DSCR loan requirements: credit, LTV, reserves, and down payment
DSCR loan requirements are the investor’s rules. There is no single national list. The ranges below are market patterns, not one lender’s ad and not a LoanPASS product spec.
What most DSCR programs ask for
Credit score: a mid-600s floor is common, and better scores open higher LTV. The number is the investor’s credit box.
LTV: often capped around 75 to 80 percent on standard rentals. Strategy, property, and FICO move the cap.
DSCR minimum: 1.00, 1.15, or 1.25. That is the coverage floor.
Down payment: commonly 20 to 25 percent on a purchase, the inverse of LTV.
Reserves: several months of PITIA. More doors can mean more months.
Property type: 1 to 4 unit rentals are most common. Condos and mixed-use depend on overlays. Occupancy is investment, not a primary residence. Some programs charge a prepay; some do not.
Do not treat a row as a quote from LoanPASS or from any named lender.
DSCR loan down payment is just LTV in reverse
A 75 percent LTV purchase needs 25 percent down, plus closing costs. An 80 percent LTV needs 20 percent down. Cash-out and refinances use the same LTV idea against appraised value. The investor’s grid, not a national rule, sets the number.
When a file misses a DSCR requirement, three things can still save it
Agency files get compensating-factor language from agency underwriting. DSCR files get whatever the investor wrote, so the paths below exist only if that investor’s guideline names them.
Exception. A designated person can grant it, if the guideline allows.
Compensating factor. Extra reserves, lower LTV, or a higher DSCR can offset a tight score, if the rule says so.
Another investor. The same file can pass a different credit box.
On a manual desk, that takes days of emails. On a non-agency AUS, the engine returns the finding and the conditions in real time, and only the true exception goes to a person.
DSCR loan calculator
How to evaluate a DSCR program
What is a DSCR loan
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