On May 11, 2020 the VA published VA Circ. 26-20-13, Change 1, which (inter alia) amends VA Circ. 26-20-13 to require the following:
“d. Water System Acceptability. Well water testing for refinance transactions where the home is already encumbered by a VA loan will be waived. In areas where testing is suspended due to COVID-19, the Veteran will need to sign an acknowledgment stating they are aware that testing cannot be done for purchase and refinance transactions where the home is not already encumbered by a VA-guaranteed loan. The lender is responsible to have a test completed within 180 days. Prior to loan closing, the Veteran must acknowledge they accept responsibility to install a filtration system at their own cost to correct the issue should the water test fail. VA staff and/or the Staff Appraisal Reviewer (SAR) must annotate the Veteran acknowledgement and 180-day requirement in NOV Condition #16, Other Conditions, on the NOV.”
We are currently reviewing this change to determine any impact, and evaluating any modifications, to our document library and/or systems. Any modifications we make as a result will be announced on our website (https://compliance.docutech.com/).
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