The Yahoo view: Carrington Mortgage Services has many mortgage loan options, including non-QM loans. It also offers insurance, title, and real estate agent services through its partner companies, though it rates low in customer satisfaction and does not offer home equity loans or HELOCs.
Carrington Mortgage Services is a national mortgage lender that offers several types of mortgage loans, including conventional, FHA, VA, USDA, and non-qualified mortgages. The company also offers insurance, title services, a buyer concierge service, and real estate agents through its partner real estate brokerage, Vylla Home.
The company isn’t known for its customer satisfaction, as it ranks well below average in the 2024 J.D. Power Mortgage Servicer Satisfaction Study. It has also been investigated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau its treatment of customers during pandemic-era forbearance periods and ordered to pay over $5 million in damages, and it was the subject of a class action lawsuit in 2022.
Read more: What do real estate agents do?
Key benefits
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Carrington offers a variety of loan programs, including conventional, FHA, VA, USDA, and non-QM loans.
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The company has title services, insurance, real estate agents, and a home-buyer concierge.
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Carrington originates loans in 48 U.S. states (all except Massachusetts and North Dakota) and services them in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. This means Carrington doesn’t sell the mortgages it originates to other companies to manage, and it services loans from other lenders.
Need to know
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Carrington doesn’t offer home equity loans or HELOCs.
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The company rates below average in customer satisfaction, according to J.D. Power.
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According to government data, FHA and conventional loans are Carrington’s most popular products.
Visit the Carrington Mortgage website to get started.
Carrington provides the following types of home loans:
Carrington does not offer:
Dig deeper: Non-QM loans — How a non-qualified mortgage can help you buy a house
Carrington Mortgage Services offers two FHA loan options: An FHA fixed-rate loan for purchasing a home and an FHA Streamline Refinance if you’re looking to refinance an existing FHA loan into a new one.
FHA loans account for almost 50% of Carrington’s mortgage origination business, according to 2023 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data. They are the lender’s most popular mortgage product, even exceeding conventional loans.
Learn more: The best FHA lenders
Carrington Mortgage Services offers home equity loans, though the lender makes it difficult for consumers to find information about this product. You can get a home equity loan directly through Carrington, but it only posts detailed info on its wholesale lending website: Here’s that link to Carrington home equity loan facts.
You can get a home equity loan for up to $350,000, and you must have a 640 credit score and 50% (or lower) debt-to-income ratio. Carrington has several home equity loan term options, including an interest-only one.
Dig deeper: How do home equity loans work?
Carrington is not particularly up-front with its interest rates. You’ll find no advertised or sample rates on its website, and to get a rate quote, you’ll need to fill out an online application with the lender or call a loan officer.
Yahoo Finance uses 2023 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data made up of 10 million home loan applications to score mortgage lenders on issued mortgage rates and total loan costs. We score each lender on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest).
For example, regarding mortgage rates, a lender with a lower score charged a higher-than-median mortgage interest rate for loans issued in 2023. A higher score indicates that a lender granted borrowers lower-than-median home loan interest rates in 2023.
With total home loan costs, a lower score would indicate that a lender charged higher-than-median total home loan costs in 2023. A high rating would mean that a mortgage lender offered lower-than-median all-in home loan costs in 2023.
What this means: Carrington Mortgage Services offered a low mortgage rate of 6.25% but a higher-than-median total loan cost of $10,111.10 to borrowers in 2023.
To apply for a mortgage with Carrington Mortgage Services, you must fill out an online application through the lender’s website or call (888) 267-0584. The company has some physical locations, including ones in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Texas, and more.
Carrington Mortgage doesn’t have a preapproval process that we could find, but it does offer prequalification. With prequalification, you’ll provide the lender with information regarding your finances, income, assets, and liabilities. The process involves a soft credit pull, which doesn’t impact your credit score.
Carrington will then determine what loan products you may be eligible for and how much you could potentially borrow. You can contact a loan officer or fill out the lender’s online application form to get started.
Read more: How to prequalify for a mortgage
Carrington Mortgage Services offers several mortgage calculators, including a monthly payment calculator, an affordability calculator, a refinancing calculator, and a loan comparison calculator. It also has an online learning center that supplies informative guides and articles on everything from home maintenance to improving your credit score.
Learn more: How much house can you afford? Use Yahoo Finance’s free home affordability calculator.
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Good affordability: Carrington offers plenty of government-backed loans, a 3% down conventional loan, and non-QM loans for non-traditional buyers, but it does not have a 1% down program or down payment assistance, giving it 4 stars in our Affordability category.
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Low interest rates: According to government data, Carrington’s rates are much lower than industry averages. It gets 5 stars in this area.
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Poor rate transparency: Carrington does not advertise its interest rates. You’ll need to fill out the lender’s application to get a rate quote for your loan.
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Questionable reputation: Carrington has been in class action lawsuits and investigated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in recent years.
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Low customer satisfaction: The lender ranks below average in J.D. Power’s customer satisfaction survey for mortgage servicers.
Carrington Mortgage Services and Fairway Independent Mortgage offer fairly comparable loan options. Fairway also has renovation loans and a physician mortgage loan, which can help doctors and other medical workers qualify for a mortgage. However, Carrington offers non-QM loans, whereas Fairway does not. Both companies offer borrowers a number of online resources and tools.
According to J.D. Power, Fairway rates much better in customer satisfaction. It also has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. (Carrington has no BBB rating as it goes through the process of responding to customer complaints).
Carrington Mortgage Services and AmeriHome Mortgage offer similar mortgage options, though Carrington has USDA loans, while AmeriHome doesn’t. Neither company is transparent about its interest rates, though.
AmeriHome provides incentives that can save borrowers money, including a rate buydown program and refinancing credits, and it rates better in customer satisfaction.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau took action against Carrington Mortgage Services for “deceptive acts and practices.” The CFPB claims the lender charged improper fees and misled customers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The mortgage company was also part of a class action lawsuit regarding its fees.
Carrington Holding Company, LLC owns Carrington Mortgage. The organization offers mortgage lending, mortgage servicing, capital management, and real estate, title, and foreclosure services.
Carrington Mortgage has several loan programs that might work if you have a lower credit score. Its USDA and Flexible Advantage loans only require a 550 credit score, and you may be able to get an FHA loan with a score as low as 500 (with a 10% down payment) or 580 (with a 3.5% down payment).
Carrington offers non-qualifying mortgages, which you may be eligible for if you can’t get a conventional loan. Its Flexible Advantage non-QM loan, for instance, allows for lower credit scores and higher debt-to-income ratios than other loan programs. You can even qualify with recent credit events like bankruptcies or foreclosures on your record.
Methodology:
Yahoo Finance reviews and scores mortgage lenders with quintile scoring in five primary categories: 1) Interest rates. Using 2023 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data comprised of 10 million home loan applications, we score mortgage lenders on issued mortgage rates below or above the annual median of reporting lenders. 2) Affordability. A measure of loan product availability and the willingness of a lender to offer government-backed loans, low down payments, down payment assistance, and consideration of nontraditional credit. 3) Loan costs. HMDA data is again analyzed, and lenders are rated based on total loan costs compared to the annual median. 4) Rate transparency. The ability of a website user to obtain a mortgage interest rate estimate. We score lenders based on whether rates are enhanced with discount points or high credit score requirements, disclaimers revealing rate assumptions, sample advertised rates, and whether adjustable or no discount point rate estimates are available. 5) Online features. An analysis of the educational material, calculators, and additional resources available to users.
Review of Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS) data on regulatory actions can trigger a penalty to the score of any lender with a consumer mortgage-related administrative or enforcement action within the past five years.
Advertisers or sponsorships do not influence ratings.
Editorial disclosure for mortgages:
The information in this article has not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser. The details on financial products, including interest rates and fees, are accurate as of the publish date. All products or services are presented without warranty. Check the lender’s website for the most current information. This site doesn’t include all currently available offers.
This article was edited by Laura Grace Tarpley.
