West Virginia
West Virginia VA IRRRL: Streamline Refinancing in the Mountain State
From Eastern Panhandle commuters to veterans who came home to the hollers, a West Virginia VA loan can usually be streamlined. Here are the state rules that shape it.
Two kinds of calls
Martinsburg commuters and the folks who came home
My West Virginia calls split two ways.
Call one comes from the Eastern Panhandle. Martinsburg, Charles Town, Shepherdstown, Jefferson and Berkeley County. Usually a service member or DoD civilian commuting toward the Pentagon, Fort Belvoir or the rest of the Northern Virginia corridor, who bought on the West Virginia side with a VA loan.
Call two comes from deeper in the state. Charleston, Morgantown, Huntington, Wheeling, the southern coalfields. Often a veteran who served somewhere else, came home, and used the VA benefit.
Good news for both: the IRRRL does not care which kind of call you are. If the current loan is VA, we can talk.
One thing the Panhandle commuter should know. Your house is in West Virginia, so West Virginia rules run the closing, even if your paycheck comes from an office across the Potomac. Virginia recordation tables and settlement rules do not follow you home. The lender has to be licensed for the state where the property sits.
The lawyer part
A West Virginia attorney handles title and closing
West Virginia requires title work and closings to be handled by a West Virginia attorney, per State Bar opinion 2003-01. Your IRRRL is no exception.
Closings are wet. Funds are wired at signing and held through rescission. Remote online notarization is generally available here, which helps the Guard member drilling at Camp Dawson in Preston County or the commuter who cannot burn another day off.
Rules that protect you
The 24-month origination rule and more
Net tangible benefit
West Virginia code 46A-4-109 requires a net tangible benefit on a refinance. VA requires one too. Two locks on the same door.
No double origination
The same statute bars re-charging origination on a refinance within 24 months. Refinanced recently? That fee should not come back.
Prepayment limits
A prepayment penalty is limited to 1% within 3 years and never allowed on a refinance within one year.
Foreclosure
West Virginia forecloses non-judicially. Fixing a heavy payment early is cheap insurance.
Costs and signatures
What lands on your closing statement
West Virginia does not impose a special note or mortgage tax on a refinance. You pay recording fees, since a refinance does not create a new deed transfer.
On signatures, West Virginia abolished dower and curtesy, and homestead here is a tax and value exemption, not a forced joinder rule. Still, confirm with your title underwriter before closing. I would rather check than guess.
Those lean costs help with VA's big test: every closing cost on an IRRRL has to be recouped through monthly savings within 36 months.
The attorney fee can be a meaningful line on a West Virginia estimate, since the state requires attorney handling. Ask what is included. Title exam, closing, disbursement? Know before you sign so the recoup math is honest.
Your move
Is a West Virginia streamline worth it?
Run through this. Is your current loan VA? Have you made six payments, and has it been 210 days since the first payment was due, whichever is later? Will the new rate actually lower the payment enough to earn back the costs in 36 months? If yes, yes and yes, we have a deal to price.
VA usually skips the appraisal and income verification on an IRRRL, though some lenders add overlays. You only certify you lived in the home before. The funding fee is 0.5%, waived with VA disability compensation.
Home Loans Inc holds West Virginia Mortgage Broker License #MB-1728740 in West Virginia. Send me your rate, balance and first payment date. Panhandle or coalfields, Morgantown or Huntington, you get the same straight answer.
West Virginia VA IRRRL questions
I refinanced my West Virginia home 18 months ago. Can a lender charge origination again?
Not on a refinance within 24 months, under West Virginia code 46A-4-109. That statute also requires a net tangible benefit, which lines up with VA's own IRRRL requirement. If you refinanced recently, check that your new loan estimate does not re-charge origination before you agree to anything.
Who closes a VA streamline in West Virginia?
A West Virginia attorney. State Bar opinion 2003-01 requires title work and closings to be handled by a West Virginia attorney, and that covers an IRRRL. Closings are wet, with funds wired at signing and held through rescission. Remote online notarization is generally available, so ask whether your attorney uses it.
I live in Charles Town and work in Northern Virginia. Which state's rules apply?
The rules where the house sits. If your home is in Jefferson County, West Virginia rules on closing, recording and signing apply, even if you work at the Pentagon or Fort Belvoir. Your lender must be licensed in West Virginia for that property.
Is there a West Virginia mortgage tax on an IRRRL?
No special note or mortgage tax applies to a refinance in West Virginia. You pay recording fees only, because a refinance does not create a deed transfer. Lean costs help you meet the VA rule that closing costs be recouped through monthly savings within 36 months.
Does my spouse have to sign my West Virginia streamline?
West Virginia abolished dower and curtesy, and its homestead law is a tax and value exemption rather than a forced joinder rule. Even so, confirm signing requirements with your title underwriter before closing, because vesting and individual circumstances can change who signs.