DSCR Loan Maryland 2026: 3,994 Loans, Baltimore Tax, Costs

Maryland is a DSCR-heavy state, and the biggest lender is shrinking

Most Maryland investor mortgages in the federal file are not underwritten on the borrower's income. In 2025 Maryland lenders originated 10,230 conventional investor-property mortgages, and 3,994 of them (39.0%) were DSCR-type. The same measure gives 20.8% in Illinois (see our Illinois page) and 15.6% in Colorado (our Colorado page). Maryland also made 1,549 investor loans qualified on income at a 6.99% median, against 3,994 DSCR-type loans at 7.45%.

Maryland DSCR-type loans, 2024 and 2025 (federal HMDA data, our arithmetic)

Three readings. First, the rate fell 0.325 points, worth $43.58 a month on the $195,000 median loan (our arithmetic). Second, the count grew 14.5%, but that is the net of one lender's decline and everyone else's rise: RCN Capital, LLC reported 1,261 DSCR-type loans in 2024 and 604 in 2025 (down 52.1%), while all other lenders together went from 2,228 to 3,390 (up 52.2%). Third, the mix moved toward purchases (29.8% to 35.3%) and toward brokers (39.6% to 56.3%), while the share sold to a private securitizer in the same year fell from 48.5% to 34.5%. The HMDA file does not say why a lender's count changed; it may be volume, or how loans are labeled between years.

Who lends: 118 lenders and a shrinking leader

Top 15 Maryland DSCR-type lenders, 2025, with their 2024 loan counts

CV3 Financial Services, LLC is not in the FFIEC filer list we saved; its name comes from the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) record for its LEI (254900CTT87ZKAUTIJ37). It reported no DSCR-type loans under that LEI in 2024. What stands out:

• Concentration is falling, from a high level. The top 5 lenders made 57.1% of DSCR-type loans in 2024 and 42.1% in 2025; the top 15 made 67.8% in 2025 (our arithmetic).
• The largest lender takes no loans through brokers and reports no location. RCN Capital, LLC took 0% of its loans through brokers and reports no county, so none of its 604 loans appears in the county tables below. Our RCN Capital review covers the company; its Maryland DSCR-type volume of 604 loans also appears in our national lender ranking.
• Banks are a footnote. Lenders with Bank, Credit Union or N.A. in the name made 55 of the 3,994 loans.
• Pricing spread by lender is wide. Among the top 15, median note rates run from 6.8% (RF Renovo Management Company) to 10.115% (Velocity Commercial Capital, whose Maryland DSCR-type loans are a small, high-rate group, 79 loans). The other 13 sit between 6.875% and 7.75%.
• A broker is not a price signal. Loans submitted through brokers had a 7.499% median, against 7.432% for loans applied for directly.

Kiavi, Visio, Lima One, LendingOne and Angel Oak in Maryland

Kiavi Funding, Inc. reported 119 DSCR-type loans (112 in 2024) at a 7.375% median and a $165,000 median loan, plus 374 short-term no-DTI investor loans at a 10.95% median (404 at 11.49% in 2024; our Maryland hard money page reads those). Investor Mortgage Finance, the Visio Lending affiliate, reported 22 (41 in 2024) at 7.912%; Lima One Capital 16 (79) at 7.1%; LendingOne 49 (47) at 7.125%; Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions 74 (41) at 7.499%. Easy Street Capital and Griffin Funding reported none. These are HMDA-visible loans only.

Does Kiavi lend in Maryland? Its states page says: “Kiavi currently offers hard money loans to entities in AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, and WY as well as Washington D.C.” Its home-page footer says: “All DSCR and Rental Loans are originated and funded by Figure Lending LLC dba Figure effective 9/1/2026,” and lists MD among the states where bridge loans “are originated and funded by Kiavi Funding, LLC.” So 2025 Maryland loans appear under Kiavi Funding, Inc., and rental loans made after September 1, 2026 are Figure Lending's (see our Kiavi review and the Figure Technology Solutions explainer). We read kiavi.com on October 23, 2026; the states page does not itself list states for the DSCR product.

Where in Maryland: Baltimore city is the DSCR market

Of the 3,994 loans, 3,354 report a county and 640 report “NA” (604 of those are RCN's; in 2024, 1,309 of 3,489, 1,261 of them RCN's). The county figures below are therefore a floor for places where RCN lends, and Baltimore city's share is a share of located loans.

Maryland jurisdictions with 50 or more DSCR-type loans reporting a county, 2025 (ten of eleven)

Wicomico County also had 52 (29 in 2024) at a 7.188% median. 24 jurisdictions had at least one loan with a county, 19 had 10 or more and 11 had 50 or more.

• In Baltimore city DSCR-type is the majority product. DSCR-type loans were 56.1% of the city's conventional investor-property mortgages, against 18.2% to 36.9% elsewhere in the table. The city's median rate fell from 7.875% to 7.5% and its count rose 47.1%.
• Few city loans are purchases. Of 1,421 city loans, 456 (32.1%) were purchases, with a $205,000 median property value and a $155,000 median loan. The median loan across all purposes was $165,000 on a $225,000 property.
• Lenders are different in the city. The largest located lenders were CV3 Financial Services (262 loans, 18.4%), United Shore Financial Services (203, 14.3%), BPL Mortgage Trust (113, 8.0%), Dominion Financial Services (92, 6.5%) and Kiavi Funding (72, 5.1%).
• Suburban Maryland is a different loan. Montgomery, Anne Arundel, Howard and Worcester counties had median loans of $290,000 to $335,000 on properties of $415,000 to $505,000.

What Maryland property tax does to a rental's DSCR

A DSCR test divides rent by the payment, and lenders usually put property tax inside that payment. Maryland's tax has two layers and no relief for a rental. The State charges $0.112 per $100 of assessed value on most real property: the Board of Public Works' letter of April 18, 2024 set it at “11.2 cents ($0.112) per $100 of the full assessed value” for fiscal year 2025, and we could not open the later letters because the Board's site blocks automated access, so we use the same rate for FY2026; check the current letter before you rely on it. Each county or Baltimore city sets its own rate (Tax-Property 6-302), and the Department of Legislative Services lists them.

Assessments lag the market. By Tax-Property 8-103 the assessment of real property is its “phased in value”, meaning the prior value increased by one-third, two-thirds or the full amount of the rise over a 3-year cycle, and 8-104(b) has the Department value every property once in every 3-year cycle. The Homestead Tax Credit, which caps taxable assessment growth, is available for a “dwelling”, defined in 9-105 as a house “used as the principal residence of the homeowner”, so an investment property gets no cap. A newly bought rental can therefore be assessed below its price in the first years and then step up.

FY2026 tax on each county's median DSCR-type property, with the rent needed for a 1.25 DSCR (our arithmetic)

How to read it. Each row takes the county's median property value and median loan from the 2025 DSCR-type loans, the median note rate and a 30-year fixed payment, adds one-twelfth of the annual tax at the combined rate, and multiplies by 1.25. The medians are separate medians, not one property. Insurance, municipal taxes, HOA dues and vacancy are left out, and so is any assessment lag, so the tax is an upper bound for a rental whose assessment has not caught up with its price. Charles, Howard, Montgomery and Prince George's County rates include special rates for services (the DLS table says so).

Baltimore city is the extreme. On a $165,000 loan at 7.5%, principal and interest is $1,153.70 a month; the tax at $2.36 per $100 on $225,000 is $442.50 a month, and rent must reach $1,995.25 for a 1.25 DSCR, $553.12 a month more than a lender that ignored tax would need (our arithmetic). Anne Arundel's tax is $4,519.35 a year on a $415,000 property, 15.8% of the payment. Our DSCR calculator lets you put in your own tax line, and our DSCR requirements page shows what lenders publish about the ratio.

What recordation and transfer taxes add to a DSCR purchase and a cash-out refinance

Maryland taxes the paper. The recordation tax is applied “to each $500 or fraction of $500 of consideration payable or of the principal amount of the debt secured” (Tax-Property 12-103(a)(1)), at a rate each county or Baltimore city sets (12-103(b)(1)). The State transfer tax is “0.5% of the consideration payable for the instrument of writing” (13-203(a)(1)), and counties add their own. A DSCR purchase has a deed and a deed of trust, so both apply; the deed of trust bears recordation tax only. Our Maryland hard money page works the same tables for a flip and covers the 6% interest rule and the licensing question for business loans, which we do not repeat here.

Taxes on a $250,000 purchase with a $187,500 loan (75% LTV), FY2026 rates (our arithmetic from Tax-Property 12-103 and 13-203 and the DLS table)

The Baltimore city total is $2,812.50 above Howard County's on the same deal (our arithmetic). The statutes tax the instrument; who pays what is set by the contract. First-time-buyer reductions (13-203(b)) are for buyers who will occupy the home as a principal residence, and Montgomery County varies by value, so we did not model it.

The refinance rule. A DSCR cash-out refinance records a new deed of trust. Tax-Property 12-108(g)(2) says a mortgage or deed of trust “is not subject to recordation tax to the extent that it secures the refinancing of an amount not greater than the unpaid principal amount secured by an existing mortgage”, if the property is “being refinanced by the original mortgagor”. The borrower or agent must put a statement or affidavit in the recitals stating that the person is the original mortgagor and the unpaid principal (12-108(g)(3)). On a $200,000 new loan over a $150,000 balance, only the $50,000 excess is taxed:

Two limits, both from the text. “Original mortgagor” includes a person who assumed a debt on property they bought and paid tax on, and some trustees and transferees (12-108(g)(1)), but we did not read how title companies treat a buyer who took title subject to the seller's loan, so ask yours how it treats your case. And an investor who deeds a property from personal name to a new LLC before the DSCR loan has made a conveyance: the exemption in 12-108(p) covers transfers between a parent business entity and its wholly owned subsidiary and the one in 12-108(y) covers a predecessor entity becoming an LLC, and we found no exemption in the text for an individual deeding to their own company. Ask the title company before you move title, because the deed may bear recordation and transfer tax.

Baltimore City: the license comes before the rent

Baltimore city's code ties rent to a license. City Code Article 13, 5-4(a) says no person may “rent or offer to rent to another all or any part of any rental dwelling without a currently effective license”, nor “charge, accept, retain, or seek to collect any rental payment” unless licensed both when offering and when providing the occupancy. What the code says a license needs:

Baltimore City rental dwelling license and registration, read from the City Code on October 23, 2026

On our reading, a buyer of a Baltimore rental who has not checked the property's license has not yet secured the right to collect rent, and a lender that counts rent in the DSCR will usually also ask for the lease. We read the code as published on codes.baltimorecity.gov; we did not find the license fee in the sections we saved, so we give none. Other jurisdictions in the table have their own rules, which we did not read.

Maryland landlord-tenant rules since October 2024

Two rules from the Renters' Rights and Stabilization Act of 2024 (House Bill 693, Chapter 124) matter for a landlord's cash flow. Neither enters a DSCR formula, which divides rent by the debt payment, but both change the reserve a careful owner holds.

Maryland landlord-tenant rules read from the Code and the 2024 Act

On the Baltimore example rent of $1,995.25, the one-month cap is $1,995.25; the pre-October 2024 two-month limit would have allowed $3,990.51 (our arithmetic). The Act's text shows “[two months']” struck out and replaced by “1 MONTH'S”, and the Act says it “shall take effect October 1, 2024”. This is a reading of public text, not legal advice. Landlords with leases signed before that date should check with counsel how the cap applies to existing deposits.

What a Maryland DSCR payment looks like at each rate

In 2025 the middle half of Maryland DSCR-type borrowers paid between 6.999% and 7.875%, with the 10th percentile at 6.7% and the 90th at 8.31%. On the $195,000 median loan, the 30-year fixed principal and interest is:

Monthly principal and interest on $195,000, 30-year fixed, at each Maryland 2025 rate (our arithmetic)

The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is $214.91 a month, $2,578.93 a year. Rates moved little with loan size: the median was 7.625% under $150,000 (918 loans), 7.375% from $150,000 to $299,999 (2,224), 7.374% from $300,000 to $499,999 (682) and 7.373% from $500,000 to $999,999 (150). By purpose the median was 7.375% for purchases and cash-out refinances and 7.499% for rate-and-term refinances; loans to entities had a 7.5% median and loans to individuals 7.375%. A rate near the 10th percentile is in the cheapest tenth of the file, but the file does not show points, so compare quotes on a full cost, with our DSCR loan rates page.

How we read the federal file

The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) file lists every loan a reporting lender originates, with its note rate, amount, loan-to-value, purpose, county and lender. We downloaded the Maryland files for 2024 and 2025 from the FFIEC HMDA Data Browser on October 23, 2026 (conventional originations, actions_taken=1 and loan_types=1) and computed everything on this page from them (our arithmetic). We keep a loan if it is a conventional first lien on a one-to-four unit investment property, closed-end, not a reverse mortgage, made for a business purpose, with debt-to-income reported as NA and a term of 30 years or more. Maryland had 94,420 conventional originations in 2025; 10,230 were investment property, 7,669 of those business-purpose and 5,688 of those with no DTI. The 3,994 DSCR-type loans are the 30-year-or-longer part of the last group. A looser filter, business-purpose first-lien conventional investor loans of 1-4 units with a 360-month term and any DTI status, gives 5,479 for 2025, of which 1,514 report a ratio; the pages of other states use the stricter definition above, so we do too. Our what is a DSCR loan page explains the loan, and the DSCR vs conventional comparison shows which one a property clears.

Limits, so you can weigh the numbers:

• A proxy, not a census. Other no-DTI business loans fall into the group, and so do loans to individuals who use an investment property (47% of 2025 loans went to entities).
• Missing places. 640 loans (16%) have no county, 604 of them RCN's, so county and Baltimore figures cover 3,354 loans.
• Rates, not prices. Discount points were reported on 0% of these loans and the prepayment-penalty term is NA on 100%; the file has no credit score, rent or DSCR ratio.
• Rounded amounts. Loan amounts are band midpoints (100% of the DSCR-type amounts end in 5,000), so medians land on multiples of $5,000.
• Loan-to-value. Some filers, RCN among them, report the ratio as 0.75 instead of 75; we multiply values of 2 or less by 100. Loan-to-value is missing on part of the file.
• Tax rates. FY2026 runs from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026, the latest DLS table; counties set FY2027 rates (from July 1, 2026) in their budgets and we did not read them. Our tax arithmetic assumes assessment equals the HMDA property value.

What a Maryland investor can do with this

1. Put the tax in the DSCR before you bid. In Baltimore city tax is more than a quarter of the payment at the median; in Worcester County it is 13.9% (our arithmetic). Ask the seller for the last tax bill and SDAT's assessment, and ask how the 3-year phase-in will move it.
2. Price the closing taxes by county. On the same $250,000 deal the range is $6,562.50 to $9,375; ask who pays what in the contract.
3. Use the refinance exemption. If you are the original mortgagor on a cash-out refinance, put the affidavit in the loan papers and check that only the excess over the old balance is taxed. Ask before you deed anything into an LLC.
4. Check the Baltimore license before the contract. Registration, a home-inspector report and lead-paint compliance come before a license, and without a license the code bars collecting rent.
5. Ask who funds the loan. 56.3% of loans came through brokers, and the largest lender sells through none. The Kiavi rental product moved to Figure Lending LLC on September 1, 2026 (kiavi.com footer). Get a written breakdown of points, fees and the prepayment penalty, which HMDA cannot show.
6. Hold the deposit and notice rules in your lease. One month's rent cap, 10 days to cure before filing. A tenant can recover up to three times an overcharge.

FAQ

Related reads: Illinois and Colorado DSCR pages use the same federal data, and our best DSCR lender comparison and DSCR with an LLC page cover the lender and entity side.

Loan-level data: FFIEC/CFPB HMDA Data Browser, originated conventional loans for Maryland, 2024 and 2025, downloaded October 23, 2026 (request URLs are in the data file; the scripts and our_arithmetic files are in sources/); definitions from the FFIEC HMDA field list and the Regulation C commentary; lender names from the FFIEC filer lists and, for one lender, the GLEIF record for its LEI; county names from the Census Bureau 2020 county list; property-tax, recordation-tax and transfer-tax rates from the Maryland Department of Legislative Services tables on local tax rates; the State rate from the Board of Public Works letter of April 18, 2024; statutes from the Maryland Code (Tax-Property 6-102, 6-302, 8-103, 8-104, 9-105, 12-103, 12-108, 13-101, 13-203 and 13-207; Real Property 8-203 and 8-401) and Chapter 124 of the Acts of 2024 as published by the Maryland General Assembly; Baltimore City Code Article 13 as published on codes.baltimorecity.gov; Kiavi statements from kiavi.com. All percentiles, medians, shares, tax and payment figures are our arithmetic. This is analysis of public documents, not investment, legal or tax advice, and not a loan offer.