Plaza Home Mortgage, which recently expanded its non-QM lending program to “allow brokers and correspondent lenders to qualify more non-traditional borrowers,” is expanding its mortgage offerings again.
The California-based lender announced this week that it is rolling out a new high-balance loan program that allows borrowers to qualify for loan amounts between $484,351 and $726,525 at “competitive rates.”
Those figures weren’t chosen at random. They match the “high cost” loan amounts established by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Administration for areas of the country where home prices are typically higher then the rest of country.
According to Plaza Home Mortgage, the new high-balance loan program, which it calls “High Balance Access,” gives borrowers the chance to secure loans between those amounts regardless of where the property is located.
The company said the program is “designed to bridge the gap” between conventional conforming loan requirements and jumbo loans, and is available through Plaza’s wholesale, mini-correspondent and national correspondent channels.
According to the company, the loan program features the following criteria:
- Loan-to-value ratios up to 90% for purchase and 80% for refinance
- Minimum FICO score of 680
- Debt-to-income ratio up to 43%
- Desktop Underwrite Approve/Ineligible due only to loan amount
- Eligible for primary and second home residences
“Plaza’s new High Balance Access loan program lets originators qualify customers for affordable, non-Jumbo loans using loan limits that historically have only been available in GSE-designated high cost areas,” said Michael Fontaine, chief operating officer and chief financial officer at Plaza Home Mortgage. “This new finance option opens up a whole new market segment for originators to grow their business.”
