Freedom Mortgage

Freedom Mortgage

Formerly J.G. Wentworth Home Lending

 4.1/5 (324 reviews)
Author picture
Written by
Author picture
Edited by

Our promise. We provide a buying advantage with verified reviews and unbiased editorial research.

Overall Rating4.1 out of 5
See all 324 reviews

About Freedom Mortgage

Freedom Mortgage (NMLS #2767) is a full-service mortgage lender that offers home purchase and refinance loans. The company provides both conventional loans and government-backed loans, including FHA, VA and USDA loans. It lends across all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Freedom Mortgage has been in business for more than 30 years and is based in Boca Raton, Florida.

    Pros & Cons

    Pros

    • Specializes in FHA and VA loans
    • Rate and closing guarantees

    Cons

    • No construction or home equity loans

    Bottom Line

    Freedom Mortgage offers a variety of purchase and refinance loans. The company has over 30 years of experience and is a popular FHA, VA, USDA and conventional loan provider. It's available in all 50 states.

    Top Freedom Mortgage Reviews

    Rated with 5 stars
    Verified

    Freedom Mortgage did a wonderful job with our home refinance. They walked us through the entire process. We feel like they were working on our behalf. ... They were prompt to answ...

    Read full review
    Rated with 5 stars
    Verified

    Lenders are knowledgeable. Always willing to work with you. Always watching out for mortgage rate drops that will save you money. Fast closing on new or refinance loans. For your ...

    Read full review

    Rates

    For the most accurate and current rates, contact Freedom Mortgage for a customized quote online. The company provides quotes in less than five minutes with a soft credit check that has no impact on your credit score.

    Freedom Mortgage offers home loans with both fixed and adjustable rates. Borrowers are more likely to seek adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) when rates are higher because of the initial fixed-rate period, which tends to start at a lower rate. An ARM also may make sense if you plan to sell your house before the fixed-rate period ends.

    Freedom Mortgage’s purchase loan rates have remained fairly close to the national average over the past few years. In both 2020 (-0.07%) and 2021 (-0.17%), its average rates were slightly lower than the U.S. average; in 2019, its average was slightly higher (0.04%).

    Freedom Mortgage average home purchase rate vs. national average

    YearDifference from national average
    2021 -0.17%
    2020 -0.07%
    2019 +0.04%
    Information pulled from public Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data. Rates reflect noncommercial home purchase loans only.

    Mortgage rates change frequently and vary based on economic conditions, your credit history, the length of the mortgage term and the mortgage type. Your annual percentage rate (APR) and interest rate may be different — the APR reflects your interest rate plus points, fees and other charges from your lender.

    Application process

    You can view your mortgage rates and get pre-qualified with Freedom Mortgage without a hard credit check. The company also offers an online application. Be prepared to provide information about your income and assets; Freedom Mortgage uses these details to determine how much you can borrow.

    Freedom Mortgage services most of the loans it originates, so it’s likely you’ll work with the company from your application all the way until your loan is paid off or you decide to sell.

    Freedom Mortgage application features

    FeaturesAvailability
    Online application
    Mobile document upload
    Physical branches X
    Publishes minimum rate on website X
    Rate lock 90 days
    Pre-qualification (no hard credit pull)
    Certified approval letter

    Loan types

    Freedom Mortgage offers several mortgage products, including conventional loans (fixed and adjustable-rate) and jumbo loans for those who need to borrow beyond the conforming loan limits set by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. You can also refinance your existing home loan with Freedom Mortgage, whether you’re aiming to cash out or get a lower interest rate.

    In terms of home purchase loans, Freedom Mortgage originated 22,332 mortgages in 2021. This is only about 33% of the total home purchase loans initiated by potential buyers. Still, only 1,568 (2%) of the total home purchase applications that year were denied — and the company didn’t deny any preapprovals for its borrowers.

    Loan applications for home purchases only by year

    202120202019
    Home purchase applications 67,107 62,893 80,487
    Home purchase loans closed 22,332 22,217 25,973
    Home purchase applications denied 1,568 1,831 2,532
    Home purchase preapprovals denied 0 4 377
    Information pulled from public Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data. Includes conventional, USDA, VA and FHA mortgages.

    Refinancing

    The vast majority of the loans Freedom Mortgage financed in 2021 were refinance loans rather than purchase loans. The company leans more toward refinancing than the industry as a whole, though refis were a popular option nationwide in 2020 and 2021 due to low rates.

    In 2020 and 2021, only about 6% of loans Freedom Mortgage originated were home purchase loans — the previous year, before rates fell, almost a quarter (23.67%) of its mortgages were for home purchase.

    Home purchase vs. refinance loans by year

    202120202019
    Home purchase loans 6.19% 5.71% 23.67%
    Refinance loans 87.83% 91.82% 57.28%
    Cash-out refinance 5.97% 2.47% 19.05%
    Information pulled from public Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Data. Includes conventional, USDA, VA and FHA mortgages.

    Requirements

    Both conventional and government-backed loans have their own sets of borrower requirements, and Freedom Mortgage seems to adhere to the industry norms for these qualifications. Typically, conventional loans require a higher credit score and down payment than you need for a government-backed mortgage.

    National mortgage requirements by type

    Min. credit scoreMin. down paymentCompare with other lenders
    Conventional Typically 620 Typically 3% Mortgage lenders
    FHA 500 3.5% with 580 credit score FHA lenders
    VA Set by lender (often 580) 0% VA lenders
    USDA Set by lender (often 640) 0% USDA lenders

    Cost and fees

    Freedom Mortgage charges origination fees, but these fees can vary. You can expect to pay between 0.5% and 1% of the loan amount in origination charges as part of the closing costs.

    Freedom Mortgage does offer guarantees for on-time closings and competitive rates. The “commitment to close on time” promises borrowers $1,000 if their loan doesn’t close by a set date. Freedom Mortgage will also match another competitor’s rate or give the borrower $250. The company discounts closing costs by $250 as part of its “commitment to value.”

    Freedom Mortgage Reviews

    Recent
    • Recent
    • Oldest
    • Most helpful
    Any
    • Any
    • Rated with 5 stars
    • Rated with 4 stars
    • Rated with 3 stars
    • Rated with 2 stars
    • Rated with 1 star

    A link has directed you to this review. Its location on this page may change next time you visit.

    How do I know I can trust these reviews about Freedom Mortgage?
    • 4,240,639 reviews on ConsumerAffairs are verified.
    • We require contact information to ensure our reviewers are real.
    • We use intelligent software that helps us maintain the integrity of reviews.
    • Our moderators read all reviews to verify quality and helpfulness.
    Page 1 Reviews 0 - 10
    Rated with 1 star
    Verified Reviewer
    Original review: April 1, 2023

    Had worked with Freedom on a mortgage in the past and it went well but in 2023 had a very disappointing experience applying for a new loan. Their online portal had a technical problem and they kept pushing me to send my personal documents through email. When I raised concerns the rep kept saying they had a secure portal, no matter how many time I said my gmail was not secure. When I talked to a supervisor I got the same non-sense.

    I asked many times for an estimate loan and never got one. The agent always stuck with telling me to give him a quote from someone and he would match it or beat it, I made it clear I wanted Freedom's best quote, not them undercutting the best I could get and only by matching it. After many rounds of that nonsense the rep just closed out my application without any notice. I will not do business with them again.

    Be the first one to find this review helpful
    Rated with 1 star
    Verified Reviewer
    Original review: March 31, 2023

    In one month they raised my bill over 913 dollars a month!!! They accused me of not paying my entire year of escrow even though I’m on an escrowed loan! When speaking to escalations she refused to understand basic math. I absolutely think this is the worst loan company anyone could ever get stuck with!

    Be the first one to find this review helpful

    Not sure how to choose?

    Get buying tips about Mortgage Lenders delivered to your inbox.

      By entering your email, you agree to sign up for consumer news, tips and giveaways from ConsumerAffairs. Unsubscribe at any time.

      Thank you, you have successfully subscribed to our newsletter! Enjoy reading our tips and recommendations.

      Rated with 1 star
      Verified Reviewer
      Original review: March 17, 2023

      So I have been with Freedom for over 10 years and they are horrible. They cancelled my policy with Allstate early on and got me the most expensive insurance policy. They increased my mortgage payments over $800 a month since the loan origination. They must get kick backs from there rip off insurance agencies. I have been working on correcting the latest scam again because they say my escrow is low. Of course it is! I’m paying for their insurance kick backs. I got full coverage, added wind coverage, and saved myself over $5,000k annually. Now they are scamming and saying they didn’t see the wind coverage I know I added. So guess what? They added another policy on top of all my existing ones!

      All this increase in my payment I have been scheduling payments every two weeks thinking I’ve been paying my mortgage early but I have called, faxed, and sent notice to them that I want to set up this plan to quicken my pay off. They have ignored me for over 10 yrs and “holding” my early payments without posting them to the balance of the mortgage. They even told me it was a good idea to keep doing this. Well they increased my payments for escrow again and for $20 they put on my credit report I was delinquent in my mortgage and they will not correct it. My advise is use anyone but Freedom Mortgage. You will regret it forever!

      Be the first one to find this review helpful
      Rated with 1 star
      Verified Reviewer
      Original review: Feb. 19, 2023

      I purchased my home with Freedom Mortgage in May of 2021 and as a 100% disabled veteran living in Virginia I do NOT have to pay taxes on my house. When CoreLogic, which is the escrow/tax recovery company Freedom Mortgage uses, pulled my tax statements from my county they would NOT accept my tax statement of 0$ which I am granted. So CoreLogic illegally pulled the prior years records that were of the former owner and used those against me. This is identity theft of the former owner. And federal fraud against me as I am NOT the former owner and have different taxes, tax rates and discounts. These are not blanket statements, but fact, as legal statutes are in place to prohibit companies from doing this. I informed Freedom mortgage of the error in December of 2021 and by Jan had both Freedom mortgage and Corelogic on the phone understanding what they did and promising to fix it.

      I requested an audit of the account and was told it would take place. I have never received the results of any audit. I was told to contact my county and pull the tax statements to help. I reminded them of the 1974 ADA protection act as I am 100% disabled and would need help doing this, they didn't care and would not help. My county are the ones who informed me of how Corelogic broke the law and pulled the former owner's tax statements. Then to make matters worse Freedom mortgage didn't actually pay part of my taxes and blamed the county, just as the county was informing me of the non payment. This may be confusing but by law as a 100% disabled veteran with a VA loan it is Freedom mortgage's responsibility to handle my taxes, not the veteran's responsibility. Not only did they NOT fix it but inflated my escrow to accommodate the new tax information that was fraudulent and only months later paying the late tax bill.

      This added $300 a month and for the next 18 months continued to bill me and hurt me no matter what I told them. In August/September of 2022 I finally got someone on the phone that seemed to understand the situation and received again promises of fixing and refunds before Christmas 2022. This again was a lie and nothing was done. Then a check for the last 6 months refund came in, however nothing for the prior year. When contacted Freedom mortgage stated they couldn't send me a check for the remaining tax refund and could only refund into the escrow. This is a blatant lie as we had received the prior refund check AND it is against federal law to hold more than $500 dollars in overages in escrow and those overages must be refunded to home owner.

      Freedom mortgage then blamed the county treasurer for not sending them back the overages. Another lie as the county did but to an address Corelogic gave them that they now "claimed was no longer in use". The county treasurer when asked at ANY time during the 18 months for the refund said it was illegal for them to give it to me that Freedom mortgage had to. Freedom mortgage agreed with this fact but said they were always waiting on the monies from the county to be given back to them after they over paid the taxes from the escrow. Another lie as the county had proof of checks sent, not once but twice. Freedom mortgage refused to address the situation at the start of 2023 and refused to work with the buyer in sorting this out even though the buyer is who had the documentation, tax papers, and all other proof of incident.

      On Feb. 18th 2023 the checks were refunded by the county treasurer under instruction of Freedom mortgage against federal law. As I can only access this was so Freedom mortgage didn't have to contact me or deal with me. No formal apology for 18 months of hell, no apology for the fact that the 300 dollars per month stolen from the veteran was their food money for the month. Freedom mortgage customer service refused to help, the tax department refused to help, Corelogic refused to help. When they finally agreed to help after threats of publishing what they had done and proving what they had done they said to always ask for a supervisor when calling in BUT stonewalled me be lower customer service never allowing me to talk to the supervisor.

      Now I have new bill for UNPAID taxes received this first week of February 2023 which Freedom mortgage refuses to address. As stated earlier I am a 100% disabled veteran and am not supposed to receive tax bills as it is Freedom mortgage's and then Corelogic's responsibility to pay these taxes and receive these statements.

      2 people found this review helpful
      Rated with 5 stars
      Verified Reviewer
      Original review: Dec. 17, 2022

      My experience with Freedom Mortgage is a viable option in refinancing your mortgage in spite of the high interest interest rates as of yesterday. In my view, I see the interest rates going up to slow inflation rates. However, the processing time is timely and can get you through the experience with less stress and continue service and does not sell your loan to other serving agencies.

      Be the first one to find this review helpful
      Rated with 1 star
      Verified Reviewer Verified Buyer
      Original review: Oct. 6, 2022

      Freedom Mortgage purchased our VA home loan a month before we had to enter into Covid forbearance. We entered Covid forbearance because my husband was diagnosed with cancer and I lost my job during Covid. I requested to get out of Covid forbearance in September 2021. It has been OVER one full year and I am still trying to get our loan modification completed. In the meantime, the fees just keep adding up. Our payment only goes towards unapplied funds. The only people you can talk to are the customer service representatives who answer the phone. There are no supervisors or managers who you can talk to. No one ever calls me back even though they say a manager will contact me. I either call them or send a message on the website every couple of weeks trying to get this loan modified and up to date.

      We had a modification letter in October 2021, then again in January 2022, then March 2022. They kept having to adjust it because they went over the allotted amount of days to modify the loan. We finally got paperwork to sign in June 2022. The modified loan was supposed to start in August 2022. They never took the money out of my checking account. I keep calling them to find out what the problem is now. No one can give me a reason except it’s taking a little bit longer because of Covid. So I pay the payments that is on the loan modification. The payment goes into unapplied funds. It’s a never ending cycle!

      I get home from work today and there is another set of documents to sign again!!!! It is October 5, 2022 now! I call their phone number, get another customer service representative who wants to know why I’m calling. They will not forward me to anyone who can do anything or figure out what the problem is now. I feel like I’m in the movie Groundhog Day. I tell you, do NOT get anything from this company! The stress, anxiety, rage, annoyance, and just plain waste of my time and energy is not worth it!

      2 people found this review helpful
      Rated with 1 star
      Verified Reviewer
      Original review: Sept. 9, 2022

      I am a property investor with multiple properties/mortgages. Freedom Mortgage purchased 1 of my mortgages. Freedom has increased my payment from $675 to $1005/month. None of my properties have escrow because I pay all the insurance and taxes myself. There are has never been a lapse in coverage as I have all payments automatically drafted from my accounts. Freedom increased my payment for escrow purposes on a 6 year old loan. I contacted Freedom and requested the escrow payment be removed. They asked for proof of insurance. I provided documentation of the most recent declaration page that had been renewed 9 months prior and showed no lapse in coverage.

      This is now 4 months down the road and they still refuse to remove the escrow. As I write this review today, my escrow balance is ~$2000. My insurance policy is ~$1450 annually. They continue to charge an additional $330/month for something they have never paid and never will. Their reasoning for the refusal to remove escrow was because I am now a risk since I refused to make the incorrect payment initially. I have never made a late payment on anything. All my payments are automatically drafted. When I attempted to set up the auto-draft with this company, I refused because the payment was wrong. So their justification to continue to steal from me is due to my refusal to give in to their fraudulent charges.

      To clarify, I went 4 months without making a payment. Freedom waived late fees while they attempted to correct the payment issue. I have been called them for months and have offered to pay $675 per month for every month. They have consistently told me my payment would only be applied at $1005 per month even after providing proof of insurance. Also, there was NO forced coverage in place. They were collecting up front as a plan to take over paying for me. They are collecting at a rate almost triple what the insurance costs. I finally gave in and have paid all their scammed money as a ransom to bring payments current while I refinance elsewhere.

      This company is a scam. I am now in the process of refinancing other properties to pull equity to pay off this mortgage. I have little faith they will refund me any of the escrow they have been collecting. Avoid this company at all costs before they hold you financially hostage with bogus charges for expenses you already pay and they have no intent on paying.

      4 people found this review helpful
      Rated with 1 star
      Verified Reviewer Verified Buyer
      Original review: Aug. 9, 2022

      Beware of these sleazy people, I have a mortgage with them and they sent us marketing mail for what looked to be a home equity loan. So I filled out an application with them and after they do a hard pull on my credit they tell me that they don't offer home equity loans. They want to sell me on a new mortgage at 2% higher than my existing mortgage. That's not to mention the nearly $12,000 in Fees and other charges they want us to pay for the loan. What a waste of time.

      3 people found this review helpful
      Rated with 1 star
      Verified Reviewer
      Original review: Aug. 4, 2022

      Last year Freedom Mortgage paid out my old insurance company and my new. This caused me to have at least 1400.00 in negative equity. Which also led to an increase in my mortgage. Once they paid both I received a letter stating they may have paid both but it is my job to recover the funds. All they do is place a 3-way call with Nsure which are affiliated with Universal Property and after six months nothing has been resolved. All I get is a major run around. I do plan on contacting the Department of Veterans Affairs.

      3 people found this review helpful
      Rated with 1 star
      Verified Reviewer
      Original review: March 8, 2022

      Freedom purchased our original mortgage shortly after we bought our home. Shortly after this they sent information to me letting me know a refinance option was available to a lower rate and a better payment. The rate was lower and the payment was considerably better than what I was paying so I went with it. What I didn't realize was that they estimated my taxes for escrow at 1250 for the year. This was grossly under any estimate for the area where I live. There is no one in our county who pays close to that. They were off in their estimate by roughly 7600 dollars. So of course I am short in my escrow and now owe a little over 9000 dollars to cover the shortage.

      Now, I know a person should always read the fine print but this estimate for my taxes was so grossly under any taxes that anyone pays in my area that something just seems fishy. This seems like some sort of tactic used by a mortgage company to get the best of their customers knowing that most probably will not read the fine print. If you can, I would avoid Freedom Mortgage at all cost. At best I would say their business practices are questionable.

      5 people found this review helpful

      Start your home buying journey. Get matched with an authorized partner.

        Loading more reviews...
        ConsumerAffairs writers primarily rely on government data, industry experts and original research from other reputable publications to inform their work. To learn more about the content on our site, visit our FAQ page.
        1. Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, “HMDA Data Publication.” Accessed June 27, 2022.

        Freedom Mortgage Company Information

        Company Name:
        Freedom Mortgage
        Address:
        951 Yamato Road
        City:
        Boca Raton
        State/Province:
        FL
        Postal Code:
        33431
        Country:
        United States
        Website:
        www.freedommortgage.com