Best-Of Awards 2025 Methodology - Best Mortgage Lender for Home Equity Lines of Credit

Best-Of Awards 2025 Methodologies

Best Mortgage Lender for Home Equity Lines of Credit

Methodology:

All reviewed mortgage lenders are evaluated against the criteria below. The lender with the highest raw score is our Best Mortgage Lender for Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOCs).

1. Market share of home equity lines of credit.
2. HELOC fees.
3. Maximum combined loan-to-value (CLTV).
4. Fixed-rate repayment option.
5. Draw and repayment terms.
6. Initial draw.
7. HELOC customer experience.
8. Transparency for consumers about key factors.

Tiebreaker:
1. Lowest HELOC fees.

How we picked the lenders to evaluate:

NerdWallet reviewed more than 50 mortgage lenders, including the majority of the largest U.S. mortgage lenders by annual loan volume (measured among lenders with at least a 1% market share), lenders with significant online search volume and those that specialize in serving various audiences across the country. We rated them on criteria including rate transparency, loan types offered and more.

Some of the providers are NerdWallet partners, but this did not influence our selection of the winner.

How we chose the winner:

The winner is the mortgage lender that had the highest raw score when evaluated against NerdWallet's HELOC lender star-rating rubric: Market share of home equity lines of credit (20%), HELOC fees (15%), maximum CLTV (10%), fixed-rate repayment option (10%), draw and repayment terms (10%), required initial draw (10%), HELOC customer experience (10%) and transparency for consumers about rates, time to close and accessing funds (15%). Points may be deducted for any recent regulatory action pertaining to the company’s mortgage lending business. In the event of a tie, the winner must offer the lowest HELOC fees.

How we verified our data:

NerdWallet solicits information from reviewed lenders on a recurring basis throughout the year. All lender-provided information is verified through lender websites and interviews. Market share analysis is based on data from National Mortgage News and Inside Mortgage Finance.

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