Same lender. Different loan type.
Wildly different denial rate.

2025 HMDA data — the 100 largest FHA lenders, Conventional vs FHA vs VA denial rates side by side. The gap between loan types at the same institution is bigger than most borrowers realize.

Source: CFPB HMDA 2025 · the 100 largest lenders · Purchase applications only · Denial rate = denials ÷ (originated + denied)

Biggest VA gap
+19.14pp
Wells Fargo: Conv 20.92% → VA 22.14% vs CrossCountry: Conv 6.02% → VA 3.0%
Biggest FHA penalty
+27.71pp
Wells Fargo adds 27.71 percentage points when switching from Conventional to FHA
Lowest VA denial rate
3.00%
CrossCountry — 7x lower than Wells Fargo's VA denial rate of 22.14%
Only FHA-friendly lender
Planet Home
The only lender that denies FHA at a LOWER rate than Conventional (-2.68pp)
Under 8% denial rate
8–20% denial rate
Over 20% denial rate
Lender Conventional FHA VA FHA vs Conv Gap VA vs Conv Gap
Guild 4.46% 7.14% 3.47% +2.68pp -0.99pp
CrossCountry 6.02% 6.37% 3.00% +0.35pp -3.02pp
UWM 12.69% 21.58% 9.12% +8.89pp -3.57pp
PennyMac 18.11% 23.64% 15.03% +5.53pp -3.08pp
Rocket 18.45% 30.46% 17.82% +12.01pp -0.63pp
Mr. Cooper 18.53% 26.97% 13.08% +8.44pp -5.45pp
Wells Fargo 20.92% 48.63% 22.14% +27.71pp +1.22pp
Planet Home 20.97% 18.29% 14.04% -2.68pp -6.93pp
Freedom 21.04% 22.79% 10.39% +1.75pp -10.65pp
loanDepot 24.54% 34.94% 21.34% +10.40pp -3.20pp
NewRez 34.70% 53.27% 14.23% +18.57pp -20.47pp

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Educational tool only. Not financial advice. Data sourced from CFPB HMDA 2025 public records. Denial rates reflect purchase applications only and may vary from overall application pools. Lender performance varies by market, borrower profile, and year.

→ See FHA Penalty deep-dive  ·  → Two Doors: same borrower, 47pp approval gap  ·  → Methodology & data sources

🔍 Also explore: All FRC Tools · Lender Comparison · FHA by State · Lender Stress Index

The part almost nobody publishes free

Prices and rates are widely reported. Whether a lender says yes is not. In the complete 2025 federal record, denial rates across the 100 largest FHA lenders ran from 1.8% to 78.7% — same programme, same year.

And it is not simply who applies where: standardizing on state, loan amount, income, debt-to-income and loan-to-value, applicant mix explains only a 2.7× range in expected outcomes.

Which lenders approve most → Your metro → Denied? →

CFPB HMDA 2025, computed by FinanceRateCalc. Covers the highest-volume lenders published per market, not all lenders. Historical observations, not predictions. CC BY 4.0, not independently reproduced.

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FinanceRateCalc · Independent analysis of the complete federal HMDA record · Measured, not assumed. · No lender or AI vendor funds or previews this work.