Louisiana
Louisiana VA IRRRL: Streamlining Under Civil Law
Louisiana does real estate its own way, with notaries, witnesses and community property. Home Loans Inc is not licensed in Louisiana, but here is what a Louisiana streamline looks like so you can shop a local lender with your eyes open.
Home Loans Inc is not licensed in Louisiana and cannot take a Louisiana application. We lend in South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa and Wyoming.
The ceremony
A notary, two witnesses, and your pen
Louisiana runs on civil law, a different tradition from every other state. You feel that at the closing table. A Louisiana mortgage on real estate is executed as a notarial act, also called an authentic act. You sign in front of a notary and two witnesses, and neither witness can be the notary. Often that notary is an attorney.
Is that a problem on an IRRRL? No. It just makes the signing more formal than a quick drop-in at a title counter. Ask ahead of time who is supplying the witnesses, so you are not recruiting a neighbor at the last minute.
Once the act is signed, Louisiana is wet-funding, so the money generally moves at the table. If the home is your primary residence, the federal right-to-cancel window still holds the payoff for a few days.
Yours, mine, ours
Community property and the second signature
Louisiana is a community-property state. If the home is community property, both spouses generally must concur on the refinance, whether or not both are on the loan. The exception is a home that is the borrower's separate property. Which bucket is yours? That is a question for your Louisiana lender and closing attorney, not a veteran with a website.
My blunt advice: assume both of you are signing until somebody qualified says otherwise. An extra person at the table costs nothing. Redoing an authentic act costs time.
Bases and parishes
From Barksdale to Belle Chasse
Fort Johnson
Formerly Fort Polk, near Leesville and DeRidder, home of the Joint Readiness Training Center. The surrounding market is rural with very thin comps. That hurts a purchase. On an IRRRL, VA usually does not require an appraisal, so it hurts a lot less.
Barksdale AFB
Bossier City in the Shreveport metro, with a B-52 wing and Global Strike Command. Shreveport and Bossier run affordable with moderate comps.
NAS JRB New Orleans
Belle Chasse, Navy and Marine Reserve. The New Orleans metro is its own animal, with flood zone and hurricane issues baked into ownership. A streamline lowers a rate. It does not change what the water can do.
Camp Beauregard
Pineville, home base for the Louisiana National Guard. Guard members who bought with VA financing qualify for the same streamline as active duty.
Elsewhere: Baton Rouge is the capital with moderate comps, Lafayette leans on the oil and gas economy, and Lake Charles is still rebuilding after the hurricanes. Different markets, identical IRRRL rules.
Does it pencil?
The math a Louisiana lender owes you
A streamline only refinances an existing VA loan into a new VA loan. No cash in your pocket, just a better deal on what you already owe. VA wants a net tangible benefit, and it wants every dollar of closing cost recovered through your monthly savings within 36 months. If the lender cannot show you the payback month in writing, keep shopping.
Timing matters too. You need at least 210 days since the first payment came due and at least six monthly payments made, whichever comes later. The funding fee is half a percent of the loan, and zero if you receive VA disability compensation. Income verification and an appraisal are usually not required by VA, though individual lenders sometimes add them.
Louisiana helps on cost: there is no mortgage recording tax, only flat recording fees. Foreclosure here is judicial, through a process called executory process. And you only need to certify that you lived in the home before, so a PCS move does not knock you out.
Who should do this loan
Not me, and here is why
Home Loans Inc is not licensed in Louisiana, so I cannot take your application. This page exists so you walk into a Louisiana-licensed lender knowing the rules, the witness requirement, and the community property question. Ask hard questions. Make them earn it.
Louisiana VA IRRRL questions
Why do I need two witnesses to sign my Louisiana VA refinance?
Louisiana is a civil-law state, and a mortgage on real estate is signed as an authentic act before a notary and two witnesses who are not the notary. The closing notary is often an attorney. Ask your lender ahead of time who is providing the witnesses so the signing goes smoothly.
My wife is not on our VA loan. Does she still have to sign in Louisiana?
Often yes. Louisiana is a community-property state, and both spouses generally must concur on a refinance of the family home or community property. The exception is when the home is the borrower's separate property. Your lender and closing attorney can tell you which applies.
Will the thin comps around Fort Johnson sink my streamline?
Usually not. VA generally does not require an appraisal on an IRRRL, so the rural market around Leesville and DeRidder matters much less than it would on a purchase or construction loan. Some lenders add an appraisal as an overlay, so ask before you commit.
Can I get a Louisiana IRRRL through Home Loans Inc?
No. Home Loans Inc is not licensed in Louisiana and cannot take a Louisiana application. This page is for education only. Compare offers from Louisiana-licensed lenders and ask each one for the month your savings recover the closing costs.