Pennsylvania
VA IRRRL in Pennsylvania: The Streamline, Explained Straight
A plain-English walk through the VA streamline refinance for Pennsylvania veterans, from Carlisle to the Poconos. Home Loans Inc is not licensed in Pennsylvania, so this page is for learning, not applying.
Home Loans Inc is not licensed in Pennsylvania and cannot take a Pennsylvania application. We lend in South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa and Wyoming.
Picture this
A retired soldier in Cumberland County
Say you did a tour at the Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, liked the area, and bought a house with your VA benefit. Rates have since dropped. Your neighbor says you can refinance without an appraisal. He is half right, and the half he got wrong is where people lose money.
The VA Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan, the IRRRL, swaps one VA loan for another VA loan at a better rate or a safer structure. That is the whole job. It does not turn a conventional or FHA loan into a VA loan, and it does not hand you cash. If you are hunting for a check at closing, you are on the wrong page.
One more thing up front, because I would rather you hear it from me now than later. Home Loans Inc is not licensed in Pennsylvania. I cannot take your application, and I am not going to pretend otherwise. What I can do is tell you how this loan works so you walk into a Pennsylvania-licensed lender knowing more than the person quoting you.
The rules VA writes
Four gates before anyone quotes you
Seasoning
You need at least 210 days from the first payment due date on your current VA loan, and at least six monthly payments made. Whichever date lands later is the one that counts.
Recoup in 36
Whatever the refinance costs you has to come back through lower monthly payments within 36 months. If the savings are too thin to cover the costs in three years, the deal fails.
Net tangible benefit
The new loan has to leave you better off in a way VA recognizes. A lower rate, or moving from an adjustable to a fixed rate, are the usual ways to clear it.
Funding fee
VA charges 0.5% on an IRRRL. If you receive VA disability compensation, you are exempt and pay nothing for it.
VA usually skips the appraisal and the income paperwork on a streamline. Some lenders bolt their own requirements on top, called overlays, so ask about them early. And you only have to certify that you lived in the home at some point. If the Army moved you to Tobyhanna and you rent the old place out now, that alone does not kill the IRRRL.
How it closes here
The Pennsylvania closing table
In Pennsylvania a title or settlement company runs the closing. You do not need an attorney at the table, though nobody stops you from bringing one. The state is a wet-funding state, so the money moves at closing rather than days later.
Who signs depends on how the deed reads. If the house is titled to you alone, a spouse who is not on the loan generally does not sign. If you and your spouse hold title as tenants by the entirety, which is common for married couples, you both sign because you both own it. Have the title company confirm your vesting before closing day so nobody is hunting for a pen and a spouse at the last minute.
On cost, Pennsylvania puts no state refinance tax on the loan. You pay recording fees. If your current title policy is fairly recent, a reissue discount on the new policy may apply, depending on the underwriter. Ask for it by name.
Two more Pennsylvania notes. Prepayment penalties are barred on covered residential loans up to an indexed amount, so most refinances here come with no penalty. And the state uses judicial foreclosure, which matters only if things go badly, but it is worth knowing.
Across the state
Where Pennsylvania veterans actually live
The state has no giant active-duty post, but it is full of depots and support installations. Naval Support Activity Philadelphia covers the Navy Yard. Defense Distribution Center Susquehanna in New Cumberland is the largest DLA distribution center. Letterkenny Army Depot near Chambersburg repairs missiles and electronics. Fort Indiantown Gap in Annville trains the National Guard.
- Philadelphia metro: big market, wide price range.
- Pittsburgh metro: affordable, with steady suburbs.
- Harrisburg and Central PA: moderate prices, depot country.
- Lehigh Valley: growing, moderate.
- Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and the Poconos: affordable, with seasonal pockets.
Here is the good news for a streamline. Because VA usually does not order an appraisal on an IRRRL, the thin-comp problem that hurts rural purchases and construction loans mostly stays out of your way. A farmhouse outside Chambersburg can streamline about as easily as a rowhouse in South Philly.
Before you shop
What to bring to a Pennsylvania lender
Bring your current note so you know your rate and your first payment date. Bring your disability award letter if you have one, since that kills the funding fee. Ask every lender for the break-even month in writing. If it lands past month 36, walk.
Then go find a lender licensed in Pennsylvania and make them earn it. You know the rules now. Hold them to it.
Pennsylvania VA IRRRL questions
Can I streamline a Pennsylvania house the Army moved me away from?
Yes, as long as the current loan is VA and the other rules are met. On an IRRRL you only certify that you occupied the home before. If orders sent you elsewhere and the house is now a rental, prior occupancy can still satisfy VA. Your lender confirms the details.
My wife and I own as tenants by the entirety. Does she sign?
Yes. Tenancy by the entirety means you both hold title, so both owners sign at a Pennsylvania refinance closing even if only you are on the loan. With sole title, a non-borrowing spouse generally does not sign. The title company confirms how you are vested.
Is there a Pennsylvania tax on refinancing my mortgage?
No state refinance tax applies to the loan itself. You pay recording fees. A title reissue discount may lower the policy premium when your existing policy is recent, depending on the underwriter, so ask the settlement company about it specifically.
Will Home Loans Inc handle my Pennsylvania IRRRL?
No. Home Loans Inc is not licensed in Pennsylvania and cannot take the application. This page is education only. Use it to compare lenders who are licensed in Pennsylvania, and ask each one for the 36-month break-even math in writing.
Do I need a lawyer to close a VA streamline in Pennsylvania?
No. A title or settlement company conducts Pennsylvania closings and an attorney is not required. You can hire one if you want a second set of eyes. Pennsylvania is a wet-funding state, so funds move at the closing.