BMO Harris Bank Mortgage Review

BMO Harris Bank at a glance

4 stars

Minimum credit score: 580 to 620   Minimum down payment: 0% to 1%    Available loan products and programs: Conventional, FHA, jumbo, home equity loans, HELOC

The eight largest bank by assets in North America, BMO Harris Bank provides banking, investment services and loans to more than 12 million customers in the U.S. and Canada. It’s headquartered in Chicago and can trace its founding back to 1847.

BMO Harris Bank mortgage products

Conventional

• Fixed-rate mortgages and home refinancing are available in 15- and 30-year terms.
• Adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) options for purchase and refinancing at BMO Harris come in five-year and seven-year initial fixed-rate terms.
• Conventional mortgage requirements include a minimum 3% down payment and 620 credit score.

FHA

• Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgages and refinancing are available
• FHA loans require only a 580 credit score and BMO Harris Bank notes that borrowers may not have to make a down payment.

Home equity

• Both a BMO Harris Bank home equity line of credit (HELOC) and home equity loan allow borrowers to take out up to $150,000 and have a five- to 20-year repayment period.
• Fixed and variable HELOC rates are available.
• A minimum 700 credit score is typically required.

Jumbo

• A jumbo loan allows you to borrow more than the conforming loan limit in your area.
• Jumbo loans are available at BMO Harris Bank in the same terms as conventional loans: 15- and 30-year terms for fixed-rate mortgages, and five- and seven-year ARMs.

Special programs

• Construction loans are available as fixed-rate loans, ARMs and one-close construction/permanent loans for borrowers who dream of building their perfect home.
• Home Possible loans are available at BMO Harris Bank for low- to moderate-income homebuyers who want flexible down payment and closing cost requirements.
• The Cross-Border Mortgage program allows Canadians to buy or refinance U.S. homes.
• BMO Harris Bank will work with down payment assistance programs from housing finance agencies, which can provide up to $10,000.
• The BMO Harris Bank Affordable Housing Grant Program offers grants up to $3,000 for borrowers buying or refinancing homes in select counties in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Washington and Wisconsin.
• In addition, the bank offers its own Neighborhood Home Loan Product aimed to help homebuyers gain a low mortgage payment and a down payment as low as 1%.

BMO Harris Bank mortgage rates and fees

Rates

BMO Harris Bank’s starting mortgage rates are published on its website. Compared to other large national banks, BMO Harris’ rates trend higher than most, and on average came in around 0.85 percentage points above the average prime offer rate (APOR) in 2022.

The APOR is a benchmark rate that captures what is, in effect, the lowest APR a bank is likely to offer in the current market. Mortgage loans aren’t typically considered “higher-cost” until they reach 1.5 percentage points over the APOR.

Fees

BMO Harris doesn’t publish detailed information about fees on its website. We do know, however, that the average total cost of taking out a mortgage with BMO Harris was $3,747 in 2022, according to data from the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC).

BMO Harris Bank’s application experience

You can request a prequalification online to receive an estimate of how much you could be approved for and a ballpark of your monthly payment. Whether you skip the prequalification or not, you could apply directly for a mortgage with BMO Harris Bank either online or in person at a branch. If you choose to complete an online application, you can call a mortgage banker at any time during the process.

Neither process is 100% automated, as you’ll receive a call from a banker after you submit the forms.

How to boost your loan approval odds

BMO Harris doesn’t share the exact minimum requirements it uses to approve or deny your application. However, based on nationwide data from 2022, we can say that BMO Harris approved customers who — on average — had:

• A 64% loan-to-value (LTV) ratio or better
• A debt-to-income (DTI) ratio lower than 40%

In that same year, BMO Harris denied about 38% of its mortgage applications. That’s right in the middle of the pack when compared with other large, national mortgage lenders. For comparison, some large lenders have denial rates in low teens but some go up to the mid-fifties.

BMO Harris Bank’s customer service experience

You can call BMO Harris Bank customer service at 888-482-3781 during the following times for live support:

• Monday through Thursday: 8 a.m.-7 p.m. CT
• Friday: 8 a.m.-6 p.m. CT
• Saturday: 8 a.m.-1 p.m. CT

If you’d rather someone called you instead, you can fill out a contact form and request that a BMO Harris Bank representative call or email you. There’s also an online form you can use 24/7 to provide greater detail and kickstart an email exchange directly, or you could use the website’s branch locator to find the location closest to you.

How does BMO Harris Bank compare to other lenders?

	BMO Harris Bank	Rocket Mortgage	PenFed
Lender rating
Minimum credit score	580 to 620	580 to 620	620 to 650
Minimum down payment	1% to 3.5%	0% to 3.5%	0% to 3.5%
Loan products and programs	Conventional FHA Jumbo Home equity loans HELOC	Conventional FHA VA Jumbo Home equity loans	Conventional FHA VA Jumbo HELOC
Rate spread*	0.64%	0.42%	0.11%

*Rate spread is the difference between the average prime offer rate (APOR) — the lowest APR a bank is likely to offer any private customer — and the average annual percentage rate (APR) BMO Harris offered to mortgage customers in 2022. The higher the number, the more expensive the loan.

How we rated BMO Harris Bank

LendingTree’s mortgage lender rating is based on a five-point scoring system that factors in several features, including digital application processes, available loan products and the accessibility of product and lending information.

LendingTree’s editorial team calculates each rating based on a review of information available on the lender’s website. Lenders receive a half-point on the “offers standard mortgage products” criterion if they offer only two of the three standard loan programs (conventional, FHA and VA). In some cases, additional information was provided by a lender representative.

BMO Harris Bank’s scorecard: 4/5

 Publishes rates online

⭕ Offers standard mortgage products

 Includes detailed product info online

⭕ Shares resources about mortgage lending

 Provides an online application