Hard Money Loans in Florida 2026: Rates, Terms and Lenders From 5,691 Federal Loan Records
Quick Answer
As of October 6, 2026, the federal loan-level record shows that Florida investors who took a short-term hard-money-type loan in 2025 paid a median note rate of 10.45%, with the middle half between 9.75% and 11.2%. That is the record of 5,691 loans totaling $2,432,455,000 in the federal HMDA loan-level data (our arithmetic): median loan $275,000, a 12-month term on 66.4% of them, interest-only payments on 96% and a balloon at maturity on 95.2%. In 2024 the median was 11% on 5,646 loans, so the rate fell 0.55 points while the count barely moved. The 2025 median sits 3.2 points above a Florida 30-year DSCR-type loan (7.25%). HMDA has no “hard money” field: our group is first-lien, 1-4 unit, investment-property loans made for a business purpose with no debt-to-income ratio and a term of 36 months or less. It is the reported slice, not the whole market: small private lenders below the federal threshold do not report, and bridge loans designed to be refinanced are excluded. Points and fees are not in the public file.
Key Takeaways
- Florida 2025: 5,691 short-term no-DTI investor loans for $2,432,455,000 (2024: 5,646 loans, $2,302,290,000). 101 lenders reported at least one, but the top 3 made 50.7% and the top 10 made 77.2%.
- Median note rate 10.45% in 2025 (10th to 90th percentile 8.95% to 11.99%; middle half 9.75% to 11.2%), down from 11% in 2024. No loan in either year carried a note rate above 18%; the 2025 maximum was 15.5%.
- The standard product is a 12-month, interest-only, balloon loan: 66.4% had a 12-month term, 17.8% were shorter (497 six-month and 466 nine-month loans), 96% were interest-only and 95.2% had a balloon payment.
- On the $275,000 median loan, the median rate means $2,394.79 a month of interest and $28,737.50 over 12 months; the 25th-to-75th percentile gap is $3,987.50 a year (our arithmetic).
- Kiavi alone made 1,921 of the loans (33.8%) at a 10.5% median; Easy Street Capital (590 loans, 9.9%) and RF Renovo Management Company (373, 9.99%) followed. Loans applied for directly had a 10.25% median, broker loans 10.99%.
- Florida's civil usury line is 18% simple interest on loans of $500,000 or less; above $500,000 it moves to the 25% criminal-usury rate. Under Fla. Stat. 687.03(3), fees treated as interest are spread over the stated term, so points weigh twice as much on a 6-month loan as on a 12-month one.
CSV · 415 rows
Florida short-term (hard money, fix-and-flip, bridge) investor loans in federal HMDA data, 2024-2025
415 rows: Florida short-term investor loan counts, dollars, note-rate percentiles, terms, loan size, LTV, purpose, structure, top lenders and counties for 2024 and 2025, cost arithmetic, and the Florida usury, licensing and tax rules and Regulation C coverage rules cited. One source per row.
What a hard money loan costs in Florida: the public loan-by-loan record
Florida hard money lenders publish a starting rate and a range. The federal Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) record shows what investors actually signed. Every year, lenders above a size threshold report each loan they originate, with its note rate, amount, term, loan-to-value ratio, purpose and county, and the FFIEC publishes the loan-level file. We took the Florida files for 2024 and 2025 and computed everything on this page from them (our arithmetic; the script is in the data folder). This is the short-term companion to our Florida DSCR loan page, which covers the 30-year rental loans investors refinance into. For a lender-by-lender comparison from SEC filings and securitization data, see the best fix-and-flip lenders.
How we found the hard money loans
HMDA has no “hard money” or “fix-and-flip” field, so we built a proxy from fields that exist:
- originated, conventional, first lien, closed-end, not a reverse mortgage;
- investment property, 1 to 4 units;
- business or commercial purpose = yes, and debt-to-income ratio = NA (the lender did not underwrite your income);
- loan term of 36 months or less.
In 2025 Florida had 354,300 conventional originations, 51,719 on investment property and 40,851 of those for a business purpose. The 5,691 short-term loans are 11% of the investment-property total.
What HMDA does not cover
This is the part most rate pages skip, and it decides how far you can trust the numbers.
- Bridge loans designed to be refinanced are excluded. Regulation C excludes “temporary financing” (12 CFR 1003.3(c)(3)). The official interpretation defines it as a loan “designed to be replaced by separate permanent financing extended by any financial institution to the same borrower at a later time.” Read literally, a BRRRR purchase-and-rehab loan that is planned from day one to be refinanced into a long-term loan for the same borrower fits that wording, so many BRRRR bridges may never reach HMDA. How each lender classifies its loans is its own call.
- Fix-and-flip loans are in. The same interpretation gives the example of a nine-month loan for an investor to buy, renovate and resell a home and concludes: “Such a transaction is not temporary financing under § 1003.3(c)(3) merely because its term is short.” So the flip loan, the core of the hard money market, is reportable. The data on this page leans toward flips.
- Small lenders do not report. A closed-end loan is excluded “if the financial institution originated fewer than 25 closed-end mortgage loans in either of the two preceding calendar years” (12 CFR 1003.3(c)(11)). A local private lender or fund making a couple of dozen loans a year is invisible here. Even among reporters, 71 of the 101 lenders filed fewer than 10 Florida short-term loans in 2025.
- No points, no fees. Origination charges and discount points are reported only for loans subject to the TILA-RESPA disclosure rule (12 CFR 1003.4(a)(18)-(19)), and business-purpose loans are not. The share of these loans with origination charges reported as a number is 0%, and the prepayment-penalty field is NA on 100%. A hard money quote is the note rate plus points, and HMDA shows only the first half.
- LTV is reported inconsistently. The largest lender's median combined LTV was 111.65% in 2024 and 71.21% in 2025, which looks like a change in which value it reports (for example purchase price versus as-is value with rehab money in the loan), not a change in leverage. We show 2025 LTVs only. One lender in the top 10 reports LTV as a fraction (1.075 for 107.5%), and those values are left out.
- One lender's terms look like a data entry. In 2025, EMPORIUM TPO LLC reported 170 loans with a 30-month term at a 7.25% median, which looks like 30-year loans entered as 30. Leaving out every 30-month loan moves the statewide median from 10.45% to 10.49% (5,519 loans), so the headline figures are not sensitive to it.
- The two years differ in vintage. The 2024 file is the FFIEC one-year dataset and 2025 the snapshot dataset, both downloaded October 5, 2026.
Florida short-term investor loans, 2024 vs 2025
Florida short-term (36 months or less) business-purpose investor loans in HMDA
| Measure | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Short-term loans | 5,646 | 5,691 |
| Dollars lent | $2,302,290,000 | $2,432,455,000 |
| Share of investment-property conventional loans | 12.2% | 11% |
| Lenders with at least one such loan | 98 | 101 |
| Note rate, 10th percentile | 9.99% | 8.95% |
| Note rate, 25th percentile | 10.5% | 9.75% |
| Note rate, median | 11% | 10.45% |
| Note rate, 75th percentile | 11.74% | 11.2% |
| Note rate, 90th percentile | 12% | 11.99% |
| Florida DSCR-type (30-year) median, for comparison | 7.615% | 7.25% |
| Median loan amount | $275,000 | $275,000 |
| Loan amount, 25th percentile | $205,000 | $195,000 |
| Loan amount, 75th percentile | $395,000 | $405,000 |
| Median property value | $395,000 | $395,000 |
| Loans over $500,000 | 16.2% | 16.6% |
| Term of exactly 12 months | 74.8% | 66.4% |
| Term under 12 months | 12.3% | 17.8% |
| Home purchase | 72.4% | 70.3% |
| Rate-and-term refinance | 9.3% | 7.8% |
| Cash-out refinance | 2.9% | 4.4% |
| Home improvement | 3.8% | 4.2% |
| Other purpose | 11.6% | 13.3% |
| Interest-only payments | 98.9% | 96% |
| Balloon payment | 99.3% | 95.2% |
| Borrower is an entity (LLC, corporation, trust) | 93.6% | 80.1% |
| Through a broker or correspondent | 22.3% | 20.6% |
| Sold to a private securitizer in the same year | 49.4% | 45.8% |
| Not sold in the same year | 18.8% | 21.8% |
The market was flat in size and cheaper in price. Loan count rose 0.8% and dollars 5.7%, while every rate percentile fell: the median by 0.55 points, the 25th percentile from 10.5% to 9.75%. The short-term premium over a 30-year DSCR-type loan held near 3.2 points (3.385 points in 2024). Seven in ten of these loans financed a purchase, most borrowers were LLCs or other entities, and 45.8% of the 2025 loans were sold to a private securitizer within the year, which is how lenders such as Kiavi fund themselves (our Kiavi review covers its securitizations).
The standard Florida hard money loan is 12 months, interest-only, with a balloon
Florida short-term investor loans in 2025 by term
| Term | Share of loans | Median note rate |
|---|---|---|
| Under 12 months (mostly 6 and 9 months) | 17.8% | 10.5% |
| Exactly 12 months | 66.4% | 10.5% |
| 13 to 18 months | 6.6% | 10.25% |
| 19 to 24 months | 5.3% | 10.45% |
| 25 to 36 months | 3.9% | 7.25% |
By count, 3,779 loans had a 12-month term, 497 a 6-month term, 466 a 9-month term, 179 an 18-month term, 224 a 24-month term and 47 a 36-month term. The term barely moved the median rate up to 24 months; the low 25-to-36-month median comes mostly from the 170 EMPORIUM TPO loans described above. Interest-only (96%) with a balloon (95.2%) means you pay interest monthly and repay the whole principal at the end, from the sale or a refinance. If the flip runs late, the extension fee is what you pay, and HMDA does not show it.
What the rate spread costs on a Florida flip
The median 2025 loan was $275,000. On an interest-only loan the monthly payment is the loan times the rate divided by 12:
Monthly interest on a $275,000 interest-only loan at Florida 2025 rates (our arithmetic)
| Where the rate falls | Note rate | Monthly interest |
|---|---|---|
| 25th percentile (cheapest quarter ends here) | 9.75% | $2,234.38 |
| Median | 10.45% | $2,394.79 |
| 75th percentile (costliest quarter starts here) | 11.2% | $2,566.67 |
Twelve months at the median rate is $28,737.50 of interest, and the 25th-to-75th percentile gap is $3,987.50 a year on the same loan. Points usually matter as much: each point on a $275,000 loan is $2,750 at closing, more than half of that annual rate gap. Ask for both and compare the total.
Which loans got the lower rate
Florida short-term investor loans in 2025: median note rate by segment
| Cut | Segment | Loans | Median note rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loan purpose | Home purchase | 4,000 | 10.5% |
| Loan purpose | Home improvement | 238 | 10.97% |
| Loan purpose | Rate-and-term refinance | 446 | 9.99% |
| Loan purpose | Cash-out refinance | 250 | 10.12% |
| Loan purpose | Other purpose | 757 | 9.9% |
| Loan size | Loan under $150,000 | 557 | 10.5% |
| Loan size | Loan $150,000 to $299,999 | 2,692 | 10.49% |
| Loan size | Loan $300,000 to $499,999 | 1,500 | 10.45% |
| Loan size | Loan $500,000 to $999,999 | 563 | 10.25% |
| Loan size | Loan $1,000,000 or more | 379 | 10.25% |
| Combined LTV | LTV 60% or less | 847 | 10.45% |
| Combined LTV | LTV over 60% to 70% | 2,031 | 10.2% |
| Combined LTV | LTV over 70% to 80% | 1,806 | 10.25% |
| Combined LTV | LTV over 80% | 209 | 9.99% |
| Channel | Applied directly to the lender | 4,518 | 10.25% |
| Channel | Through a broker or correspondent | 1,173 | 10.99% |
| Borrower | Borrower is an entity (LLC, corporation, trust) | 4,557 | 10.25% |
| Borrower | Borrower is a natural person | 1,134 | 10.5% |
Three readings, with the caveat that these are medians of different borrower mixes, not prices for the same file:
- Channel matters here, unlike in DSCR. Loans applied for directly had a 10.25% median, broker loans 10.99%: 0.74 points, $2,035 a year on the $275,000 median loan (our arithmetic). On our Florida DSCR page the two channels priced the same. A broker can still find you a lender you would not have found, but ask what the broker's own fee is.
- Size and leverage barely move the median. Loans of $500,000 and up had a 10.25% median against 10.5% under $150,000, and loans above 80% LTV were not more expensive. Hard money pricing tracks the borrower's track record and the lender far more than the loan size; HMDA does not show experience or credit score.
- Entities paid slightly less. LLC and other entity borrowers had a 10.25% median, individuals 10.5%, possibly because repeat flippers tend to borrow through an LLC.
Who makes Florida hard money loans
Top 10 short-term investor lenders in Florida by 2025 loans (names as filed with HMDA)
| Lender | Loans 2025 | Share | Median rate | Middle half of rates | Median loan | Median LTV | Median term | Via brokers | Loans 2024 (median rate) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KIAVI FUNDING, INC. | 1,921 | 33.8% | 10.5% | 9.75%-11.24% | $255,000 | 71.21% | 12 months | 19.5% | 2,311 (11.24%) |
| Easy Street Capital LLC | 590 | 10.4% | 9.9% | 9.9%-9.9% | $235,000 | 68.8% | 6 months | 0% | 370 (10.9%) |
| RF Renovo Management Company, LLC | 373 | 6.6% | 9.99% | 9.75%-10.75% | $285,000 | 67.4% | 12 months | 0% | 275 (10.25%) |
| 212 Loans, LLC | 351 | 6.2% | 11.99% | 10.99%-11.99% | $245,000 | not reported | 9 months | 0% | 238 (11.99%) |
| Loan Funder LLC | 289 | 5.1% | 10.75% | 10.25%-10.99% | $285,000 | 64.43% | 12 months | 69.9% | 613 (11%) |
| LIMA ONE CAPITAL, LLC | 200 | 3.5% | 9.95% | 9.05%-10.6% | $295,000 | 70% | 13 months | 0% | 287 (10.45%) |
| CV3 Financial Services, LLC | 180 | 3.2% | 11.125% | 10.375%-11.75% | $405,000 | 70% | 12 months | 84.4% | 0 |
| EMPORIUM TPO LLC | 170 | 3% | 7.25% | 6.99%-7.375% | $285,000 | 75% | 30 months | 100% | 0 |
| Temple View Capital Funding LP | 166 | 2.9% | 10.5% | 9.625%-11% | $400,000 | 74.66% | 18 months | 69.3% | 105 (11%) |
| RCN Capital, LLC | 154 | 2.7% | 10.74% | 10.265%-11.24% | $235,000 | reported as a fraction | 12 months | 0% | 165 (11.09%) |
The Florida market is far more concentrated than DSCR lending: the top 3 lenders made 50.7% of the loans and the top 10 made 77.2%. Most of the leaders lend directly (0% via brokers for Easy Street, RF Renovo, 212 Loans, Lima One and RCN), while Loan Funder LLC, CV3 Financial Services and Temple View Capital work largely through brokers. Among the large lenders, medians run from 9.9% (Easy Street Capital, whose middle half is a single rate, on mostly 6-month loans) to 11.99% (212 Loans). On the $275,000 median loan, the gap between those two medians is $5,747.50 a year (our arithmetic). Some lenders investors search for by name are small or absent in this slice: Investor Mortgage Finance, the Visio Lending lender entity, filed 0 short-term loans in either year, because Visio makes 30-year rental loans (see our Florida DSCR page). For Lima One, see our Lima One Capital review and Kiavi vs Lima One; for two other national flip lenders in the top 10, our Easy Street Capital and RCN Capital reviews.
Where in Florida: the top 10 counties
Top 10 Florida counties by 2025 short-term investor loans (HMDA)
| County | Loans 2025 | Share of state | Median rate | Median loan | Median LTV | Loans 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pinellas County | 600 | 10.5% | 10.25% | $325,000 | 69.825% | 517 |
| Hillsborough County | 547 | 9.6% | 10.24% | $285,000 | 69.74% | 368 |
| Duval County | 443 | 7.8% | 10.9% | $185,000 | 70% | 404 |
| Miami-Dade County | 384 | 6.7% | 10.2% | $445,000 | 70% | 363 |
| Broward County | 307 | 5.4% | 10.24% | $405,000 | 70% | 308 |
| Palm Beach County | 295 | 5.2% | 10.125% | $415,000 | 70% | 240 |
| Orange County | 252 | 4.4% | 10.625% | $265,000 | 70% | 267 |
| Lee County | 221 | 3.9% | 10.69% | $245,000 | 69.628% | 461 |
| Brevard County | 175 | 3.1% | 9.99% | $225,000 | 69.24% | 230 |
| Sarasota County | 168 | 3% | 10.5% | $275,000 | 70.27% | 161 |
Florida flipping is a Tampa Bay story: Pinellas (St. Petersburg, Clearwater) and Hillsborough (Tampa) together made 1,147 of the 2025 loans, while Miami-Dade, which leads the state in DSCR rental loans, made 384 short-term loans. Duval (Jacksonville) had the smallest median loan, $185,000, and the highest median rate of the ten, 10.9%. Lee County (Fort Myers, Cape Coral) fell from 461 loans in 2024 to 221 in 2025. The top 10 counties made 59.6% of the state's loans.
Florida law on hard money loans: usury, points and licensing
Florida's usury statute uses one line for most loans and a higher one for large loans.
Florida interest-rate limits that apply to hard money loans (statute text saved October 6, 2026)
| Situation | What the statute says | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Loan of $500,000 or less | Interest above the equivalent of 18% per year simple interest is usurious | Fla. Stat. 687.02(1), 687.03(1) |
| Loan over $500,000 | Not usurious unless the rate exceeds the 687.071 rate (25%) | Fla. Stat. 687.02(1) |
| Any loan, rate above 25% up to 45%, willfully and knowingly | Misdemeanor of the second degree | Fla. Stat. 687.071(2) |
| Any loan, rate above 45% | Felony of the third degree | Fla. Stat. 687.071(3) |
| Willful civil usury | Lender forfeits the entire interest; double the usurious interest taken | Fla. Stat. 687.04 |
| Fees in the nature of interest | Spread over the stated term of the loan and added to the note rate | Fla. Stat. 687.03(3) |
Section 687.02 applies to contracts “upon any loan” at “a higher rate of interest than the equivalent of 18 percent per annum simple interest.” The exemptions in 687.03(2) cover FHA, VA and federal-agency loans, not business-purpose loans; we found no general business-loan exemption in the text we saved, although court decisions and other statutes may matter for a specific loan. In the HMDA record, no Florida short-term loan had a note rate above 18% in 2024 or 2025; the 2025 maximum was 15.5%, and only 4 loans were above 15%. In 2025, 16.6% of the loans were over $500,000, where the civil line moves to 25%.
The note rate is not the end of the calculation. Section 687.03(3) says advance charges that count as interest are computed as a percentage of the loan and “This percentage shall then be divided by the number of years, and fractions thereof” of the stated term, then added to the note rate. Applying that method to the 2025 median rate (our arithmetic, an illustration; whether a given fee counts as interest is a legal question): 2 points on a 12-month loan give 12.45%, but on a 6-month loan 14.45%; 4 points on a 6-month loan give 18.45%, above the 18% line for a loan of $500,000 or less. Short terms with heavy points are where a Florida hard money loan can get close to the limit.
Licensing. Florida's mortgage-lender license (Chapter 494, administered by the Office of Financial Regulation) attaches to a “mortgage loan,” and the residential part of that definition is a “Residential loan primarily for personal, family, or household use” (Fla. Stat. 494.001(25)(a)). A “business purpose loan” is defined separately, by reference to the CFPB interpretation of 12 CFR 1026.3(a) (494.001(4)), and it is unlawful “To misrepresent a residential mortgage loan, as described in s. 494.001 (25)(a), as a business purpose loan” (494.0025(4)(d)). The definition also reaches loans on commercial real property and on buildings of five or more units when the borrower is an individual or the lender is a noninstitutional investor (494.001(25)(b)-(c)). The license exemptions include “A person who makes only nonresidential mortgage loans and sells loans only to institutional investors” (494.00115(4)(d)) and individuals lending their own money who do not hold themselves out to the public (494.00115(4)(e)). In practice: a loan to flip or rent a house you will not live in is generally outside the consumer prong, so a hard money lender may be unlicensed and still legal; whether a given lender needs a license depends on the property, the borrower and the lender, and we do not decide that here. If you will live in the property, it is not a business-purpose loan, and a lender who papers it as one is breaking Florida law. You can look any lender up on NMLS Consumer Access before you sign.
Florida closing taxes on a hard money loan
Florida charges documentary stamp tax on the mortgage of “35 cents on each $100 or fraction thereof of the indebtedness” (Fla. Stat. 201.08(1)(b)) and a one-time 2-mill intangible tax on notes secured by Florida real property (Fla. Stat. 199.133(1)). On the $275,000 median loan that is $962.50 plus $550.00, $1,512.50 (our arithmetic). On a BRRRR you pay it twice: once on the bridge and again on the refinance.
What a Florida investor can do with this
- Place any quote on the distribution. A note rate at or below 9.75% was in the cheapest quarter of Florida short-term loans in 2025; at or above 11.2% it was in the costliest quarter. Rates move with the market and with your experience, so use 2025 as a range, not a target.
- Convert points into a rate before you compare. Divide the points by the term in years and add them to the note rate (the same method as Fla. Stat. 687.03(3)). Two points cost 2 rate points a year on a 12-month loan and 4 on a 6-month loan.
- Price the extension, not just the loan. Two-thirds of these loans are 12 months, interest-only, with a balloon. Ask in writing what an extension costs and how many are allowed, because a flip that runs long pays it.
- Plan the refinance on BRRRR deals. The 30-year DSCR-type median in Florida was 7.25% in 2025, about 3.2 points below the short-term median, so the bridge should be as short as the rehab allows. Our Florida DSCR page has the rental-loan record, and how to refinance a DSCR loan covers seasoning and prepayment penalties.
- Check the lender and the paperwork. Look it up on NMLS Consumer Access, read the loan agreement for default interest and fees, and sign a business-purpose loan only if the property really is an investment.
Kiavi pays us a referral fee when a loan closes through its button in the box below. The HMDA figures above are the same either way, and Kiavi's own 2025 Florida median (10.5%) is in the lender table so you can compare. Visio Lending, also in the box, makes 30-year rental loans, the refinance step of a BRRRR, not flip loans.
FAQ
Loan-level data: FFIEC/CFPB HMDA Data Browser, Florida originated conventional loans for 2024 and 2025, downloaded October 5, 2026 (request URLs in the data file; our script hm_fl.py and the extracted loan rows are in sources/); definitions from the FFIEC public LAR field list; coverage rules from 12 CFR 1003.2, 1003.3 and 1003.4 and the Supplement I official interpretations (eCFR); lender names from the FFIEC filer lists; county names from the Census Bureau 2020 county list; Florida Statutes 687.02, 687.03, 687.04, 687.071, 494.001, 494.0025, 494.00115, 201.08 and 199.133 from the Florida Legislature, read October 6, 2026. 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.
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