VA Loan RANT

[CrimsonSoul]

Just ranting to get stuff off of my chest. I applied for a VA loan and got a letter saying that I could get one from the VA through my mortgage broker. Anyway was suppose to close on the house on Thursday (the one that already passed) and we were unable to close because the VA had to have a letter from my employer saying that "overtime was gauranteed and required" Job refused to give the letter because the company we are contracted out to could change the terms when they want. Anyway Almost lost the house I was trying to buy had to switch to a FHA loan at the last minute and put down the 3.5 down payment and it raised the monthly payment, grr.

[dicion]

Did you list overtime income on your loan application?

If you list income derived from overtime, then it has to be documented that this income is reasonably expected to remain the same, otherwise it cannot be counted towards your income for the loan.
I had the same situation, I have a VA loan, and I had to not list about 15-20k of overtime I usually received every year, because it was not guaranteed Every year.
They're just trying to CTA on property that they're guaranteeing.

They can't make a loan based on income you're not guaranteed to receive. It was that kind of bad practice that lead to the current housing market predicament.
I think the lenders are starting to smarten up and not give money to people who can't afford it. This is a reflection of that.

VA Loans are great. I got a great rate, and no need for PMI!

[CrimsonSoul]

Eh the FHA only raised my monthly payment like 60 bucks a month but it's the principal of the thing. I work 4 days a week 12 hours a day and have since the day I started my job.

[Katygunnut]

I was amazed at how much the lending standards tightened up after the a problem arises with the housing bubble. I bought a house in 2003 that cost about 2 1/2 times my annual income. Nothing down, minimal hassle. Plus the house appreciated $40K during the six months it took to build (this was in Washington state).

When I moved to Texas and bought my current house at the end of 2007 / start of 2008, I had to put 5% down and jump through all kind of hoops w/r/t income verification and documentation. And the house I was buying was only 1 1/2 times my annual income. I think it has gotten worse recently.

Same thing with credit cards. I have never had issues with late payments on any card, and have never had a credit limit reduced or a card cancelled, etc. Last year Chase dropped the limits on two of my cards by 80%. No explanation and they refused to connect me to anyone who could explain their reasoning. I promptly cancelled these cards.

[budroux2w]

Eh the FHA only raised my monthly payment like 60 bucks a month but it's the principal of the thing. I work 4 days a week 12 hours a day and have since the day I started my job.

I'm surprised they didn't take it based on your paystubs. The history should show up on your YTD and would show as stable, but, I'm not a VA underwriter (INAVAUW)

[UpTheIrons]

I have never had issues with late payments on any card, and have never had a credit limit reduced or a card cancelled, etc. Last year Chase dropped the limits on two of my cards by 80%. No explanation and they refused to connect me to anyone who could explain their reasoning. I promptly cancelled these cards.

That's just Chase being Chase. We've never had a late payment, and after we paid off a chunk of what we owed them, we got a letter saying that they "had to" reduce our credit line by 20% or so. Fine. I cut up the card and am looking to my credit union for an account that I can move the balance to. I'm done with Chase. And Capital One. And credit cards in general at this point.

BTW, to keep this on topic, I had no problem getting a "no doc" home loan (basically a sub-prime mortgage) in January of '04. We couldn't go the FHA route then, because my wife didn't have the 2-year work history needed (she was a stay-at-home-mom until then). I wanted to refi now, and man, the hoops that you have to go through...

[Kythas]

I have never had issues with late payments on any card, and have never had a credit limit reduced or a card cancelled, etc. Last year Chase dropped the limits on two of my cards by 80%. No explanation and they refused to connect me to anyone who could explain their reasoning. I promptly cancelled these cards.

That's just Chase being Chase. We've never had a late payment, and after we paid off a chunk of what we owed them, we got a letter saying that they "had to" reduce our credit line by 20% or so. Fine. I cut up the card and am looking to my credit union for an account that I can move the balance to. I'm done with Chase. And Capital One. And credit cards in general at this point.

BTW, to keep this on topic, I had no problem getting a "no doc" home loan (basically a sub-prime mortgage) in January of '04. We couldn't go the FHA route then, because my wife didn't have the 2-year work history needed (she was a stay-at-home-mom until then). I wanted to refi now, and man, the hoops that you have to go through...

That was done thanks to the credit card overhaul bill Obama got passed last year. Just about all credit card companies have done that due to provisions and new regulations in the new law.