Mortgage lender · Chicago, IL · LEI 54930001NSTOD85LT125

Guaranteed Rate Affinity review: approval odds, rates and grade (2025)

Guaranteed Rate Affinity earns an A, placing it in the top fifth of large mortgage lenders. It turned down 6.8% of the applications it decided on in 2025, which ranks in the 84th percentile for approval odds. Its median loan was priced 0.19 points above the average prime offer rate, ranking in the 70th percentile on pricing. Compared against 101 large mortgage lenders using 2025 HMDA filings.

25kApplications2025
64.6%Originatedof applications
6.8%Decision denial ratenational 22.6%
6.55%Median ratenational 6.63%
$7.0BLoan volume51 states

Guaranteed Rate Affinity at a glance, 2025

Every figure is from the lender's own HMDA filing. "vs national" compares with all lenders combined.

4.8%Denial rate (all applications)-13.21 pts vs national
6.8%Denial rate (decided applications)-15.81 pts vs national
64.6%Origination rate+6.56 pts vs national
21.9%Withdrawn by applicant
7.6%Closed for incompleteness
6.55%Median interest rate-0.08 pts vs national
0.19Median rate spread (pts over APOR)-0.07 pts vs national
$355,000Median loan amount
$6,208Median total loan costs
$142kMedian applicant income
80%Median loan-to-value
0High-cost (HOEPA) loans

How the A grade breaks down

Each component is a percentile rank among 101 large mortgage lenders. Higher is better. Components the lender does not report are left out and the weights redistributed.

Approval oddsdecision denial rate, weight 45%

84th6.8% denied

Pricingmedian rate spread over APOR, weight 30%

70th0.19 pts

Processwithdrawn + incomplete share, weight 15%

24th29.5%

Closing coststotal loan costs ÷ loan amount, weight 10%

87th1.75% of loan

Trend, 2023–2025

YearApplicationsOriginatedDenial rateDecision denialMedian rateVolume
202324,29814,8295.9%8.8%6.63%$5.4B
202421,80314,5876.0%8.0%6.75%$5.8B
202524,67215,9364.8%6.8%6.55%$7.0B

What Guaranteed Rate Affinity lends

Applications by purpose and loan type in 2025, with the denial rate for each. A lender's mix explains a lot of its headline rate: HELOCs and FHA loans are denied far more often than conventional purchase loans.

By loan purpose

Home purchase 19,489 79% · 3.7% denied
Refinance 2,460 10% · 3.7% denied
Cash-out refinance 2,009 8% · 9.3% denied
Home improvement 286 1% · 28.3% denied
Other / HELOC 428 2% · 23.1% denied

By loan type

Conventional 20,166 82% · 4.3% denied
FHA 2,752 11% · 8.9% denied
VA 1,710 7% · 3.1% denied
USDA / RHS 44 0% · 15.9% denied

Also: 760 home-equity lines, 46 reverse mortgages, 199 manufactured homes, 1,793 investment properties.

Why Guaranteed Rate Affinity denies applications

Primary reason reported for each of the 1,178 denials in 2025. Lenders can cite up to four reasons; this is the first one listed.

Debt-to-income ratio 430 37%
Collateral 210 18%
Credit history 189 16%
Other 142 12%
Incomplete application 81 7%
Insufficient cash 51 4%
Unverifiable information 43 4%
Employment history 32 3%

How these reasons compare nationally →

Who gets approved at Guaranteed Rate Affinity

Decision denial rate by applicant profile. Groups with fewer than 20 applications are omitted.

Applicant incomeApplicationsOriginatedDecision denial rate
Under $50k98447422.8%
$50k – $100k6,1003,8569.4%
$100k – $150k5,5433,6516.0%
$150k – $250k6,0924,1174.3%
Over $250k5,0643,3133.4%
Applicant ageApplicationsOriginatedDecision denial rate
Under 258155448.5%
25–346,5224,4294.4%
35–446,7514,3836.0%
45–544,6722,9329.1%
55–643,4942,1548.3%
65–741,7421,0909.0%
Over 746764046.5%

Where Guaranteed Rate Affinity lends

51 states and 1,075 counties in 2025. Click a state for the lender's full record there.

StateApplicationsOriginatedDenial rateMedian rateRank in state
Florida2,5151,4587.2%6.63%#81
California2,3431,5394.3%6.55%#86
Pennsylvania1,8311,3422.6%6.58%#53
New Jersey1,7091,1103.1%6.58%#43
Illinois1,6859706.5%6.73%#52
Texas1,3989653.5%6.48%#141
Massachusetts1,1718163.3%6.50%#42
Missouri1,1547824.2%6.53%#45
Georgia1,1026247.6%6.63%#87
Ohio1,0746775.9%6.63%#84
Minnesota9767094.6%6.63%#48
Arizona8665055.2%6.63%#80
Connecticut8365574.9%6.63%#39
Colorado8035294.2%6.25%#72
New York7943814.0%6.50%#106
Maryland7185173.1%6.58%#67
South Carolina6233964.5%6.50%#85
Virginia4823512.7%6.38%#117
North Carolina3742373.5%6.58%#166
Utah3441847.6%6.51%#71
Wisconsin3222435.9%6.63%#110
Washington2011295.0%6.50%#189
Rhode Island1821218.2%6.50%#54
Michigan148915.4%6.49%#238
Indiana1428511.3%6.63%#235
New Hampshire136952.9%6.58%#73
Kentucky128867.0%6.63%#181
Delaware99703.0%6.75%#83
Tennessee58383.5%6.50%#395
District of Columbia57387.0%6.50%#68
Alabama53411.9%6.25%#299
Oregon47338.5%6.50%#232
Maine462310.9%6.38%#129
West Virginia33270.0%6.50%#169
Louisiana27263.7%6.50%#295
Nevada26133.9%6.63%#256
Oklahoma25200.0%6.50%#317
New Mexico20170.0%6.23%#203
Arkansas18130.0%6.13%#293
Iowa17120.0%6.36%#307
Kansas16150.0%6.45%#310
Hawaii15620.0%6.50%#146
Mississippi14117.1%5.99%#265
Montana9311.1%6.18%#191
Idaho870.0%6.25%#289
North Dakota880.0%6.41%#140
Vermont750.0%6.50%#131
Nebraska550.0%5.95%#313

Frequently asked questions

Guaranteed Rate Affinity denied 6.8% of the applications it decided on in 2025. The national figure across all lenders was 22.6%. On approval odds it ranks in the 84th percentile of large mortgage lenders.

The most common reason Guaranteed Rate Affinity gave in 2025 was "debt-to-income ratio", cited on 36.5% of its denials. Lenders report up to four reasons per denial to the CFPB; the full breakdown is on this page.

The median interest rate on loans Guaranteed Rate Affinity originated in 2025 was 6.55%, and its median rate spread over the average prime offer rate was 0.19 points. Rates on this page are what borrowers actually got, not advertised rates.

In 2025, 79% of its applications were for home purchases, 18% for refinancing (including cash-out), and 3% for home improvement or other purposes. By loan type: 82% conventional, 11% FHA, 7% VA.

Every figure on this page comes from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Loan/Application Register published by the CFPB, which lenders are required by federal law to file. We add the grade and the comparisons; we do not add facts.

About this data. HMDA data is published once a year by the CFPB. The current release covers applications acted on in calendar year 2025. Figures describe applications the lender acted on, including loans it later sold. Interest rates and costs are medians on originated loans only; some depository institutions are exempt from reporting pricing fields, which is why a few cells read "—". MortgageGrades is not affiliated with Guaranteed Rate Affinity. Data sources · Methodology