What Movement Mortgage Offers

Movement Mortgage offers a wide variety of products and is licensed to service loans in all 50 states. However, the lender doesn’t disclose mortgage rates on its website, and the only way to get a customized rate quote is to speak with a loan officer.

Loan Types

Movement Mortgage offers the following types of mortgages:

  • Conventional purchase
  • New construction
  • VA
  • VA IRRRL
  • VA cash-out refinance
  • Jumbo purchase
  • High balance/super conforming
  • Fannie Mae HomeReady
  • Freddie Mac Home Possible
  • FHA purchase
  • FHA refinance
  • FHA 203(k) renovation — standard and limited
  • HomeStyle renovation
  • HomeStyle for investors
  • USDA

Loan Minimum

Movement doesn’t specify a minimum loan amount on most of its mortgage products; you’ll need to reach out to a loan officer to confirm the amount if you’re seeking a small mortgage loan. With an FHA 203(k) renovation loan, you can borrow as little as $5,000.

Loan Maximum

Loan maximums depend on mortgage type and qualifications. For instance, you can borrow up to $3 million on a jumbo loan through Movement Mortgage, according to the company’s website. This is a relatively high limit, but some lenders—such as PNC Bank—offer even larger loans.

Loan Servicing

Movement Mortgage is licensed to service loans in all 50 states. However, the company also relies on ServiceMac to provide some of its mortgage servicing.

Faster, easier mortgage lending

Check your rates today with Better Mortgage.


Minimum Borrower Requirements

Here are the basic criteria Movement Mortgage requires borrowers to meet.

Minimum Credit Score

Movement doesn’t specify minimum credit scores for all its loan products. For its VA loans, Movement requires a credit score of:

  • 580 for 15- and 30-year loans up to $1 million
  • 680 for 30-year loans up to $2 million

For all FHA loans, including renovation loans, Movement’s minimum credit score requirement is 620. The FHA allows credit scores as low as 580 when the borrower puts down 3.5%, so Movement’s requirement is stricter.

Minimum Down Payment

Down payment requirements for Movement Mortgage vary by loan type. Here are a few of the loan types with their down payment requirements:

  • Movement Mortgage FHA. 3.5%
  • Movement Mortgage Fannie Mae HomeReady. 3%
  • Movement Mortgage USDA. 0%
  • Movement Mortgage HomeStyle Renovation. 15%

Maximum Debt-to-Income Ratio

Movement Mortgage doesn’t disclose a maximum debt-to-income ratio, or DTI, on its loans. In general, guidelines set by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the FHA allow for a DTI as high as 50%, depending on other aspects of your finances.

For example, you might not get approved with the minimum credit score, the minimum down payment and the maximum DTI. But if you have great credit and at least 20% down, for instance, a 50% DTI may be sufficient to qualify for a loan.


What Fees Will You Pay?

Most lenders charge fees but some charge higher fees than others. Movement doesn’t publicly disclose if it charges some common mortgage fees, like origination fees or prepayment penalties. A loan officer from the company will need to confirm this information for you.

Origination Fees

Many lenders charge loan origination fees of around $1,200 for mortgage processing and underwriting. The appraisal and other third-party services will add to your closing costs, as is the case with any mortgage. Lenders with no origination fee often make up for it by charging borrowers a higher interest rate.

With any lender, you’ll be able to evaluate the fees for your specific loan on your loan estimate before you commit, and there are certain mortgage services you can shop for to look for lower fees.

Rate Lock Fees

Movement Mortgage doesn’t disclose its rate lock policies and fees on its website and did not respond to Forbes Advisor’s requests for more information.

Prepayment Penalties

Movement Mortgage doesn’t disclose whether it charges prepayment penalties. Lenders usually don’t impose this fee to pay off a first mortgage on a primary residence if you sell your home or refinance. In general, you’re more likely to encounter prepayment penalties on investment property loans.

Servicing Fees

Movement Mortgage doesn’t charge fees for services such as setting up automatic payments, paying through a customer service representative or processing recurring payments. You may pay fees for certain services, such as requesting a home loan recast.


How To Apply With Movement Mortgage

Prior to applying for a loan with Movement, you can look at a quick overview of its loan process to better understand how it works.

While Movement Mortgage allows you to start a mortgage application online, the company encourages applicants to contact one of its loan officers early in the application process. The loan officer will guide you through each step including how to submit documents like bank statements, W-2 forms and pay stubs. By submitting this information before you shop for a home, you can get preapproved quickly to demonstrate that you’re a serious buyer.

Approval, Underwriting and Closing Timelines

Perhaps the biggest advantage of working with Movement Mortgage is that the company offers upfront underwriting. By gathering the complete details of your financial situation at the beginning of the application process, including documents supporting your income and assets, the company aims to underwrite every loan within six hours.

If you’re approved, you then have a fully underwritten preapproval, subject to which property you want to buy and how well it appraises. You’ll be able to make a stronger offer than other buyers because there’s more confidence you’ll be able to close quickly. Further, the company says it processes more than 75% of the loans it approves within seven business days.


What To Do If You Get Turned Down

If Movement denies your loan application, ask your loan officer for an explanation. Some borrowers won’t qualify if they have low income, a short or unstable income history, too much debt or a low credit score.

Still, knowing the specific reasons your application was denied allows you to improve your credit score, or other areas of your finances, and reapply with a better chance of getting approved.

But if you’re in a hurry, you may be able to get approved by a different lender with less strict requirements. A lender that offers nonqualified mortgages (non-QM loans), for example, may be able to meet your needs if you’re willing to pay a higher interest rate.

Asking someone to co-sign or co-borrow may be another possibility, but that’s no small commitment, especially if the person isn’t living in the home.

Before you figure out your next steps, you could try applying with several mortgage lenders to see where you stand. Don’t worry about hurting your credit score: Submitting multiple applications within 45 days will have the same impact on your score as submitting a single application, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).


What People Are Saying About Movement Mortgage

As of November 2023, Movement Mortgage’s Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating is 4.78 out of 5 stars based on nearly 600 reviews. The BBB had closed 45 complaints about the company in the last 12 months and 109 complaints in the last three years.

The BBB gives Movement Mortgage an A+ rating, but this rating isn’t based on customer reviews. It’s based on how the company responds to complaints, its time in business, its size and other factors.

Movement has had its share of legal troubles recently. In June 2022, the company agreed to pay $75,000 to resolve race-based housing discrimination allegations made a year earlier in the Seattle-Tacoma, Washington area, according to HousingWire.

In June 2023, the Department of Justice announced that Movement Mortgage had agreed to pay $23.75 million to settle a federal case where it was accused of false claims submissions involving FHA and VA loans it originated and underwrote. The investigation found that Movement failed to maintain quality control programs to prevent and remedy underwriting deficiencies and ensure that the underwriting process was free from conflicts of interest, among other violations.

The CFPB’s consumer complaint database shows 146 mortgage complaints about Movement Mortgage from November 2020 through November 2023.

Most complaints cited trouble during the payment process or when closing on a mortgage. The company provided a timely response to all complaints. The CFPB doesn’t verify the accuracy of consumers’ complaints.


Methodology

We graded Movement Mortgage based on features that have a meaningful impact on the cost of a mortgage and a borrower’s experience, including interest rates, loan options, accessibility, closing time and customer service.

We award bonus points if a lender offers a specialty rate discount or mortgage product, a home equity product or maintains a fully online mortgage application process.

Our scoring method is broken down as follows:

  • Interest rate. 20%
  • Loan options. 20%
  • Time to close. 20%
  • Accessibility. 20%
  • Customer service experience. 20%
  • Bonus points. Up to 25 points

We chose to focus on these core elements to bring forward lenders that offer the most competitive rates while also providing a satisfactory customer experience accessible to borrowers of all financial backgrounds. We believe this scoring system best reflects consumers’ top priorities when comparison shopping for mortgage lenders.

To learn more about our rating and review methodology and editorial process, check out our guide on How Forbes Advisor Reviews Mortgage Lenders.

Faster, easier mortgage lending

Check your rates today with Better Mortgage.