PHH Mortgage Review 2024

PHH Mortgage overview

PHH Mortgage is a non-bank lender providing home loans since 1984. PHH is a subsidiary of Ocwen Financial Corp, offering conventional, FHA and VA loans and refinancing.

Borrowers can typically get preapproved in one business day, according to the lender's website, and those without a credit history might also be eligible to use other sources, such as a history of on-time bill payments, to verify creditworthiness. The lender continues to struggle with customer satisfaction — it ranked near the bottom in J.D. Power’s 2023 survey of mortgage servicers.

Pros and cons of PHH Mortgage

How Bankrate scored Garden State Home Loans

Affordability: 6.6/10

PHH Mortgage doesn’t display mortgage rates or fees for any of its loans on its website. If you want to learn more about interest rates, you can call the lender or fill out a form online to start the preapproval process. Because of PHH’s lack of transparency on rates and fees, it scored 6.6/10.

Availability: 9.6/10

You can work with PHH Mortgage on a home loan no matter where you live in the U.S., assuming you’re eligible based on the lender’s underwriting criteria. Your mortgage options include conventional, FHA, VA and jumbo loans, along with rental property solutions. The lender doesn’t offer USDA loans. Because of PHH’s robust product offering, it scored 9.6/10.

Borrower experience: 5.7/10

PHH Mortgage has been around for more than 30 years. It has an A rating from the Better Business Bureau (most complaints seem to center around customer service) and an “Excellent” rating on Trustpilot. You can start the home loan process with PHH Mortgage online, but the lender doesn’t offer any way to get preapproved or apply online without first speaking to a loan officer. You’ll need to fill out an online form detailing the loan you’re looking for, then wait for a loan officer to call you. The lender does, however, offer an online chat feature and mortgage calculator that you can use to estimate your payments. However, the lender also has consistently received low scores from JDPower. Because of some spottiness around customer service, PHH received 5.1/10.

Refinancing with PHH Mortgage

PHH Mortgage offers both rate-and-term and cash-out refinancing options. The lender doesn’t display refinance rates or fees online, however. To learn more about the rate you could qualify for and the costs you’ll pay, you’ll need to start the application process online or contact a loan officer directly.

Learn more: Choose the right kind of refinance

How to apply for a mortgage with PHH Mortgage

You can apply for a mortgage with PHH Mortgage online or by phone at 800-210-8849. Here are some tips to prepare for the process:

1. Check your credit report. It’s important to check your credit report before your lender does, in case there are errors that could impact not only whether you get preapproved but also your ability to get the best mortgage rate. Knowing your credit score also helps you decide what type of loan to apply for. If your score is in the very low 600s, for instance, an FHA mortgage might be best for you, as its standards are more lenient than those for conventional loans.
2. Gather personal and financial documents. With any lender, you must supply documentation about your income, assets and debts. This includes pay stubs and W-2s and account and loan statements.
3. Provide details about the property. You’ll need to provide the address of the home and submit to an appraisal. (If you’re refinancing, you might or might not need an appraisal.)

Learn more: How to get a mortgage

• Methodology

  To determine a mortgage lender's Bankrate Score, Bankrate rates lenders on a scale of one (1) to five (5) stars — with five (5) the highest rating — based on a variety of factors relating to the lender's products and services. To assign our ratings, we assessed each mortgage lender across three core areas:

  • Affordability. Annual percentage rate (APR) - 80%; assistance for first-time homebuyers - 10%; down payment - 10%

  • Availability. Loan products - 50%; licensing - 40%; credit score - 10%

  • Borrower experience. Rate transparency - 45%; customer service - 25%; convenience - 10%; days to close - 10%; rate locks - 10%; reputation (bonus)

  Learn more about our methodology.

  How we suggest lenders to compare

  To help you make the most informed decisions, our editorial team suggests two (2) alternative mortgage lenders for each lender reviewed in our comparison table. In most cases, these alternatives 1.) share the same strength (affordability, availability or borrower experience) as the lender reviewed; and 2.) rate highly for Bankrate Score. In the event more than two lenders meet these standards, we suggest the ones with the lowest APRs.