About Us
Mortgages are built around you, not the other way around.
1st Florida Lending (About Us)
Mortgages are built around you, not the other way around.
"At 1st Florida Lending, we believe every borrower deserves more than a competitive rate, you deserve a lender who actually listens. Since 2007 we have serviced all borrowers in Florida and combine deep expertise, flexible programs, and genuine personal guidance to help you secure the right financing with confidence."
Carlos Matos
CEO & Founder / 1st Florida Lending
Who we are, and Who we are not!
When searching the internet for a direct mortgage lender in Florida or 1st Florida Lending, there are some common results as 1FL, 1FL Mortgage and First Florida Lending. These companies using that name are not licensed direct mortgage lenders, they are mortgage brokers and lead-generation websites mimicking lenders. We are not affiliated with any of those names or companies using a similar name.
1st Florida Lending Corp is headquartered at 2151 Consulate Drive – Suite 8, Orlando, FL 32837. We are a fully licensed Direct Mortgage Lender in Florida (lending license #MLD1069). The only official website for 1st Florida Lending is www.1floridalending.com or 1floridalending.com. Our primary phone number is 407-300-2558 (office, call & text); our other official lines are 407-218-6569 (support, call & text), 800-655-1345 (toll free), and 877-401-9955 (fax, 24/7).
A Mortgage built around your situation, not a Loan Template
Most lenders are built to process the easy files quickly. We built ours to handle the hard ones well. 1st Florida Lending Corp. has been a direct mortgage lender since 2007, licensed in Florida and now licensed in California. Because we lend directly with most loan types. More importantly, the loan officer who takes your application and the processors who organize and prepare your loan documents for underwriting all work inside the same company. That means fewer handoffs, fewer surprise conditions three days before closing, and a straight answer when you ask where your loan actually stands. When you call, you reach the loan officer who knows your file.
Our Story
1st Florida Lending Corp. was founded in Orlando in 2007 by Carlos Matos, who started as a mortgage broker before becoming a lender. As a broker, you don't control the loan file and there is too much dependence on others. Files miss closing dates because of someone else's error, and you spend years watching capable borrowers get declined for reasons that had nothing to do with their ability to repay.
So, he opened his own mortgage lending company. The timing was not accidental, and it was not easy: we opened our doors at the front edge of the 2008 housing collapse, a period that closed thousands of mortgage companies. That environment made us selective about who we hired. Since then, we've closed thousands of loans for Florida families and investors, and built a strong following with the realtors who needed our help during the slow times.
We now offer select lending solutions in California for clients relocating to Florida. Ask your loan officer which California programs may apply to your scenario.
What We Do
We originate residential and investment property mortgages as a direct lender. In practice, that covers four things:
Purchase financing
First homes, move-up purchases, second homes, and investment properties — including the scenarios that require a manual underwrite rather than an automated approval.
Refinancing
Rate-and-term refinances, cash-out refinances, and debt restructuring for borrowers consolidating higher-interest obligations into their mortgage.
Non-traditional income documentation
Bank statement loans, profit-and-loss-only programs, written verification of employment (VOE) loans, asset depletion, and DSCR loans qualified on rental income rather than personal income.
Specialty programs
FHA, VA, USDA, jumbo, HomeReady, construction-to-permanent, reverse mortgages, foreign national financing, and ITIN loans for borrowers without a Social Security number.
We currently offer 48 core loan programs and 112 lending solutions built from those programs. See all loan programs
Who We Serve
We work with borrowers across Florida and California, and we're most useful to people whose finances don't fit a standard W-2 box:
- Self-employed borrowers and business owners whose tax returns understate their actual cash flow
- Real estate investors building portfolios, including borrowers who have hit the conventional financed-property limit
- First-time buyers who need the process explained rather than assumed
- Foreign nationals and ITIN borrowers buying property in Florida
- Retirees and asset-rich borrowers qualifying on assets rather than employment income
- Veterans and active-duty service members using VA entitlement
- Borrowers rebuilding after a credit event, a divorce, or a business downturn
Our staff is multilingual — we serve clients in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. That matters across Florida, where no borrower should have to negotiate the largest transaction of their life in a second language.
What Makes Us Different
When banks say no, we say yes® means we take the files other bank and lenders decline
A declined application often means a lender's automated system said no, not that the borrower can't repay. When the numbers support it, we manually underwrite, that means an actual person reviews the full picture instead of an automated technical scorecard rejecting you on one or two variables. We won't claim we approve everyone, because we don't. But if you've been turned down elsewhere and the reason was your income structure rather than your ability to pay, there's a reasonable chance we have a program for it.
You work with a licensed loan officer, start to finish
Every client is assigned a fully licensed, NMLS-registered loan officer — not an unlicensed coordinator relaying messages. The same person handles your file from application through closing, and you'll always have their direct number and work only with them.
Being a direct lender changes the timeline
Because most of our FHA and Conventional loans close in our name and processing is managed in-house, we're not waiting for our wholesale lending partner's queue for an answer on a condition, which is often the difference between a 5-or-6 day delay in closing.
How We Work
We tell you the answer early, including when it's no.
An honest "this won't work, and here's what would" is worth more than a month of optimism. If your file needs six months of seasoning or a different program, we'd rather say so at the start.
We quote what you'll actually pay.
Rate, points, and closing costs together — not a headline rate that reshapes itself at disclosure.
We explain the trade-offs.
Lower rate versus lower closing costs, 15-year versus 30-year, buying down points versus keeping the cash — these are your decisions. Our job is to make sure you understand what you're choosing between.
We stay current.
Guidelines, investor overlays, and program eligibility change constantly. Keeping up with that is our job, not yours.
Supporting First-Time Home Buyers
Buying your first home means making decisions that shape your finances for the next thirty years, usually with incomplete information and a deadline. Our loan officers walk first-time buyers through what each document is for, what underwriting will actually ask about, what the closing disclosure means line by line, and which down payment assistance and low-down-payment programs you may qualify for. There's no charge for that conversation, and no obligation to apply.
Learn more about our first-time homebuyer programs →
Our Commitment to Community
We've been in business in Orlando for almost 20 years, and we try to act like it. Our team supports and donates to Second Harvest Food Bank, Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House, and the American Red Cross, among others.
Talk to a Loan Officer
If you want a straight read on what you qualify for — including whether we're the right lender for your situation — start with a conversation. No application fee, no credit pull until you tell us to, and a real answer either way.