Arizona
Arizona VA IRRRL: How to Sort the Streamline Offers
Phoenix-area veterans get buried in VA streamline pitches. Here is how to test them, written by a broker who is not licensed in Arizona and cannot take your application.
Home Loans Inc is not licensed in Arizona and cannot take a Arizona application. We lend in South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa and Wyoming.
A Luke AFB story
Meet the Glendale homeowner who got three streamline pitches in one week
Picture a maintainer who bought near Luke AFB a while back on a VA loan. Rates drop. Within a week the mailbox is full of streamline offers, and every one of them says the deal is a no-brainer. Some are. Some are a way to roll fees into your balance and reset your clock.
This page is how I would sort them. One thing first: Home Loans Inc is not licensed in Arizona. I cannot take your application there, and I will not. Read this, then go pick an Arizona-licensed lender with your eyes open.
The sorting test
Three questions that kill a bad offer fast
Are you seasoned?
VA wants at least 210 days from your first payment due date and at least six monthly payments made. The later of the two wins. An offer that ignores this is a fantasy.
Do the savings pay back the costs?
Everything you spend to refinance has to come back to you through lower monthly payments within 36 months. If it takes longer, VA says no.
Is there a real benefit?
VA requires a net tangible benefit. Arizona adds an anti-churning standard on repeat refinances, so a lender flipping you every few months should get no traction.
If an offer passes all three, then you compare rate and fees. The funding fee on an IRRRL is 0.5 percent, and it is waived if you get VA disability compensation. Make sure the quote reflects your actual status. I have seen disability-rated veterans charged a fee they did not owe simply because nobody pulled the right VA paperwork. Ask for your Certificate of Eligibility and check the funding fee line yourself.
Who signs in a community property state
Community property and the second signature
Arizona is a community property state. If the house is community property, both spouses sign under ARS 33-452, even if only one is on the VA loan. The exception is property held sole and separate through a recorded disclaimer deed. There is no dower here, so the question really comes down to how title is vested. Pull your deed before you schedule the signing and save yourself a rescheduled appointment.
The closing mechanics
Escrow, dry funding and the cheap part of the bill
Arizona is a classic escrow and title state, and it funds dry. That means the federal three-day rescission window governs when the money actually moves after you sign. Expect a short gap between your signature and the payoff of the old loan.
The state side of the cost is tiny. Arizona has no mortgage tax and no transfer tax, and charges no state tax on a refinance. County recording runs about $30 flat per document. Remote online notarization is generally available, which helps if you are TDY or already moved on.
A couple of background facts: prepayment penalties in Arizona are capped and limited to the first three years, and foreclosure is non-judicial. Keep making payments and neither one touches you.
Around the state
Phoenix to Yuma, what changes and what does not
Construction folks obsess over comps in Sierra Vista and Yuma, where sales above moderate prices get thin. For a streamline you mostly get to skip that worry, since VA usually does not require an appraisal and does not usually verify income either. Individual lenders can add overlays, so ask.
That holds whether you are near Davis-Monthan in Tucson, Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista, MCAS Yuma, or up in Flagstaff or Prescott after a PCS, renting the old place out. You only certify that you lived there before. Phoenix is the busiest market in the state, so that is where the mailers pile up thickest. Volume is not the same as a good deal. Bring the three questions above to a lender licensed in Arizona and make them answer in writing. If the loan officer gets annoyed, that is useful information too.
Arizona VA IRRRL questions
My spouse is not on our VA loan in Tucson. Will they still have to sign the streamline?
If the home is community property, yes. Arizona law at ARS 33-452 requires both spouses to sign. If the property is sole and separate through a recorded disclaimer deed, the spouse generally does not. Check how your deed is vested before the closing appointment.
What does Arizona's anti-churning standard mean for my IRRRL?
Arizona applies an anti-churning standard to repeat refinances, which lines up with the VA net tangible benefit requirement. A streamline that saves you real money and recoups costs within 36 months should be fine. A lender trying to refinance you again and again for small gains should hit a wall.
How much does Arizona charge in taxes on a VA streamline?
No state tax on a refinance, and Arizona has no mortgage tax or transfer tax. County recording fees run about $30 flat per document. The bigger cost items will be the lender and title charges and the 0.5 percent funding fee unless you are exempt.
Why is there a gap between signing and payoff on my Phoenix refinance?
Arizona funds dry, and the federal three-day rescission window controls when the money moves after you sign. Your old loan gets paid off a few days after the signing, not the same afternoon.
Can I apply for an Arizona IRRRL through Home Loans Inc?
No. Home Loans Inc is not licensed in Arizona and cannot accept your application. Use this page as a checklist, then compare offers from lenders who hold an Arizona license.