- Published floors below 1.00 in October 2026: 0.80 at Kiavi; 0.75 at LendingOne, Defy, Pennymac and FundLoans; no minimum at Easy Street, Griffin, LoanStream and ACC Mortgage. Griffin, Pennymac, LoanStream, FundLoans and Angel Oak list no-ratio options.
- Leverage drops 5–20 points. LoanStream's October 8 matrix takes a 720+ purchase from 80% of the price at a 1.00 ratio to 75% between 0.75 and 1.00 and 70% with no ratio; cash-out falls from 80% to 65% and 60%.
- Spring EQ's October 30 rate sheet charges 0.375–1.000 points for a ratio of 0.75 to 1.00, rising with LTV, and doesn't lend below 0.75.
- Cleaner files required: LoanStream's no-ratio program needs a 700 score, no late housing payments in 12 months, 36 months since any major credit event and 6 months of reserves, and excludes short-term rentals and first-time investors.
- On a $650,000 rental renting for $3,500, a 1.00 floor caps the loan near 58% of the price. A sub-1.00 program lends 75%, freeing $108,500 of down payment, and you cover about $759 a month.
A no-ratio DSCR loan is a rental-property loan that doesn't require the rent to cover the monthly payment. Some lenders accept any DSCR (debt service coverage ratio: monthly rent over PITIA, the combined principal, interest, tax, insurance and HOA bill) below 1.00 down to a floor, usually 0.75. Others don't qualify on the ratio at all. In October 2026 at least ten lenders published one option or both. The trade is consistent across them: less leverage, a higher price, more reserves and stricter credit history. Below is who lends under 1.00, what each concession costs on a real-number example, and when the deal is worth doing.
If you're new to the ratio itself, What is DSCR? walks through the formula and three examples. This guide starts at the point where the rent stops covering the payment.
Three bands: 1.00 and up, 0.75 to 1.00, and no ratio
- 1.00 or more. The rent covers the full payment. Standard terms live here, and some lenders want more: eLEND requires a ratio above 1.00, and 1.25 on loans under $150,000.
- 0.75 to just under 1.00. Usually called sub-1 or low-ratio. The rent covers at least three-quarters of the payment and you fund the rest. This is the most common below-1.00 tier on the matrices we read.
- Below 0.75, or no ratio. The lender sets no floor or ignores the ratio for approval. LoanStream files any ratio under 0.75 in its No Ratio DSCR program; Griffin describes its no-ratio loan as one that doesn't use the property's cash flow to qualify. The rent still gets measured: Pennymac requires a market-rent schedule (Form 1007) on every one-unit investment loan, no-ratio included.
Who lends below 1.00: published floors, October 2026
| Lender (date) | Lowest ratio | No-ratio option | Published limits below 1.00 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kiavi (Oct 2026) | 0.80 | Not published | Not published |
| LendingOne (Oct 2026) | 0.75 | Not published | Not published |
| Defy Mortgage (Oct 2026) | 0.75 | Not published | A 1.00 ratio is required for cash-out |
| Total Quality Lending (Oct 30, 2026) | Below 1.00; floor not published | Not published | 660+ score, lower maximum LTV, weaker pricing |
| FundLoans Spectrum (Aug 1, 2026) | 0.75 | Yes | 75% purchase at 720+ for 0.75–0.99; no-ratio 75% at 740+ |
| Pennymac correspondent (Oct 22, 2026) | 0.75 | Yes | 75% purchase at 700+ for 0.75 and up; no-ratio 75% at 740 |
| LoanStream (Oct 8, 2026) | No minimum | Yes, for ratios under 0.75 | 75% purchase at 720+ for 0.75–0.99; no-ratio 70% at 720+, 700 minimum |
| ACC Mortgage (Oct 1, 2026) | 0.00 | Ratios from 0 to 0.74 allowed | 75% purchase at 700 in both low bands |
| Griffin Funding (Oct 2026) | No minimum | Yes | Below 1.00 with reserves; no-ratio 75% at 700+, loans to $1.5 million |
| Easy Street Capital (Oct 2026) | No minimum | Not published | Not published |
| Angel Oak (Oct 2026) | Below 1.0 offered | Yes | Not published |
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Others hold the line. Lima One and RCN Capital require 1.00, eLEND more than 1.00, and Spring EQ's October 30 rate sheet marks every ratio under 0.75 as not available.
Trade-off 1: leverage falls 5 to 20 points
| Matrix, score and purpose | Ratio 1.00+ | 0.75–0.99 | Below 0.75 or no ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| LoanStream, 720+, purchase | 80% (85% at 1.20+) | 75% | 70% |
| LoanStream, 720+, cash-out | 80% | 65% | 60% |
| LoanStream, 680, purchase | 80% | 70% | Not offered |
| Pennymac, 720, purchase | 80% | 75% | 70% |
| Pennymac, 660, purchase | 70% | 60% | 60% |
| ACC Mortgage, 700, purchase | 80% | 75% | 75% |
| ACC Mortgage, 680, rate-and-term refinance | 75% | 60% | Not offered |
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Purchases lose 5–10 points for strong credit. Cash-out takes the deepest cut: a 720+ borrower at LoanStream can draw equity to 80% of value at 1.00, 65% below it and 60% with no ratio, and LoanStream caps cash in hand at $500,000 on both low-ratio programs. If a cash-out refinance is the plan, check the ratio before you count the proceeds; cash-out seasoning covers the timing rules.
Trade-off 2: price
Spring EQ's October 30, 2026 wholesale DSCR rate sheet puts a number on it. A ratio from 1.00 to 1.24 is the baseline. At 1.25 or above you earn a credit; from 0.75 to 1.00 you pay, more as LTV rises; under 0.75 the loan isn't offered.
| Ratio | 60% LTV or less | Over 60–65% | Over 65–70% | Over 70–75% | Over 75–80% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.25 or more | +0.375 | +0.375 | +0.250 | +0.250 | +0.250 |
| 1.00–1.24 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| 0.75–0.99 | −0.375 | −0.500 | −0.750 | −0.875 | −1.000 |
| Under 0.75 | Not offered | Not offered | Not offered | Not offered | Not offered |
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On a $487,500 loan at 75% LTV, the 0.75–0.99 band costs 0.875 points, or $4,266, where a 1.00 ratio costs nothing and 1.25 would earn back 0.250 points, $1,219. Total Quality Lending doesn't print its adjustments but says the same thing in words: ratios under 1.00 get weaker pricing. Treat any single sheet as a yardstick, not a quote.
Trade-off 3: reserves, credit history and what you can buy
The less the rent proves, the more the lender wants to see from you. LoanStream's October 8 matrix shows the full set of conditions side by side:
| Requirement | Core DSCR (1.00+) | Sub1 DSCR (0.75–0.99) | No Ratio DSCR (under 0.75) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum score | 620 | 640 | 700 |
| Reserves | 3 months above 65% LTV | 6 months | 6 months |
| Late housing payments | One 30-day late in 12 months | None in 12 months | None in 12 months |
| Foreclosure, short sale, bankruptcy | 12–36 months, by event | 36 months | 36 months |
| Short-term rentals | Allowed, with a 5% LTV cut | Not allowed | Not allowed |
| First-time investors | Up to 80% LTV | 60% LTV, no cash-out | Not eligible |
| Cash in hand on a cash-out | Up to $1.5 million at 65% LTV or less | $500,000 | $500,000 |
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Other matrices draw similar lines. FundLoans' no-ratio column wants a clean seven-year housing record and 24 months without a 30-day mortgage late on property you hold personally, and it shuts out foreign nationals and short-term rentals. Pennymac requires a ratio of 1.00 or more for short-term rental income and for first-time investors, and offers no interest-only on its no-ratio option. Griffin approves ratios below 1.00 when the reserves and down payment support the deal. ACC Mortgage is the exception on reserves: 2 months on loans up to $1.5 million, whatever the ratio.
Worked example: a $650,000 rental that rents for $3,500
Take a single-family rental in a high-price market: a $650,000 purchase, $3,500 a month of rent, $680 a month of property taxes and $170 of insurance, no HOA. Hold the rate at an illustrative 7.5% on a 30-year fixed so only the structure changes. A real sub-1.00 quote would likely price higher.
| Structure | Loan | Down payment | PITIA | DSCR | You add each month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Largest loan a 1.00 minimum allows | $379,000 (58%) | $271,000 | $3,500 | 1.00 | $0 |
| 65% LTV | $422,500 | $227,500 | $3,804 | 0.92 | $304 |
| 70% LTV | $455,000 | $195,000 | $4,031 | 0.87 | $531 |
| 75% LTV | $487,500 | $162,500 | $4,259 | 0.82 | $759 |
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A lender with a 1.00 floor sizes this loan on the rent, not the price: about $379,000, or 58% of the price, so you'd bring $271,000 down. A sub-1.00 program changes that. At 75% LTV the ratio is 0.82, inside the 0.75–0.99 band, and four published matrices allow a 75% purchase there for strong credit: LoanStream and FundLoans at 720+, Pennymac and ACC Mortgage at 700+. That frees $108,500 of down payment, and you pay for it three ways:
- A monthly gap: $759 a month, about $9,104 a year, before vacancy, repairs or management.
- Points: at Spring EQ's October 30 adjustments, 0.875 points on $487,500 is $4,266.
- Reserves: six months of the $4,259 payment is $25,552 that must stay in your accounts after closing, the requirement on LoanStream's Sub1 program.
One offset is easy to overlook. Part of every payment is principal, which reduces what you owe instead of vanishing. In year one about $4,494 of the payments on the 75% loan pays down the balance, so the real cash cost of the gap is nearer $4,610 than $9,104. Over five years the shortfall totals about $45,520, and about $26,240 of it comes back as a smaller balance.
Interest-only doesn't fix this deal by itself. At 75% LTV the interest-only payment is $3,047, and with $850 of taxes and insurance the ratio is still 0.90. It works better with a smaller loan, and lenders cap it lower anyway: Pennymac allows interest-only to 70% LTV for ratios between 0.75 and 1.00. Interest-only DSCR loans covers how those payments are qualified.
When a ratio below 1.00 makes sense
- The price is high relative to the rent. In the example, a 1.00 floor pushes the down payment past 40%. A sub-1.00 loan lets you buy for long-term value without parking that much cash in one house.
- You can carry the gap comfortably from other income. The shortfall is a fixed monthly bill. Budget it with vacancy, repairs and rising taxes and insurance, not instead of them.
- The lease is below market and ends soon. Most lenders qualify on whichever is lower, the lease or the appraiser's market rent, so a cheap lease drags the ratio down. If renewal at market lifts it above 1.00, a later refinance can move you to standard terms, once any prepayment penalty allows.
- The freed cash has a better job. The $108,500 in the example could fund another down payment, provided the reserves are there to back both properties.
When it doesn't
- Thin reserves. Six months of payments stay in the bank, and a vacancy at 0.82 coverage costs the full $4,259 a month.
- A short-term rental. LoanStream and FundLoans keep them out of their low-ratio and no-ratio programs, and Pennymac needs 1.00 on short-term rental income.
- A first rental. LoanStream bars investors without a year of ownership in the last three from its no-ratio loans and holds their sub-1.00 purchases to 60%. Pennymac requires 1.00 for first-time investors.
- A cash-out or sale in the next few years. Low ratios cut cash-out leverage, and a 3- to 5-year penalty can make an early exit expensive. See DSCR prepayment penalties.
Try these before you go below 1.00
- Price the deal at a lower LTV. Every 5% more down shrinks the payment and lifts the ratio. DSCR loan down payment shows how to find the loan size the rent supports.
- Ask for a 40-year term or interest-only. Both lower the qualifying payment at lenders that use it, though both usually come with tighter LTV caps.
- Shop the tax and insurance lines. Get landlord insurance quotes and the post-sale tax estimate before you offer; either can move the ratio by a few hundredths.
- Use the seller's numbers. A lower price shrinks the loan, and a seller credit toward points can buy the rate down.
Questions to ask a lender about a low-ratio loan
- What's your floor, and is there a no-ratio program under it?
- What's the maximum LTV for my score at my ratio, on a purchase and on a cash-out?
- How many months of reserves do you require, and do cash-out proceeds count toward them?
- Is interest-only or a 40-year term available at this ratio?
- What does the ratio cost in rate or points compared with 1.00?
- Do you exclude short-term rentals, first-time investors or vacant refinances below 1.00?