Wyoming
Wyoming VA IRRRL: Streamline Refinancing From Cheyenne to Casper
Wyoming is wide open and lightly populated, but a VA IRRRL works the same here as anywhere. The one rule you cannot skip is the homestead signature.
Timing first
When can you streamline?
Wyoming veterans ask me "when" before they ask anything else. So here is the clock.
Count from your first payment due date on the current VA loan. You need at least 210 days from that date and at least six monthly payments made. Whichever of those lands later is your green light.
Then the money test. The new loan has to deliver a net tangible benefit, and the closing costs have to be recouped through monthly savings within 36 months. If the math needs four years to break even, we wait for a better rate.
Wyoming winters do not change any of that, but they do change scheduling. If the plan is to sign during a stretch when the roads are ugly, lean on remote notarization and get both signers lined up early. More on that below.
The rule you cannot skip
Wyoming homestead: both signatures or no lien
Wyoming is a strong homestead state. On a homestead refinance, the mortgage is void unless both the owner and the spouse sign, under 34-2-121, with statutory release language in the document.
Void. Not risky, void. So if you are married and this is your homestead, your spouse signs, even if they are not on the VA loan. Your title underwriter will confirm vesting. If your spouse is traveling, tell me the day we start.
This is the single most Wyoming thing about a Wyoming IRRRL. The rate, the seasoning and the funding fee are federal and the same everywhere. The homestead signature is local, and getting it wrong is not a paperwork hiccup. It wipes out the lien.
Who we hear from
F.E. Warren, Camp Guernsey and the rest of the state
F.E. Warren AFB
Cheyenne, home of the 90th Missile Wing and Wyoming's only major active-duty installation. Crews who live in Cheyenne or out across the missile complex towns.
Camp Guernsey
The Wyoming National Guard Joint Training Center. Guard members who bought with their VA benefit at home somewhere in the state.
Casper and Laramie
Natrona and Albany County. Veterans who came back west and financed with VA.
Gillette, Sheridan and beyond
The Powder River Basin and the open-range towns. Remote is fine. A streamline needs no new appraisal from VA in most cases.
PCS'd away from Warren? You can still streamline the Cheyenne house. VA only asks you to certify that you lived there at some point.
Closing in Wyoming
Title company, abstractor, and your couch
Wyoming refinances are closed by a title company, with title certified by an abstractor or attorney. Closings are wet: funds are wired at signing and held through rescission.
Remote online notarization is generally available here. In a state where the nearest title office might be a long drive, that matters.
Costs stay lean. Wyoming does not impose a special note or mortgage tax on a refinance, so you pay recording fees. Lower costs, faster recoup. In a state with long drives and small title offices, that simplicity is worth a lot.
Fine print
Prepayment, foreclosure and the funding fee
Wyoming allows prepayment penalties if disclosed, with no specific state cap, so federal QM limits govern. Wyoming also requires a prepayment disclosure form on qualifying loans. Glance at your current note before we pay it off. Foreclosure here is non-judicial.
The VA funding fee on an IRRRL is 0.5%. If you receive VA disability compensation, it is waived. VA usually asks for no appraisal and no income verification on a streamline, though some lenders add overlays.
Home Loans Inc holds Wyoming Mortgage Broker License #MBL-6107 in Wyoming. Send me your rate, balance and first payment date. I will tell you if the IRRRL is worth doing now or worth waiting on.
Wyoming VA IRRRL questions
What happens if my spouse doesn't sign my Wyoming homestead refinance?
The mortgage would be void. Wyoming statute 34-2-121 requires both the owner and the spouse to sign a mortgage on a homestead, with statutory release language. No lender will close an IRRRL without it. Your title underwriter confirms vesting, so plan for your spouse to sign even if they are not on the VA loan.
Do I have to drive to a title office to close a Wyoming IRRRL?
Often not. Remote online notarization is generally available in Wyoming, so many title companies can close by video. Closings are handled by a title company with title certified by an abstractor or attorney, and funds are wired at signing and held through rescission.
I bought in Cheyenne while stationed at F.E. Warren and then moved. Can I still streamline?
Yes. An IRRRL only requires that you certify you lived in the home before. If the current loan is VA and you have met seasoning of 210 days from the first payment due date and six payments made, you can refinance even if you now rent the house out.
Is there a Wyoming tax on refinancing a VA mortgage?
No special note or mortgage tax applies to a refinance in Wyoming. You pay recording fees, because a refinance does not create a deed transfer. That helps an IRRRL meet VA's requirement that closing costs be recouped through monthly savings within 36 months.
Could my old Wyoming loan carry a prepayment penalty?
Wyoming allows prepayment penalties if they are disclosed, with no specific state cap, so federal QM limits set the boundaries. Wyoming also requires a prepayment disclosure form on qualifying loans. Check your current note or payoff statement before refinancing so nothing surprises you.