Direct private lending in most states
Call us anytime at 512-617-9400
Apply now

Washington DC Hard Money and Investor Loans

Your rent increase is capped in the District, capped in Montgomery, uncapped in Arlington.

USA Mortgage funds investors across Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia. The District, Maryland, and Virginia never share one rulebook. Federal, Maryland suburb, and Northern Virginia deals all pencil differently. Business-purpose loans only, every structure set in underwriting.

Apply nowCall us

You hear the decision from the people who underwrote your deal.

One metro, three rent-cap rules

Washington DC's cap for Rent Control Year 2026 is 4.1%, Montgomery County's cap covering Silver Spring MD and Bethesda MD is 5.2% for July 2026 through June 2027, with incorporated Rockville MD carved out of that county law, and Arlington VA, Alexandria VA, and Fairfax VA have no cap at all. The same landlord, three properties apart, can face three different ceilings.

The tax stack turns on the parcel's jurisdiction

Washington DC's Class 1A rate is $0.85 per $100 but jumps to $5.00 on the vacant list; Hyattsville MD carries the highest all-in municipal rate in this file at 1.6220 per $100; Arlington VA and Alexandria VA run $1.05 to $1.14 per $100, and Fairfax VA, an independent city taxed separately from Fairfax County, needs its own confirmed rate before you underwrite it. Pull the parcel's own rate before you underwrite.

A federal workforce still anchoring three jurisdictions

Federal employment in this metro has fallen by roughly a sixth since the start of 2025, to its lowest level in about thirty years, while unemployment across the metro has held near 4%.

Loan programs in Washington DC

Acquisition through exit, all funded or arranged by one lender.

Fix and Flip in Washington DCRental / DSCR in Washington DCGround-Up Construction in Washington DCCRE Bridge in Washington DCTransactional Funding in Washington DCBank Statement / No-Doc in Washington DCConventional Investment in Washington DCPortfolio Loans in Washington DCCRE Permanent in Washington DCSBA Financing in Washington DC

Washington DC lending questions

Which parts of the Washington DC metro do you lend in?
Fix and flip, DSCR, ground-up, and bridge loans across the District, the Maryland suburbs, and Northern Virginia. We fund investment property in Washington DC, Silver Spring MD, Bethesda MD, and Rockville MD in Montgomery County, Hyattsville MD in Prince George's County, and Arlington VA, Alexandria VA, and Fairfax VA in Northern Virginia. USA Mortgage is headquartered in Bee Cave, Texas, and funds deals in most states with our own capital. Every loan is business-purpose only, on investment property, and terms are subject to underwriting. See loan programs or talk to us.
Does one rent-control rule cover the whole DC metro?
No. The District, Montgomery County, and Northern Virginia each run their own rule, and none of them blend. Washington DC's Rental Housing Act covers rental housing by default unless an exemption is claimed and registered, and the Rent Control Year 2026 cap is 4.1% for most tenants. Montgomery County, covering Silver Spring MD, Bethesda MD, and Rockville MD, runs its own rent stabilization law at a 5.2% cap for July 2026 through June 2027, though Rockville's incorporation carves it out of that county law. Arlington VA, Alexandria VA, and Fairfax VA have no rent control at all; Virginia localities lack the authority to enact it. Prince George's County, home to Hyattsville MD, has no rent stabilization rule verified in our research, in either direction. Talk to your CPA or attorney about your own property. See the DSCR program. Subject to underwriting.
Does TOPA apply outside the District?
No. TOPA is a Washington DC law; no Maryland or Virginia analogue was found in our research. The Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act requires a District owner to give a tenant a bona fide opportunity to purchase before selling a housing accommodation with two or more units. The RENTAL Act, effective December 31, 2025, exempted most owner-held 2 to 4 unit buildings and buildings under 15 years old from the Offer of Sale, but an investor holding several District properties through entities generally does not qualify for that exemption. Montgomery County's own multifamily right-of-first-refusal regime was not researched here, so a Silver Spring MD or Bethesda MD page must not claim there is no such rule. Arlington VA, Alexandria VA, and Fairfax VA carry no TOPA-style law. Talk to a real estate attorney before you take a tenanted building to market. See the fix and flip program. Subject to underwriting.
How different are property tax rates across the metro?
Wide enough that the parcel's jurisdiction, not the metro, sets the bill. Washington DC's Class 1A residential rate is $0.85 per $100 of assessed value, but a stalled rehab can land on the Class 3 vacant list at $5.00 or the Class 4 blighted list at $10.00. Hyattsville MD, in Prince George's County, carries the metro's highest all-in municipal rate at 1.6220 per $100, the tradeoff for its lowest submarket values. Arlington VA's adopted CY2026 base rate is $1.053 per $100 and Alexandria VA's is $1.135. Fairfax VA, the independent city we serve here, taxes separately from the surrounding Fairfax County and hasn't been independently verified in our research, so confirm the city's current rate with its own assessor before you underwrite it. Montgomery County, covering Silver Spring MD, Bethesda MD, and Rockville MD, runs a stacked levy that totals about 1.1521 per $100 for typical unincorporated territory. Talk to your CPA about your own parcel. Subject to underwriting.
Can I run a short-term rental anywhere in this metro?
Not as an investor. Every jurisdiction located here requires the operator's primary residence. Washington DC only licenses a short-term rental to an individual using it as a primary residence; a business entity cannot hold the license. Montgomery County, covering Silver Spring MD, Bethesda MD, and Rockville MD, requires the same primary-residence standard alongside a 120-day cap when the owner is absent. Arlington VA requires the operator to live in the unit at least 185 days a year. Alexandria VA, Fairfax VA, and Hyattsville MD's short-term rental rules were not confirmed in our research; do not assume any of them has no rule. Plan your metro exit as a long-term rental or a sale. See the DSCR program. Subject to underwriting.
What credit score do I need for a hard money loan in Washington DC?
On our asset-based programs there is no minimum score. Fix and flip, commercial bridge and ground-up construction are underwritten on the property, the budget and the exit. We do run credit, but it carries far less weight than at a bank, and weaker credit is usually handled with lower leverage rather than a decline. Where a floor does exist it is program-specific: DSCR and bank statement loans start at 640, conventional investment starts at 580, and transactional funding has no credit check at all. There is no hard credit pull to start. See the fix and flip program. Subject to underwriting.
How much do I need to put down on a Washington DC investment property?
It depends on the program, not on the jurisdiction. A fix and flip is funded up to 90% of the purchase price with up to 100% of the rehab budget, capped to ARV, so on a $600,000 purchase that is up to $540,000 from us and $60,000 from you (600,000 x 90% = 540,000). A DSCR or conventional investment loan runs up to 80% LTV, so roughly 20% down, and ground-up construction runs up to 85% of cost, so roughly 15% of the build. What the jurisdiction does change is the cash you need on top: a District deed at or above $400,000 carries a 2.9% combined recordation and transfer tax stack that Arlington VA and Alexandria VA do not. See loan programs. Subject to underwriting.

Sources: code.dccouncil.gov, law.lis.virginia.gov

What is the smallest loan you will write in the Washington DC metro?
$100K on most of our residential investor programs. Fix and flip, DSCR rental and bank statement loans all start at $100K. The two floors that sit higher are SBA at $350K and portfolio loans at $500K, and a portfolio loan also needs five or more properties. At the other end, ground-up construction runs up to $5M and commercial bridge up to $10M. If your deal sits under a floor, talk to us and we will point you at the right structure. Subject to underwriting.
Serving Washington DC and nearby
Washington DCSilver Spring MDBethesda MDRockville MDHyattsville MDArlington VAAlexandria VAFairfax VA
Other markets
TexasCaliforniaWashingtonNorth CarolinaColoradoOklahomaFloridaGeorgiaTennesseeAustinDallasHoustonSan AntonioFort WorthTampaAtlantaNashvilleKilleenCollege StationDentonLubbockMcAllenMidlandOrlandoFort MyersCorpus ChristiEl PasoWacoTylerJacksonvilleMiamiFort LauderdaleWest Palm BeachOklahoma CityTulsaCharlotteGreensboroRaleighSarasotaColorado SpringsDenverFort CollinsSeattleTacomaSpokaneVancouverLos AngelesInland EmpireSan DiegoSacramentoCentral ValleyBakersfieldEverettBellinghamOlympiaTri-CitiesYakimaOrange CountyStocktonSan FranciscoOaklandNew BraunfelsGalvestonSan JoseSan Luis ObispoOxnardSanta RosaSan MarcosLaredoBoulderPuebloGrand JunctionNormanStillwaterLawtonEdmondBroken ArrowEnidMuskogeeSan BernardinoSan MateoSanta BarbaraFriscoWaxahachieForneyRockwallShermanSt. LouisSt. CharlesSpringfieldColumbiaMissouriKansas CityLibertyArnoldJoplinSee the map
About the local figures on this page

Local rules move. Every tax rate, fee, ordinance and market figure here comes from a primary source and carries the date we read it, and we correct them as the rules change. Where a number is mid-change or we could not verify it, we say so rather than guess. Before you commit a budget, confirm anything that drives it with the city or county, and talk to your attorney or CPA on questions of law or tax.

Published by USA Mortgage Funding, LLC, NMLS #152588. Researched from primary sources by our team, drafted with AI assistance, and every figure checked against its source before publishing. Where an answer rests on a public record, that record is linked under it. Figures read on 2026-08-15.

Funding Washington DC deals fast.

Get real terms, usually same day. No obligation, no hard credit pull to start.

Apply nowTalk to us