Carrington Mortgage Services is now offering United States Department of Agricultural Rural Development (USDA) loans through its retail and wholesale channels.
The move comes as the firm focuses more heavily on the purchase mortgage segment.
Based in Santa Ana, Calif., Carrington spent the past year rebuilding its foundation to align with an improving purchase mortgage market, Ray Brousseau, executive vice president of mortgage lending, explained.
Carrington ended the fourth quarter of 2013 with its purchase volume making up 23% of its business. As a result, the firm made a conscious decision to shift the business to be more purchase focused, Brousseau said.
The firm launched a number of products, including the USDA loan, to capture purchase market share. By the end of July, Carrington expects purchase loans to make up 60% of its volume.
Meanwhile, USDA loans offer low and no downpayment or cash reserve options, and borrowers can have as low as a 580 FICO score.
In order to buffer for risk, Carrington takes into account compensating factors such as borrower stability and the presence of a strong compliance and credit culture.
Most recently, the wholesale channel added a central division that is expected to heavily utilize the USDA loan offerings, Brousseau noted.
"Our focus in serving the middle American folks that can best benefit from our products and services," Brousseau explained. "It allows folks to get into a property with little downpayment and moderate income."
