Section 230. Flexible alternative mortgage loan programs

The executive director may establish flexible alternative mortgage loan programs. 13VAC10-40-10 through 13VAC10-40-220 shall apply to such flexible alternative mortgage loan programs, with the following modifications:

1. The following requirements shall not apply: (i) the new mortgage requirement; (ii) the requirements as to the use of the property in a trade or business; (iii) the requirements as to acquisition cost and sales price of the property to be financed; (iv) the requirement that each applicant shall not have had a present ownership interest in his principal residence within the preceding three years; (v) the net worth requirement; (vi) the requirements for the payment by the seller of an amount equal to 1.0% of the loan in 13VAC10-40-160 D 2; and (vii) the lot size restriction in 13VAC10-40-50 C 3.

2. The gross income of the applicant or applicants shall not exceed 120% of the applicable median family income without regard to household size, provided, however, that the authority may increase such percentage of applicable median family income, not to exceed 150%, if the executive director determines that it is necessary to provide financing in underserved areas identified by the executive director to persons with disabilities (i.e., physically or mentally disabled, as determined by the executive director on the basis of medical evidence from a licensed physician or other appropriate evidence satisfactory to the executive director), to applicants with a household size of two or more persons, or other similarly underserved individuals identified by the executive director.

3. At the time of closing, each applicant must occupy or intend to occupy within 60 days (90 days in the case of new construction) the property to be financed as his principal residence.

4. The property to be financed must be one of the following types: (i) a single family residence (attached or detached); (ii) a unit in a condominium or PUD which is approved for financing by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac or satisfies the requirements for such financing, except that the executive director may waive any of such requirements if he determines that any additional risk as a result of such waiver is adequately compensated or otherwise covered by the terms of the mortgage loan or the financial strength or credit of the applicant or applicants; or (iii) a doublewide manufactured home permanently affixed to the land.

5. The land, residence and all other improvements on the property to be financed must be expected to be used by the borrower or borrowers primarily for residential purposes.

6. Personal property which is related to the use and occupancy of the property as the principal residence of the borrower or borrowers and is customarily transferred with single family residences may be included in the real estate contract, transferred with the residence and financed by the loan; however, the value of such personal property shall not be considered in the appraised value.

7. The principal amount of the mortgage loan shall not exceed the limits established by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac for single family residences.

8. The maximum loan amount shall be calculated as follows:

a. If the authority loan will be used to acquire the residence, the loan amount (plus all subordinate debt to be secured by the property after closing of the authority loan) may not exceed 100% of the lesser of appraised value or sales price; provided, however, the executive director may establish a lower percentage if the executive director determines that such lower percentage is necessary to protect the authority's financial interests or to enable the authority to effectively and efficiently allocate its current and anticipated financial resources so as to best meet the current and future housing needs of the citizens throughout the Commonwealth. In the case of loans to finance such acquisition, the executive director may approve additional subordinate financing if he determines that any additional risk as a result of such additional subordinate financing is adequately compensated or otherwise covered by the terms of the mortgage loan or the financial strength or credit of the applicant or applicants.

b. If the loan proceeds will not be used to finance the acquisition of the residence, the loan amount (plus all subordinate debt to be secured by the property after closing of the authority loan) may not exceed the lesser of the current appraised value of the property or the sum of (i) the payoff (if any) of the applicant's existing first mortgage loan; (ii) the payoff (if any) of applicant's or applicants' subordinate mortgage loans (provided such loans do not permit periodic advancement of loan proceeds) closed for not less than 12 months preceding the date of the closing of the authority loan and the payoff (if any) of applicant's or applicants' home equity line of credit loan (i.e., loan that permits periodic advancement of proceeds) with no more than $2,000 in advances within the 12 months preceding the date of the closing of the authority loan, excluding funds used for the purpose of documented improvements to the residence; (iii) improvements to be performed to the property after the closing of the authority loan and for which loan proceeds will be escrowed at closing; (iv) closing costs, discount points, fees and escrows payable in connection with the origination and closing of the authority loan; and (v) up to $500 to be payable to applicant or applicants at closing.

c. If the applicant or applicants request to receive loan proceeds at closing in excess of the limit set forth in clause (v) of subdivision 8 b of this section, the loan amount (plus all subordinate debt to be secured by the property after closing of the authority loan) may be increased to finance such excess cash up to a loan amount not in excess of 95% of the current appraised value. To be eligible for such increased financing, the applicant's or applicants' credit score may be no less than 660, and the financial integrity of the flexible alternative program must be protected by an upward adjustment to the rate of interest charged to the applicant or applicants or otherwise.

d. If the applicant's or applicants' existing mortgage loan to be refinanced is an authority mortgage loan, the applicant or applicants may request a streamlined refinance of the authority mortgage loan in which the authority may require less underwriting documentation (e.g., verification of employment) and may charge reduced points and fees. For such streamlined refinances, the loan amount (plus all subordinate debt to be secured by the property after closing of the authority loan) is limited to (i) the payoff of the existing authority mortgage loan and (ii) required closing costs, discount points, fees and escrows payable in connection with the origination and closing of the new authority loan, provided, however, that the loan amount (plus all subordinate debt to be secured by the property after closing of the authority loan) may not exceed 100% of the greatest of original appraised value, current real estate tax assessment, current appraised value or other alternative valuation method approved by the authority. To be eligible for such streamlined refinance, the applicant's or applicants' payment history on the current authority loan may not include any 30 day late payments within the previous 24-month period (12 months for applicants whose current authority loans do not carry mortgage insurance) and no bankruptcy since the closing of the original mortgage loan. In approving such streamlined refinance, the executive director must determine that any additional risk is outweighed by the demonstrated satisfactory payment history of applicant to the authority.

e. In addition to the foregoing maximum loan amounts under this section, the executive director may approve the disbursement of additional amounts to finance closing costs and fees and costs of rehabilitation and improvements to be completed subsequent to the closing. Except for loans financed under the program described in subdivision 24 of this subsection, these additional amounts may not exceed 5.0% of the lesser of sales price (if any) or appraised value, provided, however, that in addition to such 5.0%, amounts not to exceed 5.0% of the lesser of sales price (if any) or appraised value may be funded for the costs of rehabilitation and improvements to retrofit the residence or add accessibility features to accommodate the needs of a disabled occupant or to provide for visitability by disabled individuals.

9. Mortgage insurance shall not be required, except that in the case of manufactured homes mortgage insurance shall be required in accordance with 13VAC10-40-120.

10. (Reserved.)

11. The applicant or applicants must have a history of receiving stable income from employment or other sources with a reasonable expectation that the income will continue in the foreseeable future; typically, verification of two years' stable income will be required; and education or training in a field related to the employment of the applicant or applicants may be considered to meet no more than one year of this requirement.

12. The applicant or applicants must possess a credit history as of the date of loan application satisfactory to the authority and, in particular, must satisfy the following: (i) for each applicant, no bankruptcy or foreclosure within the preceding three years; for each applicant, no housing payment past due for 30 days in the preceding 24 months; for a single applicant individually and all multiple applicants collectively, no more than one payment past due for 30 days or more on any other debt or obligation within the preceding 12 months; for each applicant, no outstanding collection, judgment, charge off, repossession or 30-day past due account; and a minimum credit score of 620 if the loan-to-value ratio is 95% or less or 660 if the loan-to-value ratio exceeds 95% (credit scores as referenced in these regulations shall be determined by obtaining credit scores for each applicant from a minimum of three repositories and using the middle score in the case of a single applicant and the lowest middle score in the case of multiple applicants); or (ii) for each applicant, no previous bankruptcy or foreclosure; for a single applicant individually and all multiple applicants collectively, no outstanding collection, judgment, charge off or repossession within the past 12 months or more than one 30-day past due account within the past 12 months and no more than four 30-day past due accounts within the past 24 months; for each applicant, no previous housing payment past due for 30 days; for a single applicant individually and all multiple applicants collectively, minimum of three sources of credit with satisfactory payment histories for the most recent 24-month period; for a single applicant individually and all multiple applicants collectively, no more than nine accounts currently open; and for a single applicant individually and all multiple applicants collectively, no more than three new accounts opened in the past 12 months (in establishing guidelines to implement the flexible alternative mortgage loan programs, the authority may refer to the credit requirements in clause (i) of this subdivision as the "alternative" credit requirements and the requirements in clause (ii) of this subdivision as the "standard" credit requirements).

If the executive director determines it is necessary to protect the financial integrity of the flexible alternative program, the executive director may require that applicant or applicants for loans having loan-to-value ratios in excess of 97% meet the alternative credit requirements in clause (i) of this subdivision.

13. Homeownership education approved by the authority shall be required for any borrower who is a first time homeowner if the loan-to-value ratio exceeds 95%. This requirement shall be waived if the applicant or applicants have a credit score of 660 or greater (see subdivision 12 of this section for the manner of determining credit scores); unless the executive director determines that such homeownership education is necessary to protect its financial interests;

14. Seller contributions for closing costs and other amounts payable by the borrower or borrowers in connection with the purchase or financing of the property shall not exceed 4.0% of the contract price.

15. Sources of funds for the down payment and closing costs payable by the borrower shall be limited to the borrower's or borrowers' funds, gifts or unsecured loans from relatives, grants from employers or nonprofit entities not involved in the transfer or financing of the property, and unsecured loans on terms acceptable to the authority (payments on any unsecured loans permitted under this subdivision shall be included in the calculation of the debt/income ratios described below), and documentation of such sources of funds shall be in form and substance acceptable to the authority.

16. The maximum debt ratios shall be 35% and 43% in lieu of the ratios of 32% and 40%, respectively, set forth in 13VAC10-40-130 B 4.

17. Cash reserves at least equal to two months' loan payments must be held by the applicant or applicants if the loan-to-value ratio exceeds 95%; cash reserves at least equal to one month's loan payment must be held by the applicant or applicants if the loan-to-value ratio is greater than 90% and is less than or equal to 95%; and no cash reserves shall be required if the loan-to-value ratio is 90% or less.

18. The payment of points (a point being equal to 1.0% of the loan amount) in addition to the origination fee shall be charged as follows: if the loan-to-value ratio is 90% or less, one-half of one point shall be charged; if the loan-to-value ratio is greater than 90% and is less than or equal to 95%, one point shall be charged; and if the loan-to-value ratio exceeds 95%, one and one-half point shall be charged. If the executive director determines that the financial integrity of the flexible alternative program is protected, by an adjustment to the rate of interest charged to the applicant or applicants or otherwise, the authority may provide the applicant or applicants with the option of an alternative point requirement.

In addition to the above, a reduction of one-half of one point will be made to the applicant or applicants meeting the credit requirements in clause 12 (i) above with a credit score of 700 or greater (see subdivision 12 of this section for the manner of determining credit scores).

19. The interest rate which would otherwise be applicable to the loan shall be reduced by.25% if the loan-to-value ratio is 80% or less.

20. The documents relating to requirements of the federal tax code governing tax-exempt bonds shall not be required.

21. For assumptions of loans, the above requirements for occupancy of the property as the borrower's or borrowers' principal residence, the above income limit, and the underwriting criteria in the regulations as modified by this section must be satisfied.

22. The authority may require that any or all loans financed under such alternative mortgage programs be serviced by the authority.

23. The authority may accept an approval of an automated underwriting system in lieu of satisfaction of the foregoing requirements for the flexible alternative program if the executive director determines that such delegated underwriting system is designed so as to adequately protect the financial integrity of the flexible alternative program.

24. The executive director may establish a flexible alternative rehabilitation mortgage loan program. The regulations set forth in subdivisions 1 through 23 of this section shall apply to such flexible alternative rehabilitation mortgage loan program, with the following modifications:

a. At the time of closing, each applicant must occupy or intend to occupy within 180 days the property to be financed as his principal residence;

b. The provision of clause (iii) of subdivision 4 of this section permitting the financing of a doublewide manufactured home permanently affixed to the land shall not apply.

c. The maximum loan amount for a purchase shall be 100% of the lesser of (i) the sum of purchase price plus rehabilitation costs; or (ii) the as completed appraised value. The maximum loan amount for a refinance shall be 100% of the lesser of (i) the outstanding principal balance plus rehabilitation costs; or (ii) the as completed appraised value.

d. The rehabilitation costs to be financed may not exceed an amount equal to 50% of the as completed appraised value.

e. Loan proceeds may be used to finance the purchase and installation of eligible improvements. Improvements that are eligible for financing are structural alterations, repairs, additions to the residence itself, or other improvements (including appliances) upon or in connection with the residence. In order to be eligible, such improvements must substantially protect or improve the basic livability or utility of the residence. Improvements that are physically removed from the residence but that are located on the property occupied by the residence may be eligible for financing if these improvements substantially protect or improve the basic livability or utility of the residence (i.e., installation of a septic tank or the drilling of a well). Luxury items (such as swimming pools and spas) shall not be eligible for financing hereunder.

f. Loan proceeds may not be used to finance any improvements that have been completed at the time the application is submitted to the authority.

g. All work financed with the loan proceeds shall be performed by a contractor duly licensed in Virginia to perform such work and be performed pursuant to a validly issued building permit, if required, and shall comply with all applicable state and local health, housing, building, fire prevention and housing maintenance codes and other applicable standards and requirements. Compliance with the foregoing shall be evidenced by such documents and certifications as shall be prescribed by the executive director.

h. The executive director may require the applicant or applicants to establish a contingency fund for the mortgage loan in an amount adequate to ensure sufficient reserve funds for the proper completion of the proposed improvements in the event of cost over runs. The executive director may also require a holdback from each disbursement of loan proceeds until completion of the residence.

i. The executive director may approve originating agents to originate the acquisition/rehabilitation loans. To be so approved, the originating agent must have a staff with demonstrated ability and experience in acquisition/rehabilitation mortgage loan origination, processing and administration.

j. In addition to the payment of points set forth in subdivision 18 of this section, the originating agent may collect an escrow administration fee and an inspection fee in an amount determined by the executive director to compensate the originating agent for administering the disbursement of the mortgage loan during the rehabilitation of the residence.

Except as modified hereby, all of the requirements, terms and conditions set forth in 13VAC10-40-10 through 13VAC10-40-220 shall apply to the flexible alternative mortgage loan programs.

Historical Notes

Derived from Volume 14, Issue 11, eff. January 28, 1998; amended, Virginia Register Volume 15, Issue 04, eff. October 21, 1998; Volume 15, Issue 12, eff. January 28, 1999; Volume 16, Issue 19, eff. May 17, 2000; Volume 17, Issue 22, eff. June 20, 2001; Volume 19, Issue 12, eff. January 24, 2003; Volume 19, Issue 25, eff. August 1, 2003; Volume 20, Issue 03, eff. September 25, 2003; Volume 24, Issue 07, eff. November 13, 2007.

Statutory Authority

§ 36-55.30:3 of the Code of Virginia.