Refinancing Guidelines

If you are considering refinancing your home, please be advised that there are some guidelines you must follow, and as always, notify ACCT first.

• When you submit your application to the lender, be sure to mention that you own a Land Trust property. Also, inform the lender if you are on the Ground Lease model or the Subsidy Covenant Model. If you don't know, call Elise at 877-2626. If the lender informs you that your ground lease or covenant is incompatible with their loan programs, put them in touch with Elise because it may be possible to change the documents to make them compatible.
• Certain ACCT documents may need to be updated to comply with lender guidelines, which in many cases have changed significantly since 2008; therefore, please notify us well in advance so that these changes can be made.
• If you are planning to take any cash out or consolidate debt, we will need a copy of a new appraisal to determine your share of appreciation in the property.
• Similarly, if you are proposing to increase the amount of financing secured by the property, VHCB requires repayment of outstanding VHCB Single Family Assistance Program loans.
• At a minimum, we require:
  1. A copy of your loan application
  2. the Truth in Lending statement
  3. the Good Faith Estimate
• If you are considering paying off credit card debt when refinancing, please read this article first, and check out reliable consumer websites like Bankrate.com and borrowsmart.afford.com for additional advice.

There may be more steps you need to undertake before refinancing your home; this list is only meant as an initial checklist when you begin the process. ACCT is committed to helping you refinance when at all possible, but it is also our duty to act in the best interest of the subsidy, as well as the homeowner, and we retain the right to deny requests in certain cases--for example, requests that require us to subordinate to multiple liens, thereby placing us at greater risk. Other instances when we will not be able to grant requests include, but are not limited to, home equity loans that are structured as an open line of credit, and requests that elevate the owner's debt to more than their share of the equity. The Vermont Housing & Conservation Board (VHCB) will also review requests on a case-by-case basis in order to determine risk to VHCB's interest in the property. VHCB reserves the right to reject any refinancing proposals that they conclude involve excessive risk to public subsidy. We place a higher priorty on requests for the purpose of maintaining or improving the home.

Lenders who have recently refinanced ACCT properties include the National Bank of Middlebury and National City Mortgage. Other lenders may also be able to refinance Land Trust properties.

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