IRRLs

What are Interest Rate Reduction Loans (IRRL)?

An VA Interest Rate Reduction Loan is often referred to as a VA Streamline Refinance Loan, and offers veterans a way to cut their monthly mortgage payment down to an amount they can more easily afford. It is a refinancing loan program that veterans with existing VA Loans can use in order to have smaller monthly payments.

How Much Can I Save With an IRRL?

Since an IRRL will substantially lower your interest rate and monthly mortgage payment, you can literally save thousands upon thousands of dollars throughout the life of your loan.

What are some characteristics of an IRRL?

  • Vets with poor credit can still receive an IRRL
  • There is no absolute minimum credit score a veteran must have to qualify
  • There is no appraisal of your home needed
  • You can rolled your closing costs into the IRRL
  • You do not have to furnish bank statements or pay stubs
  • You do not have to show proof of employment.

Can you give me an example of an Interest Rate Reduction Loan?

Sure. Let's pretend you have an existing VA Loan you took out over thirty years for $200,000. If your interest rate is 6.5%, you pay $1,264 each month. If you get an IRRL that drops your interest rate an entire percentage point down to 5.5%, you will only have to pay $1,093 each month instead, nearly a two hundred dollar savings.

How can I find out more about IRRLs?

The Department of Veterans Affairs has information about IRRLs, and our VA Loan company has a plethora of knowledge we share with veterans and VA Loan holders each day. Since the different terms and rates and so forth can get confusing and difficult to navigate, we use our experience successfully handling previous loans to continue improving.

Who Can Get an Interest Rate Reduction Loan?

  • Veterans with an existing VA Loan who meet the qualifications of not having more than one 30 day late mortgage payment in the last year
  • Spouses of Deceased Veterans
  • National Guardists
  • Reservists
  • United States citizens who served armed forces which are allied with the American government
  • Spouses of American military personnel declared a prisoner of war (POW)
  • Spouses of American military personnel whose husband or wife has been missing for more than three months.

If I served just short of the 180 days, can I still get an IRRL?

If the VA made an exception on your existing VA Loan, you can qualify for an IRRL using the same loan paperwork. Though the VA doesn’t make exceptions regularly, they do on occasion allow veterans to receive VA Loans who have the following situations:

  • A preexisting condition
  • Extreme hardship
  • A physical or mental condition
  • A disability that is service-related
  • They are still active-duty personnel
  • They were discharged for a reduction-in-force or early out.