Carrington Mortgage review: rates, costs & calculator

Carrington Mortgage at a glance

Carrington Mortgage Services is a nonbank lender and loan servicer based in Anaheim, California, operating since 2007 as part of Bruce Rose's privately held Carrington family of companies.

What sets it apart is a deliberate focus on borrowers who fall outside tidy agency guidelines.

Carrington leans into government-backed and non-qualified (non-QM) lending, accepting FHA and VA applicants with credit scores as low as 500 and building programs around self-employed, credit-scarred, and alternative-income borrowers rather than treating them as exceptions.

The lender runs a full retail channel alongside wholesale and correspondent operations, and it services loans in all 50 states plus Puerto Rico, so many borrowers first encounter the Carrington name on their monthly statement rather than at origination.

Where Carrington Mortgage's approval rate sits

Carrington Mortgage's 2025 approval rate of 39.4% sits against the 76.6% national average. Read it as a signal of channel, not strictness — wholesale, online and refinance-heavy lenders run lower because so many applications are rate shops that never close.

Its non-QM lineup is unusually developed for a lender of its size, spanning the Carrington Flexible Advantage and Flexible Advantage Plus series, Prime Advantage, and Investor Advantage, with income verified through bank statements, profit-and-loss statements, or 1099s in place of W-2s and tax returns.

In 2025 HMDA data, Carrington originated 15,089 loans worth about $3.6 billion, at an average loan size near $238,000.

Its reported approval rate of 39.4% sits well below the market norm, which is largely a function of its flexible-credit, non-QM, and recent-credit-event borrower mix rather than an indication of how hard the underwriting is for a well-matched applicant. Florida and California led its volume, followed by Texas, Georgia, and Indiana.

Who Carrington Mortgage is best for

Consider Carrington if you have a lower credit score, a recent foreclosure, bankruptcy, or short sale, an elevated debt-to-income ratio, or self-employment income that traditional lenders struggle to document.

It is one of the more accessible national options for FHA and VA loans in the 500-579 score range and for bank-statement or 1099-based underwriting that agency-only lenders simply won't offer.

Loan programs at Carrington Mortgage

Its most notable programs and specialties:

• FHA loans with credit scores accepted as low as 500 and down payments from 3.5%
• VA and USDA loans, including options with no down payment for eligible borrowers
• Carrington Flexible Advantage and Flexible Advantage Plus non-QM loans for lower scores and higher DTI
• Bank-statement, P&L, and 1099 income documentation for self-employed borrowers
• Carrington Prime Advantage and Investor Advantage non-QM programs (including investor/DSCR-style financing)
• Conventional loans (620+ credit) plus a nationwide loan-servicing operation

Typical industry minimum down payment by core loan type — Carrington Mortgage's own minimums or credit overlays may run higher:

Where Carrington Mortgage lends most

By federal HMDA records, Carrington Mortgage's largest 2025 markets were Florida, California, Texas, Georgia and Indiana. Explore local rates, home prices and down-payment assistance for each:

The verdict

Carrington fills a real gap for borrowers whom conventional lenders turn away — low credit scores, recent credit events, and self-employed income that needs bank-statement or 1099 documentation.

That accessibility can come with higher pricing and an opaque quote process, and its servicing arm has drawn mixed satisfaction marks and a since-resolved CFPB settlement.

For a well-matched non-QM or flexible-credit applicant, though, it remains one of the more capable national options worth comparing.

How to compare Carrington Mortgage

Shopping a few lenders is the single most reliable way to save. Before you commit to Carrington Mortgage:

1. Get three or more Loan Estimates in a two-week window — the bureaus treat it as one inquiry.
2. Compare the APR, not just the headline rate — it folds in the fees.
3. Weigh service and loan-type fit, not price alone.
4. Verify licensing: search Carrington Mortgage on NMLS Consumer Access and match the NMLS ID to the one on your Loan Estimate. (Its LEI in federal HMDA data, 549300R9S3MVDV4MGF56, is not a license number.)

Benchmark whatever you're quoted against today's this week's rate averages.