Champions Funding Review 2026: 7,110 DSCR Loans, 15 Complaints

Who Champions Funding is

Champions Funding, LLC is a private company. Its website says it “was founded in 2021 as a wholesale mortgage banker with a CDFI (Community Development Financial Institution) designation,” and its footer gives NMLS ID 2254210 and a Gilbert, Arizona address. The Treasury’s CDFI Fund list of certified institutions, dated September 17, 2026, includes Champions Funding, LLC with the type “Loan Fund,” so the designation is not only marketing. Its first year in the public HMDA filer list is 2022.

It does not lend to the public directly. The footer says its information “is solely intended for mortgage bankers, mortgage brokers, and financial institutions and is not an advertisement to extend credit directly to consumers.” The federal file agrees: 11,064 of the 11,067 loans it originated in 2025 did not come in directly to Champions. It also has a correspondent division, which fits the 259 loans (196 of them DSCR-type) that HMDA shows it purchased from other lenders in 2025, none in the three earlier years.

Press coverage is thin and mostly from 2022: a Mortgage Professional America report on the September 7, 2022 launch of its Accelerator X rental-property loan, and a HousingWire piece from July 1, 2022 that is labelled sponsored content from HW Media’s content studio, not independent reporting. We found no announced sale of the company; its own news page lists conference appearances, the latest dated September 29, 2026. Do not confuse it with Champions Group, the home-services company Blackstone agreed to buy on February 17, 2026, which is unrelated.

One operational change is visible on its site: for loans closed after December 1, 2025 the servicing contact is a Dallas, Texas mailing address with its own phone number, while earlier loans stay with a Phoenix, Arizona address. Ask your broker who services a new loan.

The 2025 ranking: second in the country

In the nationwide 2025 HMDA file, 465 lenders originated at least one DSCR-type loan, and the ten largest made 42.8% of the 152,049 loans (our arithmetic; the same filter as our ranking of DSCR lenders by loans).

Champions made 4.7% of all DSCR-type loans in the country (our arithmetic). Its dollar total, $2.71 billion, is also second, because its median loan, $285,000, is above the national median of $225,000. The denial share is higher than BPL’s, Kiavi’s or OCMBC’s and close to the leader’s. HMDA does not say why, and a high share can reflect who submits files as much as how a lender underwrites, so read the column as a feature of each pipeline, not a quality score.

What the federal loan file shows, year by year

HMDA obliges lenders to report every application and loan. The table counts originations (action taken 1). “DSCR-type” is our proxy, because HMDA has no DSCR field: investment property, business purpose, first lien, closed-end, one to four units, a term of 360 months or more and no debt-to-income ratio reported.

Three readings:

• The rental book drove the growth. Total originations rose 3.6 times from 2024 to 2025 and DSCR-type loans 6.6 times (our arithmetic); DSCR-type loans were 64.2% of 2025 originations, against 35.3% in 2024 and 14.9% in 2022. The other 3,957 loans in 2025 were mostly consumer-purpose loans on a principal residence (3,426, median note rate 8.375%), the lender’s consumer-purpose side.
• The rate path follows the market. The median fell from 8.75% in 2023 to 7.5% in 2025 as benchmark rates moved, and the middle half of 2025 loans sat in a narrow band, 7.125% to 7.75%. HMDA records the note rate; it does not record points, broker compensation or lender credits on these loans (the total-loan-costs and discount-points fields are blank for all 7,110).
• The mix is plain-vanilla. 3,267 of the 7,110 were cash-out refinances (45.9%), 2,820 purchases and 1,023 rate-and-term refinances; 1,621 (22.8%) were on two-to-four-unit buildings; 3.8% were interest-only and 0.1% adjustable (our arithmetic). Only 16 carry HMDA’s entity-borrower codes, so the file cannot show how many were closed in an LLC.

What a Champions rental loan cost in 2025, by size, purpose and state

The spread by loan size is small: the under-$150,000 median is 0.375 points above the $150,000 to $499,999 median. On a $285,000 loan, the median size, one eighth of a point is about $24 a month and $292 a year of principal and interest on a 30-year fixed loan (our arithmetic: $1,992.76 at 7.5% against $1,968.42 at 7.375%). The five biggest states make 60.8% of the book, and New York and New Jersey together, 1,589 loans (22.3%), stand out for a lender based in Arizona. The lender’s licensing pages say unlicensed brokers must complete a business-purpose attestation to close in those two states; whether that eases the flow of loans there is something HMDA cannot show.

CDFI status raises a fair question about where the loans are. Using HMDA’s tract-income field, 3,080 of the 7,110 DSCR-type loans (43.3%) were in low- or moderate-income tracts, defined as a tract median income under 80% of its metro area’s, against 48.9% for all DSCR-type loans nationally, which include Champions’ own (our arithmetic). Loans in low-income tracts, under 50%, were 13.5% against 19.1% nationally. The CDFI mission the lender describes applies to eligible borrowers and consumer-purpose loans; its rental book does not lean toward these tracts more than the market does.

Applications, approvals and denials

Because HMDA lists every application, it also shows how the files that did not close ended. The table uses the same DSCR-type filter on all applications.

The “24.8%” that appears in rankings is a narrower measure: denied files over originated-plus-denied. Over all 2025 applications the denial share is 19.7%, and 15.9% of applications were withdrawn by the applicant. The reasons recorded first on the 2,340 denials were an incomplete credit application in 1,140 (48.7%), “other” in 714 (30.5%), collateral in 260 (11.1%), credit history in 147 (6.3%) and insufficient cash in 59 (2.5%). A denial for an incomplete application is a paperwork outcome, not a judgment of the property or the borrower’s credit; HMDA does not say who failed to complete the file. The 2023 denial share, above half, is out of line with every other year and rests on 524 applications, so we would not read it as a trend.

What the lender says it offers

These terms come from the lender’s broker guidelines and website, read October 21, 2026. They are marketing and underwriting material for brokers, not a quote.

Four points are worth a question to your broker.

The headline and the matrix differ. The program page promises “Up to 80% LTV” and “FICOs as low as 600.” Both are true, but not together: the guideline’s own highlights line sets a 660 score with 75% and 70% maximums, and the 80% cells sit at a 700 score. Ask for the cell that matches your score, loan size and DSCR.

The prepayment penalty is the default, not an option. The August 31, 2026 matrix says: “Standard >=6 month 5% prepayment penalty required in all States unless a Buyout is Permissible or Required.” The standard structure charges 5% on any amount paid above the scheduled payment. On the median loan, a full payoff under a flat 5% clause would cost $14,250 (our arithmetic). The matrix lists buyout states and some state-specific structures, and Ohio’s penalty is limited to 1.00% of the original amount; the broker should tell you which row of the matrix applies to your state and entity.

Closing speed is stated two ways. Its DSCR page says to “Close in as little as 5-Business Days with an eligible transferred appraisal,” while its consumer-versus-business-purpose page says “Close in as little as 3 business days with transferred appraisals.” Both say “as little as,” so treat neither as a promise.

Equity First is a different trade. With a 55% cap, a property worth $300,000 can carry at most $150,000 once the $150,000 minimum remaining equity applies (our arithmetic), not the $165,000 a 55% LTV alone would allow; the guideline’s own example says to reduce the loan until the equity test is met. The price is a required flat 5% penalty with no buyout.

Who buys the loans, and what comes back

HMDA shows what happened to each 2025 loan within the year. Of Champions’ 7,110 DSCR-type loans, 2,166 (30.5%) were sold to a private securitizer and 4,668 (65.7%) were not sold in 2025 (our arithmetic); for all 11,067 loans the figures are 3,717 (33.6%) and 6,777 (61.2%). The unsold loans may be waiting for the next pool, financed on a warehouse line, or kept.

Securities filings let us see some of the pools. A Form ABS-15G filed August 14, 2026 by APF II RESI O4B-24A, LLC reports repurchase activity by originator for eight mortgage trusts named HOMES. Champions Funding, LLC is listed in four of them.

For all originators in the eight trusts, 73 of 6,127 loans were the subject of a demand, $48.02 million or 1.55% of the dollars. Two cautions. A demand is a claim that a loan broke a representation, not a finding, and the column also counts demands resolved during the period. And four trusts from one sponsor are not the lender’s whole book: the pools hold a few hundred Champions loans against thousands originated. In each of the four trusts the Champions share was above the all-originator share of the same trust: 6.33% against 1.55% in NQM2, 2.69% against 0.80% in NQM3, 9.94% against 3.53% in NQM5 and 5.05% against 0.92% in 2026-NQM1. If you are a borrower, repurchase demands do not touch your loan terms; they are a window into how the buyers of the loans see the files.

Complaints, licensing and regulators

On October 21, 2026 we searched the CFPB Consumer Complaint Database. Champions Funding, LLC has 15 complaints, received from June 10, 2023 to April 28, 2026: 12 about mortgages, 2 about credit reporting and 1 about a personal loan. Of the mortgage complaints, 5 concern closing, 4 the payment process and 3 applying; 7 of the 15 come from California. The company responded to all 15 on time; 14 closed with an explanation and the latest, from April 28, 2026, was still in progress. The search also returned two other companies with similar names (a mortgage services firm and an equipment-finance firm), which we left out.

Fifteen complaints in 3.4 years is a small number, which fits a lender whose borrowers deal with brokers first. It is not comparable with a lender that services at scale; for how the complaint record of other DSCR lenders looks, see is this DSCR lender legit? and our reviews of Acra Lending and LendSure.

On licensing, the lender’s business-purpose survey says: “We close loans in all states except North Dakota and South Dakota.” HMDA is consistent: Champions originated DSCR-type loans in 49 jurisdictions (48 states and DC) in 2025. The licence table on its licences page lists 34 jurisdictions (33 states and DC), and says business-purpose loans are available in most states with no additional licensing. NMLS Consumer Access holds the state-by-state record for NMLS 2254210, and a script cannot read it, so check it yourself, and do the same for your broker.

What the data cannot tell you

• Today’s rate. HMDA is 2025. The lender’s rate sheet is for brokers.
• Leverage. The loan-to-value field is filled for only 5 of the 7,496 investment-property loans originated in 2025. A median of 62.353% is therefore the median of five loans, not of the book, and we show none.
• Cost. Points, origination charges and prepayment terms are blank on every DSCR-type loan.
• Performance. The CFPB and the repurchase tables show complaints and demands, not defaults.

What a reader can do with this

• You cannot apply directly, so test the broker first. Ask whether Champions is one of the lenders they will price, and ask for the lender’s rate, the broker’s compensation and the prepayment term in writing before you pay for an appraisal.
• Ask which row of the prepayment matrix is yours. A flat 5% penalty on a $285,000 loan is $14,250 if you refinance during the term (our arithmetic). A shorter term or a step-down structure changes the exit cost, and the standard clause is required unless a buyout applies.
• Match the headline to the matrix. If you are at a 660 score, plan on the 75% purchase and 70% cash-out caps rather than 80%.
• If you have equity but weak credit, price Equity First honestly. No minimum score and no minimum DSCR come with a 55% cap, $150,000 of remaining equity and a penalty you cannot buy out.
• Check who services the loan. For loans closed after December 1, 2025 the lender lists a Dallas mailing address, and 61% of its 2025 loans were not sold within the year. Ask whether the loan is expected to be sold.
• Compare at least one other lender the same day. See DSCR loan rates 2026, best DSCR loan lenders 2026, non-QM loans 2026 and the state pages for Florida and Texas.

FAQ

Sources, read October 21, 2026: FFIEC HMDA Data Browser loan-level files for LEI 984500U2F9A83N391A91 (2022 to 2025) and the nationwide 2025 file, tabulated by us with the filter action taken = 1 for originations; the CFPB Consumer Complaint Database search API; Form ABS-15G filed August 14, 2026 by APF II RESI O4B-24A, LLC (accession 0001999371-26-017995); the CDFI Fund list of certified CDFIs as of September 17, 2026; champstpo.com home, our story, news, licences, DSCR, consumer-versus-business-purpose and program pages; the lender’s DSCR Accelerator 1-4 Unit and Equity First guidelines (Rev 10.05.2026), Prepayment Penalty Matrix (Rev 08.31.26) and State Licensing Survey (business purpose); Mortgage Professional America, September 7, 2022; HousingWire sponsored content, July 1, 2022; Blackstone’s press release of February 17, 2026. This is analysis of public records, not investment, legal, lending or tax advice. We have no commercial relationship with Champions Funding; Kiavi is a paid link.