Kiavi vs Lima One Capital 2026: Parents, Filings, Servicing

Why this comparison exists

If you've shopped for a fix-and-flip or DSCR rental loan in 2026, you've probably seen the same five lenders: Kiavi, Lima One, RCN Capital, Roc360, and Anchor Loans. Of those, Kiavi and Lima One are the two largest by 2025 origination volume that still serve a wide swath of the country. Most "Kiavi vs Lima One" articles you'll find online compare advertised rates and call it a comparison.

That misses the part that actually matters once you're in the loan: the servicer. A 30-year DSCR loan you'll service for a decade is more about who handles your payments, your tax escrow, your default-interest math, and your insurance lapse notifications than about the rate spread. So this comparison covers the rate sheet, the parent-company financials, the regulatory record, and the borrower-review pattern across both — with primary sources for everything.

Disclosure: Kiavi pays us a referral fee through its affiliate program if a borrower we send closes a loan; Lima One pays us nothing. There is no investor-side product on either platform. (Kiavi's investor-side product, LendingHome Platform Notes, wound down in October 2021.) This is purely a borrower-side comparison.

The corporate stack — read this first

You can't evaluate either lender without knowing who actually owns them. This is where most reviews get it wrong.

The point of the table: the two have different parents, and both parents file with the SEC. Since September 1, 2026 Kiavi is owned by Figure, so its funding is no longer that of an unaffiliated company: at the closing Figure repaid Kiavi's credit agreement in full and Kiavi Funding terminated its Deutsche Bank repurchase agreement (Figure's Form 8-K). Lima One's funding flows through MFA Financial, and MFA is navigating elevated portfolio-wide delinquencies (7.1% at year-end 2025). That doesn't mean Lima One is failing — MFA is profitable overall — but it does mean Lima One's product and pricing flexibility is partially constrained by what's happening at the parent.

A common mistake we want to flag: Lima One is not owned by Pretium Partners. Pretium owns Anchor Loans, a different competitor with around $3.6B in residential debt AUM as of mid-2025. We've seen this confused in at least three competing reviews.

Lima One's published terms, and where Kiavi's are (October 15, 2026)

Rates change weekly and depend on your FICO, experience, and deal. Kiavi's FAQ says: “If approved, you will receive your personalized rate in just a few minutes!” (kiavi.com, October 15, 2026), so we do not restate Kiavi's rates or terms; the Kiavi column below points to kiavi.com. Lima One's column shows the starting or best-case figures it publishes, with dates where given.

Rates are the smallest variable in the decision for many borrowers. Closing speed and portfolio access can matter more, and each lender publishes its own claims (Lima One's product pages; kiavi.com for Kiavi). We do not restate Kiavi's rates or closing claims here.

The servicing problem (this is the section everyone skips)

Origination is a one-time event. Servicing is what you live with. Here's what the public record shows.

Lima One

• California DFPI Consent Order, July 3, 2020. Preceded by an "Order Summarily Revoking" on April 3, 2020, issued because Lima One had not filed its annual report due March 15, 2020; it filed 77 business days late, the revocation was rescinded and it paid a $10,000 penalty. License #60DBO-45834. A minor, closed paperwork matter (Easy Street Capital received the same order the same day), but it is on the public record. Source: DFPI enforcement action page.
• Borrower complaint pattern. BBB profile shows 7 reviews averaging approx. 4/5 with 5 logged complaints. Yelp shows 1.6/5 across 18 reviews — a pattern competitors don't surface. Specific complaints: escrow misallocations to insurers without notice, unauthorized auto-payments, late-fee and default-interest stacking documented in an October 2025 BBB complaint.
• Active litigation. Multiple borrower disputes including Hearst Pettway et al v. Lima One Capital (E.D. Pa. 5:24-cv-01282, filed 2024), Tony Saad v. Lima One Capital (Tex. 5th Ct. App., May 2025), Lima One Capital v. Aixian Properties (Pa. Super. Ct. 1265 EDA 2024, March 2025), Lima One v. Herkimer BK (D.N.J. 2:21-cv-11035). The lender prevailed in some; some are pending.
• BiggerPockets sentiment. Active "Lima One Lending Complaints" thread (#927515) and "stay away" thread (#611093) — anecdotal but consistent in pattern with the BBB and Yelp data.

Kiavi

• No regulatory consent order on record. No CA DFPI, no CFPB enforcement, no state AG action found in our search.
• CFPB complaints. The CFPB complaint database lists 25 complaints naming Kiavi, Inc., the newest received July 12, 2026 (CFPB API, October 15, 2026).
• HMDA. Kiavi Funding reported 25,528 originated loans totaling $7,786,260,000 for 2025 in HMDA data (CFPB data browser, October 15, 2026); see our full Kiavi review.
• One notable case: Southbridge RE LLC v. Kiavi (1st Cir. 2024) — borrower-side dispute, lender prevailed.
• Historical scar: the 2021 LendingHome Platform Notes wind-down with a >2% uncured default rate and 0% investor recommend rating in their 2021 survey. This affected investor-side, not borrower-side, but it's part of the company's track record.

On the regulatory record: Lima One has a 2020 California consent order; Kiavi has none that we found. Read the orders and it is small: California summarily revoked Lima One's license because its annual report was not filed on time, and rescinded the revocation once the report was in, with a $10,000 penalty (Correction, September 28, 2026: this paragraph previously described it as a finding of material violations). For a long-term DSCR borrower choosing a servicer, the servicing record below matters more.

Capital base — does it matter to a borrower?

Yes. Here's why.

When a private lender's funding tightens, three things happen to borrowers: rates go up faster than the broader market, LTV ceilings come down, and underwriting gets stricter. That happened to multiple BPL lenders in 2022-2023 (CIVIC Financial Services after the Pacific Western/PacWest acquisition, then sold to Roc360 in May 2023 during the regional banking stress).

Kiavi's filings, as of October 15, 2026. Kiavi Funding's securitizer report (Form ABS-15G, August 3, 2026, covering April 1 to June 30, 2026) lists ten LHOME Mortgage Trust transactions, from 2023-RTL4 to 2026-RTL1. Kiavi's press page lists a release titled “Kiavi Closes $350M Rated RTL Securitization” dated 19 February 2026 (kiavi.com, October 15, 2026). On September 1, 2026 Figure repaid Kiavi's credit agreement in full and Kiavi Funding terminated its Deutsche Bank repurchase agreement (Figure's Form 8-K). The filings we read do not say whether the LHOME shelf continues under Figure, and we draw no conclusion about Kiavi's funding strength from these facts.

Lima One's capital signal is mixed. MFA Financial's Q4 2025 earnings release shows the mortgage banking segment (which includes Lima One BPL origination) at a $2.9M net loss for Q4 2025. Full-year 2025 mortgage banking income was $22.8M — profitable but thin. MFA's GAAP book value was $13.20 per common share at December 31, 2025 (MFA's 10-K), with 60+ day residential delinquencies at 7.1% portfolio-wide (improved from 7.5% YoY). The takeaway for a Lima One borrower: parent funding is stable today, but Lima One's pricing flexibility moves with what's happening at MFA Financial — not on its own segment economics.

When each lender wins

Where Kiavi comes up:

• Rates and timelines. Kiavi gives rates and timelines to applicants and publishes its own claims at kiavi.com; we do not restate them here.
• Application. Kiavi's FAQ says: “The first step is to apply online.” (kiavi.com, October 15, 2026).
• Products. Kiavi's homepage lists flips, rentals and new builds (kiavi.com, October 15, 2026).
• ND / SD / VT borrowers. Lima One blocks these states. Kiavi's licensing list (October 8, 2026) names North Dakota, its December 16, 2025 release added Vermont, and South Dakota bridge loans are originated by Figure Lending LLC per its footer. Alaska is listed on Kiavi's FAQ (October 11, 2026) and its homepage says 49 states plus DC, but its licensing footer does not name Alaska, so treat Alaska coverage as unconfirmed.
• Borrowers wary of public-parent contagion. Kiavi's LHOME securitization shelf is separate from MFA's, but Kiavi has been owned by a public company, Figure Technology Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: FIGR), since September 1, 2026, so this advantage no longer applies.

Lima One wins for:

• Ground-up new construction. Up to 90% LTC and 75% LTARV, interest-only, per Lima One's product page (October 8, 2026). Kiavi publishes its own new-construction terms at kiavi.com.
• 5+ unit rental portfolios. Rental30 Premier rolls up portfolios into one 30-year non-recourse loan up to $500K+ at 80% LTV. Kiavi publishes its own rental products at kiavi.com.
• Experienced operators tolerating slower underwriting. Lima One's default closing window (10-14 days) is a non-issue for someone who structures bids with a 21-day inspection.
• Small-balance loans. Floor at $75K.
• Fix-and-flip borrowers comparing advertised rates. Lima One advertises fix-and-flip starting rates from 7.25% (Lima One's pages); Kiavi gives rates to applicants only, so we do not compare them here.

The honest tradeoff

For most one-property fix-and-flip borrowers in major markets, the answer depends on the rate and timeline each lender quotes you: get both quotes and compare them. We do not rank Kiavi here.

For an investor building a 5+ unit DSCR portfolio over multiple years: Lima One, with eyes open. Their portfolio products are genuinely differentiated. But pre-fund an extra month of escrow, document every payment in writing, and keep the BBB complaint URL bookmarked. The servicing-error pattern in the public record is real.

For someone who can't decide: a third option is a mortgage broker who places loans across both. Brokers know which lender is currently faster, which one is repricing, and which one's servicing desk is short-staffed this quarter. That information asymmetry is worth approx. 25 bps to most borrowers.

What about the other lenders we mentioned?

Quick notes for context — none change the Kiavi vs Lima One decision but worth knowing.

• Anchor Loans (Pretium Partners-owned, $3.6B residential debt AUM mid-2025). Strong on construction, especially homebuilder lines. Smaller national footprint than Kiavi or Lima One.
• Roc360. Consolidated CIVIC Financial Services + Roc Capital + Finance of America Commercial under one Temasek-anchored balance sheet. Closed Roc Mortgage Trust 2025-RTL1 ($200M, March 2025) plus an additional $150M Temasek investment in January 2026. Stable but consolidation play — borrower experience varies by which legacy brand fronts your loan, and CIVIC's Trustpilot 1.5/5 across 768 reviews (October 8, 2026) is the loudest reputation flag in the BPL market in 2026. Full breakdown: Roc360 review.
• CIVIC Financial Services historical context. Acquired by Pacific Western Bank February 2021; PacWest cut 200 CIVIC jobs February 2023; sold to Roc360 May 2023 during the regional banking crisis. We covered the broader crowdfunding & private-lending failures playbook for this kind of ownership-volatility risk.
• LendingOne. Still operating; Q2 2025 CEO update active. Smaller scale than the top two.
• RCN Capital. Strong national lender for fix-flip and DSCR; competitive on small-balance.

FAQ

Sources

• MFA Financial Q4 2025 earnings: press release
• MFA Financial 10-K (CIK 0001055160): SEC EDGAR filing
• Lima One CA DFPI consent order: DFPI enforcement action page
• Kiavi February 2026 securitization: press release
• Kiavi product pages: fix-and-flip
• Lima One product pages: fix-and-flip, rental
• Court records: Hearst Pettway v. Lima One (E.D. Pa. 5:24-cv-01282), Saad v. Lima One (Tex. 5th Ct. App., 2025), Lima One v. Aixian (Pa. Super. Ct. 1265 EDA 2024)
• BBB profiles: Kiavi, Lima One
• Trustpilot: Kiavi, Lima One
• CIVIC / Roc360 cautionary context: Banking Dive

Related research on CrowdfundedWealth

• Best Fix-and-Flip Lender 2026: Forensic Comparison — full verdict matrix across Kiavi, Lima One, Roc360, LendingOne + four honorable mentions
• Lima One Capital Review 2026 (standalone) — full forensic on the MFA Financial subsidiary with CA DFPI consent order on file, Q1 2026 segment data, S&P Global servicer evaluation
• Easy Street Capital Review 2026 — Austin-based BPL with two 2025 unrated $175M RTL securitizations, tightest unrated A1 spread in market history, BBB F-rating
• RCN Capital Review 2026 — the wholesale-first 15-year competitor with $8.2B+ originated and no public ABS shelf
• Anchor Loans Review 2026 — the oldest BPL lender (1998) now Pretium-backed; $5.4B 2025 originations
• LendingOne Review 2026 — Florida-based DSCR specialist with the most aggressive negative-cashflow program in the major-BPL market
• Kiavi review (full) — the closed investor product and current borrower platform
• PeerStreet collapse — the cautionary tale for private real estate platforms
• Bankruptcy-remote vs not — pillar on structural protection
• Real estate crowdfunding failures 2020–2025 — every documented loss event