Caliber Home Loans Review | Mortgage Lenders

Caliber Home Loans Inc. is a residential mortgage lender and loan servicer headquartered in Coppell, Texas, established in 2008 via the merger of Caliber Funding and Vericrest Financial.

The company is one of the nation’s largest wholesale lenders, operating in all 50 states with numerous branches across the country.

Read on to learn more about Caliber Home Loans and why we consider it one of the best mortgage lenders.

Table of Contents

• Caliber Home Loans’ Services
• Caliber Home Loans’ Credentials
• Caliber Home Loans’ Accessibility
• Caliber Home Loans’ Customer Satisfaction

Caliber Home Loans Mortgage Lenders Overview

Caliber Home Loans is a direct residential mortgage lender that stands out for its nationwide availability, an assortment of loan options and online user experience. The lender has a loan product for just about every type of borrower, including those with a lower credit score, the self-employed and veterans. A streamlined process and online platform make loan approval and closing easy. The company claims it can close some loans in as little as ten business days.

There are some caveats to Caliber’s service, though. Current loan and refi interest rates are unavailable on its website, and it doesn’t offer home equity products.

Also, despite overall positive satisfaction with its service, Caliber has received many customer complaints over the years. These complaints mainly focus on issues with billing and collecting, the payment process, and applying for a mortgage or refinancing.

Caliber Home Loans’ Services

What Caliber Home Loans offers

Mortgage options:

• Conventional mortgages (fixed-rate and adjustable-rate)
• Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans
• Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) loans
• Fannie Mae Home Ready loans
• Freddie Mac Home Possible loans
• Renovation loans
• Jumbo loans
• Smart jumbo loans - SmartEdge, SmartSelf and SmartVest

Loan terms:

Caliber offers fixed-rate options with terms ranging from 10 to 30 years. It also offers the following adjustable-rate options: 3/1, 5/1, 7/1, 10/1 and 5/5.

The Smart Series loans share different term options. For a fixed term, you can choose either a 30-year fixed rate or a 30-year interest-only fixed rate. For adjustable terms, you can choose from 5/6, 7/6 and 10/6 ARMs with interest-only options.

Maximum loan amounts:

The limits for conventional loans set by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) are:

• Single-unit home – From $726,200 to $1,089,300 for high cost areas
• 2-unit home – From $929,850 to $1,394,775 for high cost areas
• 3-unit home – From $1,123,900 to $1,685,850 for high cost areas
• 4-unit home – From $1,396,800 to $2,095,200 for high cost areas

For FHA loans:

• $472,030 for a single family home in a low-cost area and $2,095,200 for a four-unit property in a high-cost area

For VA loans:

• No maximum limits on eligible veterans, service members and survivors with full entitlement. With remaining entitlement, your home loan limit is based on the county loan limit where you live. Otherwise, the limit is $144,000

For USDA loans:

• No hard mortgage limit based on property location

For jumbo loans:

• Up to $3 million loan amounts

What Caliber Home Loans doesn’t offer

• Home equity loans and lines of credit (HELOC)
• Reverse mortgages
• Cash-out refinancing
• Bridge loans

Caliber Home Loans’ Credentials

Caliber is a well-known lender that managed to firmly establish itself in the mortgage industry in a short span of time. The company is licensed to operate nationwide, has received several awards from the Federal National Mortgage Association and has good credit ratings from S&P and Moody’s.

Licenses and registrations

Caliber is licensed to operate in all 50 U.S. states. It holds licenses for operating as a mortgage lender, manufactured dealer, collection agency and sales finance company.

Caliber Home Loans, Inc. is an Equal Housing Lender.

Awards and certifications

Caliber was a Fannie Mae STAR™M Performer for five consecutive years, winning the Servicing Award from 2015 to 2019.

Third-party ratings

Caliber is ranked by S&P as an “above average” primary, subprime and special residential mortgage originator and was assigned a rating of SQ3+ as a prime servicer by Moody’s.

Regulatory or legal actions

As of September 12, the Nationwide Multi-State Licensing System (NMLS) shows two regulatory actions against Caliber Home Loans. The first is a final order from 2016 issued in Nevada; the second is a consent order from 2021 issued in Washington. Both actions were resolved.

The CFPB’s Consumer Complaint Database shows a total of 1,667 complaints. Many of these complaints mention troubles during the payment process; other common complaints include issues with loan modification, collection and foreclosure, loan servicing, payments and escrow accounts and struggling with mortgage payments.

Although we always try to include accurate and up-to-date information on regulatory and legal actions, we don’t claim this information is complete or entirely up to date. We recommend you do your own research, as well.

Caliber Home Loans’ Accessibility

Accessibility is one of Caliber’s strongest points. The company’s vast distribution of locations means you’ll likely have a branch nearby, no matter where you live, and its generous customer service hours ensure you can get answers to your questions when you need them the most.

Moreover, Caliber’s online desktop and mobile experience does an excellent job guiding users through the loan process.

Availability

Caliber Home Loans services all 50 U.S. states and has 366 active branch locations. Users can access the company’s website at https://www.caliberhomeloans.com/loan-consultant/ to find a loan consultant or loan officer near them.

Contact information

You can contact Caliber Home Loans at 800-401-6587 for information and general customer service questions. Caliber also provides several phone numbers for additional assistance with specific matters, including 1-844-815-6406 for tax questions, 1-866-825-9268 for homeowners insurance questions and 1-866-940-2335 for insurance claim questions.

General correspondence can be sent to P.O. Box 2487 Greenville, SC 29602.

User experience

Caliber’s application process can be done from start to finish online through its web platform. The company will ask you to answer a few questions about yourself, your finances and your budget. The process can take as little as 15 minutes, and the company claims its technology allows customers to close their loans in as little as ten business days.

Caliber also features a mobile app on Android and iOS devices to keep track of your monthly payments and view your loan details.

Limitations

Caliber Home Loans’ customer service department is available from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm (CST) Monday through Friday and 8:00 am to 12:00 pm (CST) on Saturdays. An automated response system will answer any calls outside these hours.

Specific lines for additional assistance — tax relief, homeowners insurance — may have different hours.

Caliber Home Loans’ Customer Satisfaction

Customers tend to be satisfied more often than not with Caliber’s service. Reviews on its page and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) show mainly positive remarks about the company’s products and services. However, customer satisfaction doesn’t manage to reach the industry average, according to J.D. Power’s most recent study.

Customer complaints

Caliber Home Loans’ BBB profile shows 509 complaints closed in the last three years and 212 closed in the last 12 months. The company has 195,436 customer reviews on its website and a 4.9 out of 5 stars-average satisfaction rating.

Additionally, the page claims that 85% of customers would recommend Caliber to others.

Third-party ratings

Caliber Home Loans has an A+ rating from the BBB, with 3.82 out of 5 stars based on 440 customer reviews. The company also scored 850 in J.D. Power’s 2021 U.S. Primary Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study — just one point shy of the industry average.

The information provided in this section is based on data available at the time of publishing.

How We Evaluated Caliber Home Loans Mortgage Lenders

When evaluating mortgage lenders, we focus on services, credentials, accessibility, and customer satisfaction. More specifically, when looking at Caliber, we considered the following:

• The different types of loan products offered by the company, including its selection of rates and terms

• The company’s reputation, which was based on available information regarding its licensing status, third-party credit ratings, industry awards and current legal actions

• Customer experience based on feedback regarding the application process, the platform’s ease of use, complaints on the CFPB and the BBB and service availability

Summary of Money’s Caliber Home Loans Review

Caliber Home Loans’ wide variety of loan products make it a solid choice for different types of borrowers. Self-employed borrowers may find the company’s SmartSelf program particularly attractive, as it’s designed to make it easier to prove earnings and income.

Do keep in mind that the company doesn’t publish rates on its website and has received a significant number of complaints from customers. The bottom line is that Caliber seems to be a suitable mortgage lender to work with. That said, we always recommend you compare expected rates, payment options, closing costs and origination fees to ensure you’re getting the best deal possible. To help you with this, we’ve come up with a list of the best mortgage lenders.