Most articles tell you the national FHA denial average and stop. Nobody publishes the lender-by-lender table — because most publishers are paid by the lenders in it. We aren’t. Below: 2025 FHA denial rates for 11 major lenders, computed from federal HMDA records (310,592 FHA applications, 2018–2025), with the 2018 figure for trend.
| # | Lender | 2025 denial | 2018 | 8-yr change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CrossCountry | 6.5% | 10.1% | ▼ 3.6pp | |
| 2 | Guild | 8.6% | 8.3% | ▲ 0.3pp | |
| 3 | Planet Home | 18.4% | 31.9% | ▼ 13.5pp | |
| 4 | UWM | 21.8% | 14.6% | ▲ 7.2pp | |
| 5 | Freedom | 24.2% | 55.5% | ▼ 31.3pp | |
| 6 | PennyMac | 24.5% | 53.7% | ▼ 29.2pp | |
| 7 | Mr. Cooper | 25.8% | 34.7% | ▼ 8.9pp | |
| 8 | Rocket | 31.0% | 35.2% | ▼ 4.2pp | |
| 9 | loanDepot | 37.8% | 44.4% | ▼ 6.6pp | |
| 10 | Wells Fargo | 47.2% | 46.5% | ▲ 0.7pp | |
| 11 | NewRez | 52.3% | 50.0% | ▲ 2.3pp |
The headline is the spread: from 6.5% to 52.3% — roughly an 8× difference between doors, on the same federal program. A file is not approved or denied by “FHA”; it is approved or denied by a specific lender’s overlay stack. That is why the national average (≈13–14% for purchases) tells you almost nothing about your odds at a door.
This panel tracks 11 of the largest FHA originators — heavy in nonbank servicers and refi-era books — so its blended average runs above the all-lender national purchase figure. The ranking and the spread, not the blended level, are the signal. Full method: methodology.
Rates are history, not destiny — and they partly reflect who applies, not only how strictly files are judged. The practical use is routing: knowing which doors historically clear files like yours.
Which of these 11 fits YOUR file? Free routing, 60 seconds → Already denied by one of them? Run the Verdict — free → The full 97%+ denial-zone map of every lender — Black Hole Report $49 →