest, including tenancy by the entirety, or joint-possession rights, they generally sign the security instrument and right-to-cancel, not the note.
- You know your funding fee: 0.5%, or nothing if you receive VA disability compensation.
VA usually skips income verification and the appraisal. Some lenders add their own overlays. Ask about them on the first call, not the third.
Shopping it
Finding a New Jersey-licensed lender who gets it
Since I cannot do this loan in New Jersey, here is how I would shop it if I owned near the joint base. Call two or three New Jersey-licensed lenders. Ask each for the break-even month in writing. Ask whether the closing will be attorney-run or title-run, so you know who to expect at the table. Ask whether they appraise on streamlines. Ask if anything in their fees would get near the high-cost trigger. The lender who answers all of it without stalling is usually the one to pick.
New Jersey VA IRRRL questions
Will a New Jersey IRRRL need housing counseling?
Only if the loan crosses New Jersey's high-cost fee trigger, which is one of the lowest in the country. A typical streamline with reasonable fees should not. If a lender tells you counseling is required, treat it as a sign their fees are high and a good reason to get another quote.
My spouse and I own as tenants by the entirety. Who signs?
Your spouse generally signs the security instrument because they hold an interest in the home. As a non-borrowing spouse they sign the mortgage and the right-to-cancel, not the note, so they are not taking on the debt. Confirm the details with the closing attorney or title company.
Can my New Jersey servicer charge me to pay off my VA loan early?
Prepayment penalties are effectively barred on standard first-lien residential loans in New Jersey, so paying off your existing VA loan with an IRRRL should not trigger one. Read your current note anyway, and have the new lender confirm the payoff figure before closing.
Does New Jersey tax the new loan amount on a refinance?
No. New Jersey has no state refinance tax and no percentage-of-loan mortgage tax. You pay recording fees. Home Loans Inc is not licensed in New Jersey and cannot take your application, so compare those fees and the rest of the costs across New Jersey-licensed lenders.