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Kiavi Review 2026: Closed Investor Notes, $30B Lender — Full Picture

By Jorge··18 min read
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Quick Answer

Kiavi (formerly LendingHome) is no longer an investor platform. The retail-investor product — LendingHome Platform Notes — stopped accepting new money on October 19, 2021 and the auto-invest feature ended October 31, 2021. Today, Kiavi is the largest US private fix-and-flip lender: $30B+ in cumulative originations, 100,000+ loans funded as of June 2025, operating in 49 states + DC. If you found this page hoping to lend money on Kiavi, that door is closed. If you're a real estate investor looking to borrow for a flip or DSCR rental, Kiavi is one of the most credible options — fast (7-day close), competitive (rates from 7.75% on bridge, 5.75%–7.25% on DSCR), but not always cheapest, and the BBB record is mixed (3 closed complaints last 12 months, 4 failed-to-respond cases, no BBB accreditation).

Two-track decision tree

This review is split because the keyword "kiavi reviews" attracts two completely different searchers, and the SERP keeps blurring them.

If you're a passive investor looking to lend money on real estate: Kiavi is no longer for you. Skip to Section 1 for what happened, then check Groundfloor, Concreit, or accredited-only options like EquityMultiple.

If you're a real estate investor looking to borrow for a flip, BRRRR, or DSCR rental: Kiavi is one of three or four serious credible options at scale. Skip to Section 2 for the live product, then Section 4 for the competitor comparison.

If you're trying to figure out what Kiavi is in 2026: keep reading top to bottom. We cover both halves with primary-source citations.

1. What happened to LendingHome Platform Notes?

LendingHome ran a marketplace lending product from roughly 2014 to 2021. Accredited investors could lend on individual short-term residential loans (mostly fix-and-flip bridge loans), with positions starting at $5,000 and a $50,000 account minimum. Returns ranged from 5% to 10%; bridge loans averaged about 8.75% over approximately 7-month maturities.

The structure: investors held Platform Notes issued by LendingHome Funding Corporation (now Kiavi Funding, Inc., SEC EDGAR CIK 0001601642). The notes were unsecured obligations of the issuer, with payments tied to the underlying mortgage loans, contingent on borrower performance and net of platform costs. There was also a LendingHome Opportunity Fund II ($100M closed across 40+ institutional and HNW LPs) managed by LH Capital Management, a wholly-owned SEC-registered investment adviser subsidiary.

The October 2021 wind-down

Two dates matter:

  • October 19, 2021 — LendingHome Funding Vehicle, LLC stopped accepting new investments in Platform Notes.
  • October 31, 2021 — auto-investment of proceeds into new Platform Notes was discontinued.

The platform's stated rationale: "we have decided to take a different approach to our capital strategy." In plain English, securitization markets and warehouse lines could fund the loan book more cheaply and at greater scale than retail accredited investors. The first rated LHOME securitization closed in 2019 and the institutional capital flywheel kept building; by 2021, the Platform Notes product was redundant.

Existing notes ran off through their natural amortization. The investor login was eventually decommissioned. This was not a bankruptcy — it was a managed wind-down.

What Platform Notes investors actually got — and where the data is thin

This is where most reviews go silent. We have partial data:

  • The platform disclosed an uncured default rate above 2% on active loans at the time of the wind-down. By comparison, PeerStreet and Groundfloor were running near or below 1% in the same period. Kiavi's number was roughly twice the best-in-class residential rehab rate.
  • A February 2021 investor survey (run by The Real Estate Crowdfunding Review aggregator) reported that 0% of polled investors said they would recommend the platform. Common complaints: slow response on defaulted loans, "did not provide meaningful information," and accepting poor recovery outcomes when better options existed.
  • Property addresses were not disclosed to investors, so independent due diligence was effectively impossible.
  • LTV ratios on the underlying loans were consistently above 65%.

What we don't have publicly: a final tally of distributions, total dollar losses across all Platform Notes, or formal SEC wind-down filings detailing the Opportunity Fund's payouts. If you held Platform Notes and want the underlying loan-level performance, your best avenue today is the trustee statements on the LHOME securitization shelf (filed on SEC EDGAR by Kiavi Funding, Inc.) — though those cover the institutional book, not the legacy retail notes directly.

Kiavi vs PeerStreet — different stories

Most aggregator-style reviews lump Kiavi together with PeerStreet ("two crowdfunded loan platforms that died") and that's misleading. PeerStreet filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy on June 26, 2023 — investors had positions trapped in a bankruptcy estate, with recovery dependent on liquidation outcomes. Kiavi's story is the opposite: an ongoing, rapidly-growing private lender that decided it didn't need its retail investor channel anymore and turned it off cleanly.

If you're researching retail RE lending platform failures, see our PeerStreet collapse breakdown and the bankruptcy-remote vs not pillar for the structural difference.

2. What Kiavi is in 2026 (the live borrower product)

The 2021 rebrand from LendingHome to Kiavi was a strategic clean-up. The pure-investor-lender positioning needed a name that didn't sound like a consumer mortgage shop. Kiavi is phonetic for "chiave" — Italian for "key."

Loan products

Kiavi runs five active product lines:

  1. Fix-and-Flip / Bridge (the flagship)
  2. DSCR Rental (30-year fixed, 5/1 ARM, 7/1 ARM)
  3. Rental Portfolio (multi-property)
  4. Bridge (cash-out, refinance)
  5. Jumbo loans
  6. New Construction

Fix-and-Flip terms (verified May 2026)

FieldValue
Loan amount$100K – $5M
Rate"As low as 7.75%" (top tier)
LTCUp to 100% (purchase)
ARVUp to 80%
Term12, 18, or 24 months (interest-only options)
Close time7 days standard, 5 days Enterprise tier
Application fee$0
AppraisalNot required (proprietary ARV model)
States49 states + DC

The "as low as 7.75%" is reserved for top-tier repeat borrowers — typically Enterprise customers with 30+ properties or $7M+ annual loan volume. First-time flippers will see noticeably higher rates and tighter LTC.

DSCR Rental terms (verified May 2026)

FieldValue
Rate (advertised low)5.75% (homepage)
Rate (typical 740 FICO, 1.25 DSCR, 65% LTV)approx. 7.25% per third-party sources
Rate (700 FICO, 1.10 DSCR, 75% LTV)approx. 7.75–8.25% per third-party sources
Loan amount$100K – $3M
LTVUp to 80%
Term30-year fixed, 5/1 ARM, 7/1 ARM (amortizing or interest-only)
Property typesSFR, PUDs, 2–4 units, condos
DSCR minimum1.0 (1.10–1.25 for best pricing)
FICO floor660 (best pricing 720+)
PrepayNo prepayment penalty after year 3 (3-year step-down typical)

Scale and volume claims (verified)

  • $30B+ cumulative originations (homepage, May 2026)
  • 100,000+ loans funded (announced June 2, 2025 — first private lender to that milestone)
  • $6.5B+ in 2024 originations, 46% YoY growth
  • $8B+ in 2025 fix-and-flip originations
  • #1 US fix-and-flip lender — $5.5B in 2024 fix-and-flip volume, more than 3× the nearest competitor

LHOME securitization shelf

The capital that used to come from retail Platform Notes now comes from the LHOME securitization shelf. 24 deals since 2019, more than $6.8B in offered notes. Recent rated transactions: $400M (August 2024 — first rated), $300M (February 2025), $300M (May 2025), $400M (August 2025), $350M (February 2026). For institutional investors, this shelf is where the Kiavi loan book actually trades; the SEC EDGAR Kiavi Funding filings document it.

3. Reputation, lawsuits, and the layoff record

Kiavi is a private company so a lot of the typical disclosures (10-Ks, CEO compensation, board minutes) aren't public. What we do have:

Trustpilot vs BBB — they disagree

  • Trustpilot: 4.6/5 ("Excellent"), roughly 739+ reviews. Themes: speed, account-manager responsiveness, easy online portal.
  • BBB: Not BBB-accredited. 3 complaints closed in last 12 months. 4 failures to respond to BBB complaints — a meaningful negative signal.

The Trustpilot–BBB disagreement is consistent with what high-volume lenders typically show: positive reviews are easy to collect from satisfied closers, while the borrowers who run into edge cases (extension fees, mid-process rate changes, surprise foreclosure threats) escalate to BBB. The BBB record describes patterns like a $4,000 extension fee plus foreclosure threat after refusal of further extensions, mid-process rate changes, and $800 appraisal fees collected on deals that later stalled.

Lawsuits

  • Southbridge RE LLC v. Kiavi Funding Inc., FSB (1st Cir. 2024) — dispute over a $155,700 promissory note from 2018 and the validity of mortgage assignments to Christiana Trust. Routine commercial mortgage litigation, not a class action.
  • No CFPB enforcement actions against Kiavi or LendingHome found in 2023–2024 searches. Kiavi's loans are business-purpose (Reg Z exempt), so CFPB jurisdiction is limited by design.

Layoffs

  • July 2022: approx. 39 employees cut, roughly 7% of workforce. Affected ops, risk, compliance, legal, finance, marketing.
  • March 2024: second documented round, approx. 39 employees again.
  • Glassdoor and Indeed reviews reference roughly 4 layoff rounds in 4 years. "Regular layoffs" is a recurring theme in employee feedback.

For borrowers, repeated rounds of layoffs aren't a deal-breaker — Kiavi's loan funding pipeline keeps closing record volume — but it does correlate with the BBB complaints about communication delays and account-manager turnover.

4. How Kiavi compares to other fix-and-flip / DSCR lenders

LenderBridge rate (start)DSCR rate (start)Max LTC / LTVClose timeMin loan
Kiavi7.75%5.75–7.25%100% LTC / 80% ARV7 days (5 Enterprise)$100K
Easy Street Capital9–12%n/a93% LTC48h repeat / 7–14d stdvaries
Lima One Capital8.45% (top tier)competitive90% / 100% rehabapprox. 10 days$75K
RCN Capital9.24% (Gold, 10+ deals)n/a85% LTC / 75% LTV10–21 days$50K
Visio LendingDSCR-onlyslightly higher80%approx. 2 weeks$75K
New Silver9.5%+n/a90%5 days$100K

Where Kiavi wins:

  • Speed — 7-day standard close is genuinely fast; 5 days for Enterprise is best-in-class
  • No appraisal — saves 1–2 weeks vs almost every competitor
  • Scale — the loan book is large enough that they've seen most edge cases; underwriting is consistent
  • 49-state coverage — broader than most peers

Where Kiavi loses:

  • Lowest rates aren't actually low for first-timers. The "as low as 7.75%" headline is for repeat Enterprise borrowers; new borrowers usually see 9%+
  • No transparent pricing online. You apply to find out the rate, which makes shopping hard
  • BBB record — RCN, Lima One, and Visio all have similar BBB profiles; the lender category as a whole has weak BBB ratings
  • Extension fees — multiple BBB complaints about $4,000+ extension fees with limited flexibility

For DSCR-rental specifically, Visio Lending has more transparent upfront pricing and Lima One has a unique LOC product worth a look. For fix-and-flip, Easy Street is faster on repeat deals (48-hour close); Kiavi wins on scale and the no-appraisal speed advantage.

5. Should you use Kiavi today?

Pros

  • Largest US private fix-and-flip lender — more than 3× the nearest competitor in 2024 volume
  • Fast: 7-day standard close, 5-day Enterprise tier — saves 1–2 weeks vs appraisal-required lenders
  • 49-state coverage with consistent underwriting
  • Trustpilot 4.6/5 across 739+ reviews — borrowers who close are largely satisfied
  • Strong DSCR product with no prepayment penalty after year 3
  • Securitization-funded — institutional capital base means the loan pipeline isn't dependent on retail sentiment

Cons

  • Investor side closed October 2021 — if you're hoping to lend on Kiavi, you cannot
  • Headline rates are for top-tier repeat borrowers — first-timers will see 9%+ on bridge
  • Not BBB-accredited; 4 failed-to-respond complaints on file
  • Multiple documented layoff rounds (2022, 2024); employee turnover correlates with communication complaints
  • No transparent pricing — must apply to see your actual rate
  • Extension fees are aggressive (BBB complaints reference $4,000+ charges + foreclosure threats)

Use Kiavi if:

  • You're a borrower (real estate investor) — not an investor looking to lend
  • You're flipping or buying a rental, in any of the 49 states + DC, with $100K+ in loan size
  • Speed matters more than getting the absolute lowest rate
  • You're a repeat borrower who can qualify for Enterprise tier pricing
  • You don't need an appraisal and want to skip that timeline

Skip Kiavi if:

  • You're a passive investor looking to lend money on real estate (it's gone — try Groundfloor or Concreit)
  • You want fully transparent rate-card pricing (Visio is more transparent)
  • You're a first-time flipper looking for the cheapest possible rate (shop competitively — Lima One LOC, Easy Street, RCN may price lower for your profile)
  • You need a loan under $100K (RCN starts at $50K; Lima One at $75K)
  • You can't tolerate aggressive extension fees if your project misses its timeline

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Bottom line

Kiavi is no longer an investor platform, and a lot of "kiavi reviews" search results blur this fact. The retail Platform Notes product wound down on October 19–31, 2021 — that's the date that matters for anyone who arrived here looking to lend money. The Opportunity Fund II ran on institutional capital separately.

The borrower-side Kiavi is the largest US private fix-and-flip lender at $30B+ in originations and the credit it gets from Trustpilot reviewers (4.6/5) is largely earned. The marks against it are real but typical of the lender category: aggressive extension fees, BBB non-accreditation with several failed-to-respond complaints, and recurring layoff cycles. If you're a real estate investor borrowing $100K+ in any of 49 states + DC and you value 7-day close-times over the absolute lowest rate, Kiavi is one of the few lenders at scale who can actually deliver. If you're a passive investor looking to lend on residential real estate, your better options today are Groundfloor (non-accredited, $10 minimum, very similar underlying product) or accredited-only platforms like EquityMultiple for commercial debt.

We'll keep this review updated as Kiavi files additional securitizations on the LHOME shelf and as BBB / Trustpilot data evolves.

Sources (primary and verified):

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