The IRRL program is very legit. And you don't need to do it with your old lender if you don't want to. I applied with NFCU in November of 2012. My original mortgage was with USAA @ 4.25%. I did the IRRL @ 3.00% by buying 1 point. It would have been 3.5% with no points. It was somewhat limited paperwork process. No appraisal required, and although the program guidelines say no credit check required NFCU did a tri-merge pull anyway. Not sure what their credit requirements were but I passed.
Biggest holdups I had were the holidays and a property lien mixup from when I bought the place in 2011. It was a short sale when I bought it and the property management company had not filed the release of lien from the past due HOA dues. Escrow and the loan officer got it cleared up for me. If you are eligible for NFCU I can highly recommend them.
