Idaho
Idaho VA IRRRL: The New Homestead Signing Rule and More
A VA streamline refinance in Idaho now needs both spouses on a homestead, plus the usual VA tests. Home Loans Inc is not licensed in Idaho and cannot take your application.
Home Loans Inc is not licensed in Idaho and cannot take a Idaho application. We lend in South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa and Wyoming.
New Idaho law
Since July 2025, both spouses sign on a homestead
Idaho changed the rules recently. Under Idaho Code 55-1007, as amended by HB150 effective July 1, 2025, both spouses must execute and acknowledge a mortgage on a homestead. A married person's homestead cannot be encumbered without both of them. If you closed your original VA loan before that date and only one of you signed, do not assume the refinance works the same way.
Quick housekeeping: Home Loans Inc is not licensed in Idaho, so I cannot take your application. I am writing this so you know the rules before you sit down with an Idaho-licensed lender. Practically, the new signing rule means scheduling. If one of you works nights at the base or travels for work, sort out the signing day first. With remote online notarization generally available in Idaho, that can be a video call instead of a drive, but both of you still have to execute and acknowledge.
Where the VA homeowners are
Mountain Home, Gowen Field and the Treasure Valley
Mountain Home AFB is home to the 366th Fighter Wing flying F-15E Strike Eagles. Gowen Field in Boise hosts the Idaho Air National Guard and its A-10s. Between those two, a lot of Idaho VA loans sit in the Boise metro and the Mountain Home area.
Others are spread out in Idaho Falls, Twin Falls and up in Coeur d'Alene. Builders care a lot about which of those markets has the sales to support a price. On a streamline you mostly do not, since VA usually requires no appraisal and no income verification. Lenders can add overlays, so ask whether yours does. If one insists on a full appraisal and a stack of pay stubs, that is their choice, not a VA rule, and it is fair to shop someone with lighter overlays.
The streamline test
Will this refinance actually pay you?
Seasoned
At least 210 days from your first payment due date and six monthly payments made, whichever is later.
Recouped
Every dollar of closing cost earned back through lower payments within 36 months.
Beneficial
VA requires a net tangible benefit, not just a different loan.
Priced right
Funding fee of 0.5 percent, waived if you receive VA disability compensation.
If an offer cannot show all four in writing, keep shopping. And if you moved away from Mountain Home and kept the house as a rental, you are still in the game. VA only asks you to certify that you lived there before.
How Idaho closes
Escrow, dry funding and almost no government fees
Idaho is an escrow and title state, and it funds dry. You sign, the documents record, and money moves after the federal three-day rescission on a primary residence. Plan on a few days between the signature and the payoff of your old loan. Remote online notarization is generally available, which helps if you are TDY or living out of state.
Costs from the state are minimal. Idaho has no mortgage tax and no transfer tax, and charges no state tax on a refinance. County recording fees are it.
Prepayment penalties in Idaho are capped to the first three years, and there is none if you refinance with the same lender. Foreclosure is non-judicial. Again, non-issues for a borrower who is current, but worth having in your back pocket. Bring all of this to a lender licensed in Idaho. Ask for a written estimate that shows your current payment, the new payment, the total costs and the month you break even. If that month is past 36, the loan should not happen, no matter how good the rate sounds on the phone.
Idaho VA IRRRL questions
Did Idaho's HB150 change who signs my Boise streamline?
Yes. Since July 1, 2025, Idaho Code 55-1007 requires both spouses to execute and acknowledge a mortgage on a homestead. Even if only one of you signed the original VA loan, plan for both to sign the refinance if the home is your homestead.
How long after signing does my Mountain Home IRRRL fund?
A few days. Idaho funds dry, so documents are signed and recorded before money moves, and the federal three-day rescission on a primary residence also applies. Ask the lender for the expected payoff date of your old loan.
Does Idaho charge any transfer or mortgage tax on a refinance?
No. Idaho has no mortgage tax and no transfer tax, and no state tax on a refinance. You pay county recording fees. The larger costs are lender and title charges plus the 0.5 percent VA funding fee if you are not exempt.
Is there a penalty if I streamline with the same lender in Idaho?
Idaho caps prepayment penalties to the first three years and allows none when you refinance with the same lender. Ask your current servicer and any new lender to confirm in writing.
Can Home Loans Inc do my Idaho VA streamline?
No. Home Loans Inc is not licensed in Idaho and cannot accept your application. Use the rules here, including the homestead signing change and the 36-month recoup, to compare offers from lenders licensed in Idaho.