How We Source Our Rates
RallyRates is a rate publisher, not a lender or a broker. Everything on the board comes from data that's already public, gathered the polite way and presented straight. Here's exactly how — because a benchmark you can't audit isn't worth much.
Where the numbers come from
- Market benchmarks (the backbone). Public data: the Optimal Blue Mortgage Market Indices (OBMMI) — daily rates built from actual locked loans — plus Freddie Mac's PMMS survey and U.S. Treasury yields, all via the Federal Reserve's FRED. These are the same series the industry quotes.
- Named lenders. Polite, roughly once-a-day reads of lenders' own public rate pages. If a page is blocked, or hides its rate behind your personal details, we skip it — a block is a "no." We're a monitor, not a scraper.
What we don't do
- No lead generation. There are no application links, no "get matched," no selling your information — because we don't collect it. No name, no email, no phone required to see a rate.
- No pay-for-placement. No lender pays to appear or to rank. The board sorts by lowest APR, period. That neutrality is the entire point.
- No point-inflated headline. Our Index excludes rates that were bought down with points, so the benchmark reflects the true par market, not a number flattered by upfront fees.
Honest limits
Not all lenders or offers are shown, and coverage grows over time — thinness shows up as absence, never as filler. Every figure is stamped with its source and date; rates are informational benchmarks "as of" that timestamp, not live quotes, and they change constantly. Confirm any rate with the lender before you rely on it. Full terms are on the Terms and License pages.
Common questions
Does RallyRates take money from the lenders it lists?
No. No lender pays to appear or to rank — the board sorts strictly by lowest APR. That neutrality is the entire product; there's nothing for a lender to buy.
Do I have to give my email or phone number to see rates?
No. There's no sign-up and no lead capture — no name, email, or phone required — because we don't collect personal information at all.
How current are the rates you publish?
Market benchmarks update daily from OBMMI and Treasury data via FRED; named-lender pages are read about once a day. Every figure is stamped 'as of' its date — these are informational benchmarks, not live quotes, so confirm any rate with the lender.
Why isn't every lender on the board?
We only publish lenders whose public pages show a rate without demanding your personal details; a blocked or gated page is treated as a 'no.' Coverage grows over time, and thinness shows up as absence, never as filler.
Can I reuse your rate data?
Yes — it's free to quote with attribution, and each figure ships with a ready-to-lift citation naming the source and date. See the License & Reuse page for the terms.
By L.W. Martin, Founder — 20 years in the mortgage business, including 15 running his own brokerage. About → · Updated September 2026.