Movement Mortgage Review

Movement Mortgage was founded in 2008, in the middle of the financial crisis, by former NFL player Casey Crawford and partner Toby Harris. From its base in the Charlotte area it grew into one of the ten largest retail mortgage lenders in the country, funding tens of billions in loans a year, almost all of it purchase business rather than refinances. Its ownership is genuinely unusual: the company’s primary shareholder is the nonprofit Movement Foundation, which has received more than $360 million of profit to build charter schools, affordable housing, and community projects.

The operational pitch is speed with the risk pulled forward. Movement’s 6-7-1 process aims to underwrite your file within 6 hours of a complete application, process it within 7 days, and have closing documents ready in 1 day. Real-world timelines vary, but the structural idea holds up: because a human underwriter reviews your income and assets at the beginning, your pre-approval means more to sellers, and the ugly surprises that kill deals in the final week tend to show up in week one instead. That is why buyers’ agents tend to like Movement.

The record has a significant blemish. In 2023 Movement paid $23.75 million to settle Department of Justice allegations, brought by two former employees, that it certified FHA and VA loans that did not meet program rules, and it admitted a material percentage of those certifications fell short. It remains an approved FHA and VA lender, and its consumer-facing complaint volume is unremarkable for its size, but the settlement belongs in any honest review. On price, Movement is a shop-and-compare lender: it does not publish rates, and mission-driven ownership does not automatically buy you a cheaper loan. Make it earn your file with a Loan Estimate.

You start online or with a local loan officer, and the difference from most lenders comes right after: Movement pushes your complete file to an underwriter up front. If your documents are ready, income, assets, and two years of history, you can have a genuinely underwritten approval quickly, which functions like a stronger pre-approval when you write offers. The mobile app handles document upload, status tracking, and e-signing without friction.

To get the speed the marketing promises, do your part in hour one: W-2s, pay stubs, two months of bank statements, and tax returns if self-employed. Files that trickle documents in are the ones that blow past 7 days. As with any loan-officer lender, the person matters; ask your LO how often their purchase files actually hit the 6-7-1 marks in your market, and get your Loan Estimate into a same-day comparison with two other lenders before locking.