DSCR Loan California 2026: Rates, Lenders and Counties From 13,209 Federal Loan Records (2025)

What a DSCR loan costs in California: the public loan-by-loan record

A lender's website shows the rate it offers its best file. The federal Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) record shows the rates borrowers actually closed at. Most mortgage lenders report every loan they originate each year, with the note rate, amount, loan-to-value ratio, purpose, property type and county, and the FFIEC and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau publish the loan-level file. We downloaded the California files for 2024 and 2025 on October 6, 2026 and computed every figure on this page from them (our arithmetic). For the product itself see what a DSCR loan is, rates by borrower tier, lender requirements and DSCR versus a conventional loan; this page is the California record.

How we found the DSCR loans, and what HMDA cannot tell you

There is no “DSCR” field in HMDA, so the group is built from fields that do exist. A business-purpose loan is reported only in some cases: the Regulation C commentary says it “is a covered loan only if it is a home improvement loan under § 1003.2(i), a home purchase loan under § 1003.2(j), or a refinancing under § 1003.2(p) and no other exclusion applies.” A lender that approves a loan without using the borrower's debt-to-income ratio reports that field as not applicable, “since no debt-to-income ratio was relied on in connection with the credit decision.” DSCR lenders underwrite on the property's rent, so their loans appear as business-purpose investment loans with DTI “NA.” A DSCR-type loan on this page is:

• originated, conventional (not FHA, VA or USDA), first lien, closed-end, not a reverse mortgage;
• occupancy type 3 (investment property), 1 to 4 units;
• business or commercial purpose = yes;
• debt-to-income ratio = NA (1 California loans coded “Exempt” in 2025 are left out);
• loan term of 360 months or longer, which leaves out the 12- to 36-month bridge and fix-and-flip loans (counted separately as “short-term”).

In 2025 California had 481,897 conventional originations, 64,197 of them on investment property; 46,350 of those were for a business purpose and 29,028 of those had DTI reported as NA. The 13,209 DSCR-type loans are the part of that group with a term of 30 years or more.

The proxy has limits, listed here so you can weigh the numbers:

• Not a clean DSCR count. Other no-DTI business loans fall in it, and so do loans to LLCs, trusts and corporations, where the rules also require NA for DTI. Entity borrowers are 6.9% of the 2025 California loans (identified by the FFIEC coding for a “non-natural person”).
• Note rate, not total cost. Discount points were reported on 0% of these loans and the prepayment-penalty term is NA on 100%; the public file has no credit score, DSCR or rent. A lower note rate with points or a heavy prepayment penalty can cost more than a higher rate without them.
• Rounded amounts. Public loan amounts are band midpoints (100% of DSCR-type loan amounts end in 5,000), and the FFIEC field list says property values are “Rounded to the midpoint of the nearest $10,000 interval for which the reported value falls,” so medians land on multiples of $5,000.
• Who is missing. Lenders below HMDA's reporting thresholds do not file, and a loan is listed under the institution that reported it.
• Two vintages. The 2024 file is the FFIEC one-year dataset and 2025 is the snapshot dataset, both downloaded October 6, 2026. Part of the change between them may come from reporting, not only from demand.

California DSCR-type loans, 2024 vs 2025

California DSCR-type loans in HMDA, 2024 vs 2025

California's DSCR loans are big and carry little leverage. The median loan was $455,000 (75th percentile $705,000) on a median property value of $785,000, at a median combined LTV of 64.706%; the 75th percentile LTV was 73.922%. Cash-out refinances (44.1%) outnumbered purchases (38.3%), the only one of the five states where that happened. The structure is more varied than elsewhere: 17.4% interest-only and 9.7% adjustable-rate, both the highest of the five states, and 2.6% with 40-year terms. Borrowers are mostly individuals: entities were 6.9% of loans. The conforming loan limit made no difference to the median: 93.6% of the loans were within the conforming loan limit and the 832 above it had the same 7.125% median (our arithmetic). Of the 2025 loans, 20.6% were sold to a private securitizer within the year and 21.5% were not sold in 2025.

What the spread in note rates costs

The middle half of California DSCR-type borrowers paid between 6.75% and 7.625% in 2025; the 10th percentile was 6.5% and the 90th 8.24%. On the $455,000 median loan, a 30-year fixed payment at each point is:

Monthly principal and interest on a $455,000 loan, 30-year fixed, at each California 2025 rate (our arithmetic)

The 25th-to-75th percentile gap is $269.34 a month, $3,232 a year. The DSCR median sits $76.39 a month ($917 a year) above the median for conventional investor loans qualified on income (6.875%, 11,896 loans). Those borrowers documented their income, so this compares two markets, not two quotes for the same file.

Which loans got the lower rate

California DSCR-type loans in 2025: median note rate by segment (segments with at least 30 loans)

These are medians of different borrower mixes, not prices for one file:

• Equity bought a lower rate. 6.875% at 60% LTV or below (5,420 loans), 7.25% from 60% to 70%, 7.375% from 70% to 75%; the 67 loans above 80% had 7.75%.
• Channel mattered. Applied directly to the lender: 3,895 loans at 6.875%. Through brokers or correspondents: 9,314 at 7.25%. East West Bank's loans, almost all applied for directly, are part of the gap.
• Adjustable-rate loans were cheapest. 1,286 adjustable-rate loans had a 6.5% median against 7.25% for fixed; East West Bank made 52% of them (our arithmetic). Interest-only loans (2,304) had 7.125%.
• Loan size. Only 436 loans were under $150,000 (7.437%); $300,000 to $499,999 had 7% and $1 million or more (1,573 loans) 7.125%.
• Purpose and borrower. Purchases 7.125%, cash-out refinances 7.25%, rate-and-term refinances 6.999%. Entity borrowers 6.999%, individuals 7.125%; single-family and 2-4 units both 7.125%.

The bank at the bottom of the range

East West Bank made 718 California DSCR-type loans in 2025 at a 6.5% median (middle half 6.25%-6.875%), the lowest median among the top 10 lenders. Its loans look different from the rest of the market: a $605,000 median loan at a 50.213% median LTV, 0.4% through brokers, 93.2% adjustable-rate, and 100% not sold in 2025 (our arithmetic). In 2024 it made 628 at 7.375%.

That profile, a bank making large, low-leverage, adjustable-rate loans and not selling them within the year, is a different offer from a 30-year fixed DSCR loan sold into a securitization. A rate in the 6s on that kind of loan does not tell you what a fixed-rate loan at 75% LTV would cost. It does show that in California the cheapest DSCR-type money in the public record came from a bank, for borrowers with a lot of equity who accepted a rate that can reset.

Who makes California DSCR loans

Top 10 DSCR-type lenders in California by 2025 loans (names as filed with HMDA)

The top 10 lenders made 47.7% of California's 13,209 DSCR-type loans, and 165 lenders filed at least one (138 in 2024). OCMBC, INC. led with 1,400 (10.6%) at a 7.125% median, almost all through brokers; United Wholesale Mortgage followed with 1,093 at 7.5%. Leaving out Velocity Commercial Capital, whose 9.865% median is above the state's 90th percentile, the top-10 medians run from 6.5% (East West Bank) to 7.5% (United Wholesale Mortgage). Because California loans are large, that gap is worth $305.52 a month, $3,666 a year on the $455,000 median loan (our arithmetic). Only two of the ten take most applications directly: East West Bank (0.4% via brokers) and Hometown Equity Mortgage, LLC (0% via brokers). Fast risers: HomeXpress Mortgage Corp. from 49 loans in 2024 to 656; CHAMPIONS FUNDING, LLC from 171 loans in 2024 to 618.

The lenders investors search for by name

Lenders investors search for by name: their California HMDA records

In California the brand-name direct lenders are mostly bridge lenders. Kiavi filed 3,161 short-term loans (36 months or less, the fix-and-flip and bridge type) at a 9.75% median, 34.1% of the state's short-term loans, but only 72 DSCR-type loans (7.125%). Easy Street Capital made 463 short-term loans and no 30-year ones; Lima One made 4 DSCR-type and 19 short-term loans; LendingOne 15 DSCR-type loans. Investor Mortgage Finance LLC, the lender entity named in Visio Lending's website footer, filed 63 at 7.025%. The wholesale names carry the volume: Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions made 245 at 7.249%, and Velocity Commercial Capital 317 at 9.865%. Griffin Funding shows 2: HMDA lists a loan under the institution that reported it. See our Angel Oak Mortgage review, Velocity Financial review and Kiavi review.

“Short-term” is our proxy for bridge and fix-and-flip loans: business purpose, investment property, no DTI, first lien, 36 months or less. Across California there were 9,273 of them in 2025 at a 9.75% median, about 2.62 points above a DSCR-type loan. See also the best DSCR lenders and our check of 20 DSCR lenders' licenses and complaints.

California next to the other states we have read

The five states we have read in HMDA, 2025 (same definition, our arithmetic)

Next to the other four states California has the lowest median rate, the largest loans, the lowest median LTV, the fewest entity borrowers, the most interest-only and adjustable-rate loans and the fastest growth in loan count. The DSCR premium over a conventional investor loan qualified on income was 0.25 points (6.875% conventional median, 11,896 loans), down from 0.375 points in 2024. The sister pages read the same file for Florida and Texas.

Where in California: the top 10 counties

Top 10 California counties by 2025 DSCR-type loans (HMDA)

Los Angeles County alone made 3,618 loans, 27.4% of the state, at a 7.125% median on a $595,000 median loan; the top 10 counties made 74.7%. Orange County had the lowest median rate (6.99%), the largest median loan ($685,000) and the lowest median LTV (53.872%) of the ten, the leverage pattern again. The Inland Empire counties, Riverside and San Bernardino, had 1,068 and 1,020 loans at 7.25% and 7.125%, on loans of $375,000 and $345,000. The Central Valley grew fastest: Kern rose 96.5% and Fresno 82.9%, with median loans of $235,000 and $245,000. The Bay Area is thin in this record: Alameda (305) and Contra Costa (261) are the only Bay Area counties in the top 10. Riverside and San Bernardino are the Inland Empire, Kern is Bakersfield, Sacramento is the capital region, and Alameda and Contra Costa are the East Bay.

California's usury rule and which DSCR lenders it exempts

California puts its usury rule in the Constitution. Article XV, section 1 sets a legal rate of 7 percent “but it shall be competent for the parties to any loan or forbearance” to agree in writing on a higher rate within two limits. For money “for use primarily for personal, family, or household purposes,” the limit is “a rate not exceeding 10 percent per annum,” and the same paragraph says a loan whose proceeds “are used primarily for the purchase, construction or improvement of real property shall not be deemed to be a use primarily for personal, family or household purposes.” For any other use, the limit is “the higher of (a) 10 percent per annum or (b) 5 percent per annum plus the rate prevailing on the 25th day of the month preceding” the loan, as “established by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco on advances to member banks.”

The section then lists who is outside it: “However, none of the above restrictions shall apply to” a list of lenders that includes banks operating under state or federal law, “any loans made or arranged by any person licensed as a real estate broker by the State of California and secured in whole or in part by liens on real property,” and “any other class of persons authorized by statute.” Civil Code section 1916.1 repeats the broker exemption for loans “made or arranged by any person licensed as a real estate broker by the State of California.”

The California Financing Law (Financial Code section 22000 and following) is one of those statutes. Section 22002 says the law “creates a class of exempt persons pursuant to Section 1 of Article XV of the California Constitution.” Section 22100(a) reads: “No person shall engage in the business of a finance lender or broker without obtaining a license from the commissioner.” Section 22050(a) says the law “does not apply to any person doing business under any law of any state or of the United States relating to banks, trust companies, savings and loan associations,” credit unions and several other listed types. Section 22502 defines a “commercial loan” as one “of a principal amount of five thousand dollars ($5,000) or more” whose proceeds “are intended by the borrower for use primarily for other than personal, family, or household purposes,” and lets the lender “rely on any written statement of intended purposes signed by the borrower,” which is the business-purpose statement a DSCR borrower signs.

For a borrower the practical point is that the exemption follows the lender's status, so the status is worth checking. Visio Lending's website footer, for example, says Visio Financial Services is licensed by the state's Department of Financial Protection and Innovation “as a California Finance Lender, license number 60DBO-56345.” Our check of 20 DSCR lenders' licenses and complaints covers how lenders are licensed. In the 2025 data, 217 California DSCR-type loans (1.6%) carried a note rate above 10%, 113 of them from OCMBC, INC., and the highest was 12.5% (our arithmetic); the 90th percentile was 8.24%. The record does not say which exemption each lender relies on.

The text was read from the state's official site, California Legislative Information, and is saved in the page's sources. This is a reading of the constitutional and statutory text, not legal advice.

What a California investor can do with this

1. Place any quote on the distribution. A note rate at or below 6.75% was in the cheapest quarter of California DSCR-type loans in 2025; at or above 7.625% it was in the costliest quarter. Use 2025 as a range, not a target, and ask for today's quote.
2. Price the leverage. Loans at 60% LTV or less had a 6.875% median against 7.375% at 70% to 75%. Ask each lender for quotes at two LTV levels.
3. Get a direct quote as well as a broker quote. Direct applications had a 6.875% median and broker loans 7.25%, and the top-10 lender medians differed by $305.52 a month on the median loan.
4. Know what an adjustable rate buys. The 6.5% adjustable-rate median came mostly from one bank's low-leverage loans; compare it with a fixed quote over the years you expect to hold the loan.
5. Check the lender's license or charter. The usury exemption depends on who the lender is. Look up a California Finance Lender license with the state, and ask for points, fees and the prepayment schedule in writing, since HMDA shows none of them.
6. Check whether you qualify conventionally. The conventional investor median was 6.875% in 2025 against 7.125%, $76.39 a month on the median loan. Our DSCR vs conventional comparison and DSCR calculator help you see which one your property clears.

FAQ

Loan-level data: FFIEC/CFPB HMDA Data Browser, California originated conventional loans for 2024 and 2025, downloaded October 6, 2026 (request URLs in the data file; scripts in sources/); Florida and Texas figures from the same pipeline, run on October 5, 2026; definitions from the Regulation C text and commentary and the FFIEC HMDA field list; lender names from the FFIEC filer lists; county names from the Census Bureau 2020 county list; Visio Lending's lender entities from its website footer; California Constitution Article XV, Financial Code sections 22000, 22002, 22050, 22100 and 22502 and Civil Code section 1916.1 from California Legislative Information. All percentiles, medians, shares and payment figures are our arithmetic. This is analysis of public documents, not investment, legal or tax advice, and not a loan offer.