Closer Look at the VA Funding Fee

The VA Funding Fee is a government fee applied to every VA purchase and refinance loan in Utah. This fee goes directly to the Department of Veterans Affairs to help cover losses and keep the loan guaranty program running for future generations of military homebuyers.

The fee changes depending on several factors, including the nature of the borrower’s service, whether the borrower has used the benefit before, the type of loan and whether there’s a down payment.

Borrowers with service-connected disabilities and select others might not have to pay it at all.

Let’s take a closer look.
 

VA Funding Fee for Purchase Loans

Active duty and veteran buyers with regular military service will pay a little less than Reserve and National Guard buyers when they’re using this benefit for the first time.

As you’ll see, contributing a down payment decreases the funding fee for both first-time and repeat VA borrowers. The funding fee is lower for a veteran's first use of the VA loan program, and you can see that it increases for all subsequent uses of the benefit.

Here’s a look at the funding fee tables for VA purchase loans:
 

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VA Funding Fee for Refinance Loans

The VA has two refinance products: The Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan (IRRRL) and the Cash-Out Refinance. The funding fees differ significantly between them, in part because of their objectives.

The IRRRL exists to get current VA homeowners into a lower-rate mortgage or out of an adjustable-rate loan. The cash-out refinance allows qualified veterans to refinance and extract cash from equity, and it’s open to qualified veterans with VA and non-VA loans.

Unless they’re exempt, all VA homeowners pay the same 0.5 percent funding fee on an Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan, regardless of their service history or how many times they've used the VA loan program.

The funding fee breakdown for a cash-out refinance is similar to a VA purchase loan. Borrowers cannot lower their funding fee by making a down payment or using equity.

Here’s fee chart for a VA cash-out refinance:
 

Paying the VA Funding Fee

Mortgage brokers will verify your funding fee status during the loan process. The Certificate of Eligibility will usually indicate whether or not the borrower must pay the VA Funding Fee.

This fee is due at your loan closing. Lenders will collect and send the funding fee payment to the VA through an automated system. Mortgage lenders have no control over a borrower’s eligibility for the funding fee or what they’re required to pay.

VA buyers can ask the seller to pay this fee on their behalf, pay it in cash or finance it into their loan. Veterans getting a VA refinance can pay the fee out of pocket or finance it over the life of the loan.

Most VA borrowers who are required to pay it choose to finance the VA Funding Fee, which on a VA purchase is the only closing cost you can roll into the loan.

On a typical $200,000 loan, a Regular Military veteran using a VA loan for the first time would borrow an additional $4,300 to cover the funding fee.
 

VA Funding Fee Exemptions

The VA exempts certain borrowers from paying the funding fee on either a purchase or a refinance.

Those who do not have to pay the VA Funding Fee include:

• Veterans who receive compensation for service-connected disabilities
• Veterans who would receive disability compensation if they didn’t receive retirement pay
• Veterans who are rated as eligible to receive compensation on the basis of a pre-discharge exam or review
• Veterans who can but are not receiving compensation because they’re on active duty
• Surviving spouses who are eligible for a VA loan
   

When evaluating funding fee exemptions, lenders will typically look at the Certificate of Eligibility or a Verification of VA Benefits. For veterans who receive retirement pay instead of VA compensation, lenders can use a copy of the original disability rating notification and financial documents that show the retirement income.

There are situations where the exemption status isn’t clear-cut. Only the VA can make a determination regarding funding fee exemptions.

Lenders are required to collect the funding fee and send it to the VA in cases where the borrower’s exemption status can’t be cleared up before closing.

Borrowers who have a disability claim pending at the time of closing are required to pay the funding fee. If the veteran is awarded disability compensation after the loan closes, it may be possible to obtain a refund of the VA Funding Fee.
 

Uncommon Funding Fee Scenarios

When two veterans with VA loan entitlement get a loan together, the funding fee is still in play. But it can wind up working a bit differently in these relatively uncommon cases. A major consideration is who’s contributing VA loan entitlement.

If two veterans are each contributing entitlement but one of them is exempt from paying the funding fee, the funding fee on their loan is cut in half. If this same set of veterans is seeking a VA loan but the veteran who’s exempt is not contributing entitlement, then their loan would carry the full funding fee.

In the rare instance where two veterans are each contributing entitlement and using the benefit for the first time, but one is a Regular Military veteran and the other is a National Guard or Reserve veteran, the funding fee would be 2.275 percent. That’s the average of their respective first-time funding fee charges (2.15 percent and 2.4 percent).

Last, VA loan assumptions come with a 0.5 percent funding fee.

Talk with an Advanced Funding loan specialist if you have questions about VA loan closing costs, including the funding fee.