Buying or refinancing a home involves binding legal and financial rules. Every guide in the STX Lending Learning Center is written from active Texas lending practice and fact-checked directly against official agency handbooks and statutes before publication.
Articles carry the byline of the NMLS-licensed loan originator or mortgage specialist on our Texas lending team who works directly with those loan files. When a loan officer holds an active Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS) ID, their author profile links directly to NMLS Consumer Access so readers can verify their license history.
Before an article earns our Fact Checked badge, every percentage, credit score floor, loan limit, waiting period, tax figure, and statute citation is verified line by line against official agency handbooks and governing statutes. Guides authored by loan partners or processors are also reviewed by a licensed Texas mortgage originator.
We do not source mortgage rules from third-party blogs or aggregator summaries. Underwriting requirements, borrower eligibility rules, and Texas constitutional equity limits are verified directly against the governing agency handbooks and statutes listed below.
| Authority | Primary Source |
|---|---|
| U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) | Single Family Housing Policy Handbook 4000.1 & FHA Mortgagee Letters |
| U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) | VA Pamphlet 26-7, Revised (VA Lender's Handbook) & Circulars |
| Fannie Mae | Single-Family Selling Guide |
| Freddie Mac | Single-Family Seller/Servicer Guide |
| Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) | Annual Conforming Loan Limit Values |
| Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) | TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) & Regulation Z Rules |
| State of Texas | Texas Constitution Article XVI, Section 50(a)(6) & Texas Tax Code |
Individual lenders may apply credit, debt-to-income, or reserve overlays on top of agency minimums. Whenever an article discusses an STX Lending program guideline alongside a federal agency minimum, we label both clearly so readers know which rule comes from the agency handbook and which applies to lender underwriting.
Mortgage thresholds change when FHFA, HUD, VA, the IRS, or the Texas Legislature publish annual updates. We maintain a dated registry of time-sensitive figures, including Texas conforming and FHA loan limits, mortgage insurance rates, VA funding fees, and Texas homestead exemptions. We update an article's modified date only when we revise or re-verify its substantive facts.
Worked dollar examples and interactive mortgage calculators illustrate how rules operate on sample Texas purchase prices, property tax rates, and loan amounts. Published guides are educational resources and do not constitute legal, tax, or financial advice or a commitment to lend. All loans are subject to credit approval and property appraisal.
South Texas Lending and STX Lending are trade names of Neighborhood Loans, Inc. (NMLS #222982), Branch NMLS #2774284, located at 1846 N Loop 1604 W Ste 205, San Antonio, TX 78248. Full state licensing details and NMLS Consumer Access links are published on our State Licenses & NMLS Information page.
If you spot an outdated figure, a broken agency link, or a guideline change that needs updating, contact our editorial and compliance team and we will verify the primary source and update the article promptly.
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