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LendUS Review: An Easy Loan Process at Super Speed?

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If you’ve watched the TV show Military Makeover with Montel, you may have heard of a mortgage lender called “LendUS.”

They recently partnered up during the show’s 27th season to help renovate veteran Michelle Dingee’s house in Hollywood, Florida.

Interestingly, LendUS is actually a combination of four mortgage companies, including RPM Mortgage, American Eagle Mortgage, Regency Mortgage, and Mortgage Financial.

Thanks to the combined talent base, the company originated a very impressive $7.2 billion in home loans last year.

Let’s learn more to see if they could be a good choice for your home loan needs.

LendUS Fast Facts

  • Retail, direct-to-consumer mortgage lender
  • Offers home purchase financing and mortgage refinance loans
  • Created the brand by combining RPM Mortgage and American Eagle Mortgage
  • Founded in 2018, headquartered in Alamo, California
  • Currently licensed to do business in 41 states and Puerto Rico
  • Funded more than $7 billion in home loans in 2020

LendUS is a retail, direct-to-consumer mortgage lender that offers home purchase financing and mortgage refinance loans.

They have physical branches located throughout the country and also work with borrowers remotely by phone/online.

While the leadership team of LendUS has more than 20 years of experience, 2018 was the first year the company operated as a national collective of the aforementioned brands.

Despite being relatively young under the LendUS brand, they mustered enough volume in 2020 to land in the top-100 list for all mortgage lenders nationally.

At the moment, they’re licensed to do business in 41 states as well as the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. In fact, they just opened a branch in San Juan.

They aren’t available in Alaska, Arkansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, or Wyoming.

Nearly 60% of their business came from the Golden State, with another 10% in Washington and 7% in Ohio. The rest was spread out among many different states.

Last year, they did a roughly 60/40 split of refinances and purchase loans, respectively, and conventional loans accounted for more than 80% of volume.

The 30-year fixed was easily the most popular loan program with a greater than 90% share.

How to Apply with LendUS

  • You can apply online, in-branch, or via their smartphone app “Home On Time”
  • Their digital loan application is powered by fintech company SimpleNexus
  • Allows borrowers to complete most tasks electronically from any device
  • LendUS claims to offer an easy home loan process with “super speed”

To begin, simply visit the LendUS website from any device. From there, click on “Get Started” and you’ll be asked if you’re working with an advisor, aka a loan officer.

If yes, enter their name or search by zip code to find an advisor near you. Alternatively, click “no” and you’ll be able to start a loan application on your own.

Their digital application powered by SimpleNexus allows borrowers to complete most tasks electronically via a mobile mortgage app known as the “Home On Time.”

You can sign digital disclosures, link your financial accounts, securely scan/upload files, and generate a mortgage pre-approval to make cash-like offers on homes.

Once submitted, you’ll receive real-time status updates and a dedicated loan team will be standing by to help you navigate the process.

Loan Programs Offered by LendUS

  • Home purchase loans
  • Home renovation loans
  • Refinance loans: rate and term, cash out, streamline
  • 3% down conventional home loans
  • 0% down VA or USDA loans
  • 3.5% FHA loans
  • Combo loans (first and second mortgage)
  • 5% down jumbo loan financing
  • Interest-only loans
  • Fixed-rate and ARM options are available

One bright spot for LendUS is their wide array of available loan programs.

You can get a home purchase loan, refinance loan, or a home improvement loan in a variety of different loan types.

They offer conforming loans backed by Fannie and Freddie, government-backed loans like FHA, VA, and USDA, and jumbo loans that exceed the conforming limit.

Veterans can take advantage of flexible underwriting, with FICO scores starting as low as 500 for VA loans.

Additionally, they offer 100% financing on cash out refinances, so existing veteran owners can tap all their equity if desired.

Those purchasing or refinancing a large loan can benefit from a liberal 5% down payment requirement on jumbo loans.

And if you’re only planning a short stay in the property, they also offer interest-only loans and adjustable-rate mortgage options, like the 5/1 or 7/1 ARM.

If you need to extend your financing on a home purchase, they dabble in combo loans too, which is a first and second mortgage combined.

All in all, you should find what you’re looking for in most situations.

LendUS Mortgage Rates

While LendUS boasts about smart advice, an easy process, and “super speed,” there’s no real mention of loan pricing on their website.

There isn’t a page dedicated to mortgage rates, nor is there a clear section regarding lender fees, such as application or loan origination, if applicable.

As such, you’ll need to get pricing from a loan advisor before you dive into the application itself.

It’d be nice to see a page on their website that at least discusses mortgage rates and lender fees, and perhaps daily sample rates as well.

But that doesn’t mean they aren’t competitively priced – you’ll just need to find out from a human and do some shopping to see how they stack up.

Be sure to get the mortgage APR that factors in their fees along with the interest rate offered to get an apples-to-apples comparison when comparing quotes.

LendUS Reviews

On Zillow, LendUS has a nearly-perfect 4.97-star rating out of a possible 5 from over 400 customer reviews.

Many of them indicate that both the interest rate and fees/closing costs were lower than expected. So that gives us something to chew on pricing-wise.

Their dba RPM Mortgage also has an almost flawless 4.99-star rating on Zillow from over 800 reviews.

And you can find assorted reviews for both individual loan officers and branch offices if you google those names or locations.

Since they have so many branches and employees, you might be better off fine-tuning your review search instead of worrying about the entire company as a whole.

It appears as if LendUS is still in the process of rebranding as a combined company, so reviews are a bit thin at the moment.

Over time, this should improve if they phase out the RPM and American Eagle Mortgage brands entirely.

To sum things up, LendUS employs the latest digital mortgage technology and claims to be fast, but could benefit from additional unique features to help them stand out.

It appears they have good client relationships though, which allows them to close billions in mortgages each year.

So they must be doing something right – just be sure to shop around to ensure you’re getting the best deal on your loan. And inquire about the lender fees while you’re at it.

LendUS Pros and Cons

The Pros

  • Can apply for a home loan online or via mobile in minutes
  • Offer a digital mortgage application powered by SimpleNexus
  • Free smartphone app
  • Lots of loan programs to choose from
  • Low minimum FICO score requirements on VA loans
  • Physical branches in many cities nationwide
  • Claim to be super fast
  • They service their own loans

The Cons

  • Not licensed in all states yet
  • No mention of mortgage rates or lender fees

(photo: Steven Miller)

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