What First Choice Lending Services does

First Choice Lending Services (FCLS), LLC is a privately held correspondent mortgage lender headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, founded in 2013 and operating across Tennessee, Kentucky, and Georgia. The company funds residential mortgage loans with its own capital and sells them to investors in the secondary market, a correspondent-lender model that the company states provides flexibility, speed, and certainty of close relative to a pure broker model. FCLS maintains four physical branch offices (Knoxville, Nashville, Dayton in Tennessee, and Crestwood in the Louisville metro of Kentucky) and holds separate NMLS identifiers for each location, with loan officers and branch managers leading both in-person and phone-based origination.

The product portfolio spans the full agency-eligible spectrum (Conventional, FHA, VA, USDA, Jumbo, Reverse Mortgage) plus a deep non-QM suite including DSCR, Bank Statement, Fix-and-Flip, ITIN, P&L, CPA Documentation, 1099, Bridge, Multifamily, Mixed-Use, HELOC/HELOAN, Land, Manufactured Home, New Construction, and Rate Buydown programs. Underlying technology consists of an internet-connected pricing/market-information system, an online application portal (the 1003 app at fcls.my1003app.com), dedicated toll-free intake per branch, and a content-marketing layer (52+ blog articles) driving organic search and social lead generation.

FCLS generates revenue primarily through origination fees and gain-on-sale margin on correspondent-funded loans, supplemented by interest income on loans warehoused before secondary-market sale. Customer acquisition is direct-to-consumer via branch, website, and toll-free, with realtor referral partnerships serving as a documented mid-funnel channel. The company positions itself against "one-size-fits-all" bank products, targeting first-time buyers, repeat buyers, self-employed borrowers, veterans, rural buyers (USDA), and real estate investors with customized loan structures.

Name

First Choice Lending Services

Legal name

First Choice Lending Services, LLC

Website

https://fcls.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

First Choice Lending Services is a privately held correspondent mortgage lender founded in 2013 and headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, offering agency and non-QM residential loan products to homebuyers, self-employed borrowers, and real estate investors across Tennessee, Kentucky, and Georgia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Residential Mortgage Lending

NAICS

Real Estate Credit (522292), Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers (522310), Nondepository Credit Intermediation (5222)

SIC

Mortgage Bankers & Loan Correspondents (6162), Loan Brokers (6163)

akta.pro primary industry

Wholesale Mortgage Lending (Broker Channel) (FSALACAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Jumbo & Portfolio Wholesale Lending (FSALACAF), Government Wholesale Lending (FHA/VA/USDA) (FSALACAE)

Keywords

• Residential mortgage lending
• Home loan origination
• Non-QM mortgage programs
• Correspondent lender
• Mortgage refinancing services

Headquarters

HQ city

Knoxville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Mortgage Loan Origination: Origination fees and margin earned from mortgage loans funded with the company's own capital as a correspondent lender. Revenue generated from the spread between origination and sale to investors, plus origination fees charged to borrowers.
2. Interest Income: Interest income from mortgage loans held during the funding period before sale to investors in the secondary mortgage market.
3. Refinance Revenue: Ongoing revenue from existing customers refinancing their mortgages, generating new origination fees and interest income.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

First Choice Lending Services is a correspondent mortgage lender that funds home purchase and refinance loans with its own capital and sells them to investors in the secondary market. It originates both traditional agency-eligible programs (conventional, FHA, VA, USDA, jumbo, reverse mortgage, new construction, renovation, manufactured home) and a wide range of non-QM programs (DSCR, bank statement, P&L, 1099, ITIN, CPA, alt-doc, fix-and-flip, multifamily, mixed-use, bridge, HELOC/HELOAN, portfolio, land), serving consumers and real estate investors across Tennessee, Kentucky, and Georgia.

Product overview

First Choice Lending Services operates as a Correspondent Lender offering a comprehensive mortgage platform with both traditional and non-QM loan products. Their core offerings include Conventional, FHA, VA, USDA, Jumbo, and Reverse Mortgage programs for purchase and refinance transactions. They also provide specialized non-QM products including DSCR, Bank Statement, Fix and Flip, Land/Vacant Lot, 1099, Multifamily, Mixed-Use, Bridge, HELOC/HELOAN, ITIN, P&L, CPA Doc, Portfolio, and Alternate Doc loans. As a correspondent lender, they fund loans with their own capital, enabling more flexibility, speed, and certainty at closing. Additional offerings include temporary rate buydowns, rehab/renovation loans, new construction loans (one-time close), and manufactured home loans. The company is licensed in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Georgia.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Conventional Loans Loan programs for borrowers with strong credit and stable income, including first-time buyers, move-up or downsizing buyers, and investment property purchasers.
• FHA Loans Government-backed loans for homebuyers with less-than-perfect credit, offering more flexible guidelines and easier qualification requirements.
• VA Loans Home loans for Veterans, active-duty service members, National Guard, Reserves, and eligible surviving spouses offering $0 down payment and borrower-friendly terms.
• USDA Loans Rural area home loans with lower mortgage insurance and more flexible credit guidelines for homebuyers purchasing properties in eligible rural areas.
• Jumbo Loans Loans exceeding conventional loan limits for higher-value properties.
• Reverse Mortgages Home equity conversion mortgages for retirees 62+ that convert equity into monthly cash payments.
• New Construction Loans One-time close construction loans for building new homes, including construction-to-permanent financing.
• Rehab/Renovation Loans Loans for purchasing and renovating properties that need repairs or improvements.
• Manufactured Home Loans Loans for manufactured homes including both chattel and land-secured financing options.
• Temporary Rate Buydowns Rate buydown programs including 3-2-1 Buydown, 2-1 Buydown, 1-1 Buydown, and 1-0 Buydown options to lower initial interest rates.
• DSCR Loans Non-QM loans based on Debt Service Coverage Ratio for real estate investors, focusing on property cash flow rather than personal income.
• Bank Statement Loans Non-QM loans using bank statements to verify income for self-employed borrowers instead of tax returns.
• Fix and Flip Loans Short-term loans for real estate investors purchasing properties to renovate and resell.
• Land/Vacant Lot Loans Loans for purchasing raw land or vacant lots for future development or construction.
• 1099 Income Loans Loans for borrowers with 1099 income who may not qualify under traditional documentation requirements.
• Multifamily Loans Loans for 5+ unit multifamily properties including options for 5-8, 9-20, and 20-200+ unit buildings.
• Mixed-Use Property Loans Loans for properties combining residential and commercial space.
• Bridge Loans Short-term financing bridging the gap between buying a new property and selling an existing one.
• HELOC/HELOAN Home Equity Lines of Credit and Home Equity Loans using existing property equity.
• ITIN Loans Loans for borrowers using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number instead of a Social Security Number.
• P&L Loans Loans verified through Profit and Loss statements for self-employed business owners.
• CPA Documentation Loans Loans using CPA-certified income documentation for self-employed borrowers.
• Portfolio Loans Flexible loan products held in-house that do not conform to standard agency guidelines.
• Alternate Doc Loans Loans using alternative documentation such as 1-year or 2-year income verification methods.

Quantifiable outcome

• 5.0 Star Google Rating

Named customers4 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Homepoint: Wholesale and correspondent mortgage lender serving brokers and correspondents with conventional and government products. Operates a similar funding-and-sale correspondent flow as FCLS.
• United Wholesale Mortgage: Largest US wholesale and correspondent mortgage lender. Operates a correspondent model that funds loans and sells to investors, broadly mirroring FCLS's core operating model while serving brokers and correspondents at massive scale.
• Caliber Home Loans: Non-bank mortgage originator with strong correspondent and direct-to-consumer channels, and a notable non-QM and bank-statement program suite that overlaps directly with FCLS's non-QM lineup.
• Plaza Home Mortgage: Correspondent and wholesale lender with broad agency, jumbo, and non-QM products, including a deep self-employed borrower toolkit that closely resembles FCLS's bank-statement and CPA-doc offerings.
• NewRez (formerly New Penn Financial): Non-bank mortgage lender operating retail, wholesale, and correspondent channels with a full agency plus non-QM product set. Correspondent platform and product breadth directly parallel FCLS's positioning.

Emerging players

• Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions: Non-QM-focused wholesale and correspondent lender specializing in bank-statement, DSCR, and self-employed products. A close adjacent peer competing for the non-QM slice of FCLS's book.
• Deephaven Mortgage: Pure-play non-QM correspondent and wholesale originator focused on bank-statement, DSCR, and investor loans. Directly competes for FCLS's non-QM self-employed and investor borrower base.
• Kind Lending: Non-QM and wholesale/correspondent lender with a self-employed-focused product suite (bank statement, P&L, DSCR) that overlaps with FCLS's non-QM menu and target personas.

Broad incumbents

• loanDepot: Large multi-channel mortgage lender operating retail, wholesale, and correspondent channels. Offers conventional and government products comparable to FCLS's core menu and competes for similar Southeast refinance and purchase volume.
• Rocket Mortgage: Largest US retail mortgage originator; offers the full spectrum of conventional, government, and jumbo loans with a direct-to-consumer technology stack that competes for the same borrower segments FCLS targets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/fclsloans
• Facebookfacebook.com/fclsloans
• Instagraminstagram.com/fclsloans
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/fclsloans

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about First Choice Lending Services