Meet My friend EARLE! I mean IRRRL!

I've been getting a lot of questions on this. The VA IRRRL (pronounced Earle), or Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan is a great tool for veterans who already have a VA home loan. Part of the VA Home Loan benefit we earned through our service, the VA IRRRL is a no-cash out Rate and Term refinance loan. Often referred to as a Streamlined loan, because the documentation requirements are less than a standard refinance loan.
With an IRRRL, there is no appraisal, no pest inspection, and no credit qualifying. A lender will access your credit report to get a FICO score (helps determine the rate a lender can offer) and to confirm you have paid your mortgage on time for the last 12 consecutive months. They will also verify your employment - you need to have a job, but they will not be evaluating your debt to income ratio or other aspects of credit qualification.
If you have been in forbearance, as long as you are current now, and actively paying your mortgage again, you can do an IRRRL. Note in this limited case the IRRRL becomes credit qualifying, so still no appraisal or pest inspection, but you have to show the income to qualify.
The VA has some safeguards in place to protect veterans, ensuring there is a Net Tangible Benefit to doing the loan. The two most common ones are: The loan rate must be lower by at least .5% (unless your are changing the term, or length, of the loan - i.e., going from a 30 year fixed to a 15 year fixed), the cost of the loan (fees and other hard costs - does not include pre-paid taxes and insurance) must be able to be recouped through the monthly savings within 36 months.
Now is a great time to talk to your mortgage professional about this great VA benefit. Full disclosure, I am a mortgage profession for my day job. NMLS#1494291