Keep your mortgage.
Access your equity.
Reach the equity in your home without repricing the low-rate mortgage you already have.
- Lower rates than cards and personal loans.Secured by your home, and priced like it.2
- Approval in minutes, funding in days.100% online, with no in-person appraisal under $400,000.1
- No out-of-pocket costs.Fees come out of the line, then simple monthly payments.2
Everything above describes the home equity line we place. Other lenders offer different products, terms and guidelines.
Approval in as little as 5 minutes · Funding in as few as 5 daysApproval in minutes · Funding in as few as 5 days1
Check my options
How it works
- Soft inquiry onlySend the form
It starts with a soft credit inquiry, which has no effect on your score.
- Licensed originatorTalk it through with Matt
A licensed originator reviews the numbers with you and tells you what the line can do, and what it cannot.
- 100% onlineApply online when you’re ready
Approval in as little as 5 minutes and funding in as few as 5 days.1
Matt Casillas | C2 Financial Corporation places home equity lines of credit for Southern California homeowners — Orange County and Los Angeles County — and for homeowners throughout California, including the San Francisco Bay Area, through C2 Financial Corporation (NMLS #135622).
640+ credit scoreup to 50% debt-to-incomesecond lien or first positionno condo questionnaire
Sound familiar?
Each of these has its own page and its own answer.
I have a mortgage in the 3s and I’m not touching it to reach my equity.
A HELOC sits behind your first mortgage. Its rate, balance and term don’t change.
Learn moreMy bank turned down my condo because of the building, not me.
No project review, no litigation check, no questionnaire. A recorded condominium qualifies.
Learn moreI’m self-employed and the usual paperwork doesn’t tell my story.
Business owners can qualify from bank deposits rather than tax returns. Here’s who it fits.
Learn moreAn online HELOC declined me and never said why.
The usual reasons, and which ones you can fix before you apply again.
Learn moreI need the money in weeks, not months.
The timeline from inquiry to funding, and the handful of things that slow it down.
Learn moreI own a rental and want to pull equity without refinancing it.
Investment property is eligible from a 680 credit score. What else changes.
Learn moreWhat can I use a home equity line of credit for?
A HELOC can be used for many different purposes such as:
Finance your next project.
Best renovation projects to fund with a HELOC
High interest debt consolidation
Tap equity to simplify debt into one easy payment.
Learn moreEducation
Pay for college tuition at a lower rate.
Learn moreFund business
Finance your business ventures.
Learn moreRetirement
Major purchases, and more.
Learn more“Lower rate” compares a home equity line with credit cards and unsecured personal loans.2
Why nobody is refinancing
The 30-year fixed averaged 7.24% in Freddie Mac’s survey on October 29, 2026. Millions of homeowners hold first mortgages between 2.75% and 4%. Repricing $600,000 of cheap debt to reach $200,000 of equity is a bad trade, which is why second-lien borrowing has grown while refinancing hasn’t.
Know where you stand
before you apply
Credit scores from 640, debt-to-income up to 50%, and eligible cards, auto loans and personal loans may be paid off at closing. Most declines trace back to a handful of rules — here’s each one, with what you can fix.
These are the requirements for the home equity line we place. Other lenders set their own guidelines, and some are more flexible.
Credit score
What credit score do you need for a HELOC?
Learn moreDebt-to-income
How debt-to-income affects your HELOC — and how to fix it
Learn moreProperty types
Which properties qualify for a HELOC?
Learn moreDeclined online
Declined for a HELOC online — what the notice means and what to fix
Learn moreDeed-restricted / BMR
Can you get a HELOC on a below-market-rate or deed-restricted home?
Learn morePACE / solar
Does a PACE assessment or solar lien stop a HELOC?
Learn moreMello-Roos
How Mello-Roos affects how much you can borrow
Learn moreCondos
Can you get a HELOC on a condo without a project review?
Learn more2–4 units
Can you get a HELOC on a duplex, triplex or fourplex?
Learn moreUnpermitted units
Does an unpermitted ADU or garage conversion stop a HELOC?
Learn moreSoft-story retrofit
Can a HELOC fund a mandatory soft-story retrofit?
Learn moreWildfire / insurance
Can you get a HELOC on a home in a wildfire zone or on the FAIR Plan?
Learn moreLand lease
Can you get a HELOC on a land-lease or leasehold home?
Learn moreManufactured homes
Can you get a HELOC on a manufactured or mobile home?
Learn moreListed for sale
Can you get a HELOC while your home is listed for sale?
Learn moreOrange County, Los Angeles County and the Bay Area
IrvineNewport BeachCosta MesaTustinOrangeLaguna BeachYorba LindaVilla ParkSan Juan CapistranoMission ViejoAnaheimHuntington BeachBreaBuena ParkWestminsterLa PalmaSan ClementeLaguna WoodsSanta AnaGarden GroveFullertonLong BeachTorrancePasadenaDowneySan FranciscoOaklandBerkeleyWalnut CreekFremontSan MateoPalo AltoSan Jose
Not on the list? We work with homeowners anywhere in California, including Los Angeles County and San Diego.
What people actually fund
Cost bands for Southern California and the Bay Area, and how to fund each one without touching your mortgage.
Bathroom Remodel
The most common remodel in the county, and the one most often paid for badly.
Learn moreKitchen Remodel
The highest-ticket remodel most homeowners undertake, and the one where financing structure matters most.
Learn moreADU Financing
California’s ADU legislation opened the door. Financing is what decides whether the project happens.
Learn moreRoof, HVAC & Windows
Unplanned, non-deferrable, and almost always arriving at the same time.
Learn morePool & Hardscape
A high-ticket discretionary project, and one where the financing route makes a large difference.
Learn moreEV Charging & Panel
The charger is a thousand-dollar job. The panel behind it is where Orange County quotes jump — and where the financing question starts.
Learn moreStop losing jobs to financing
A homeowner who wants the whole kitchen and can only fund half of it doesn’t become a smaller job. They postpone. Point-of-sale financing solves that with a dealer fee that comes out of your margin or your customer’s price.
A HELOC against equity they already have carries no dealer fee to you. The homeowner compares the APR, origination fee, recording costs and payment, and the amount available depends on their equity, credit, existing liens and debt-to-income.
Is it the right move?
Plain comparisons, including when something else is the better choice.
Disclosures
- Approval may be granted in five minutes but is ultimately subject to verification of income and employment, as well as verification that your property is in at least average condition with a property condition report. Five business day funding timeline assumes closing the loan with a remote online notary, and where loan amounts are under $400,000 which would not require an appraisal. Funding timelines may be longer for loans secured by properties located in counties that do not permit recording of e-signatures or that otherwise require an in-person closing, or that require a waiting period prior to closing, or where loan amounts exceed $400,000. On a primary residence, funds are sent after the three-business-day rescission period ends. Not all applicants will qualify.
- “Typically lower rates” compares home equity lines with credit cards and unsecured personal loans using published national averages, which are secured and unsecured products with different terms. Your rate depends on your application and is shown in your offer. “No out-of-pocket costs” means the origination fee and closing costs are paid from the line rather than in cash at closing; they are still costs, and they appear in your offer alongside the APR.
Questions homeowners ask first
Yes, if you qualify. If you have a first mortgage, the HELOC is a second lien behind it, and that mortgage’s rate, balance and term stay exactly as they are. If you own the home free and clear, the HELOC is in first position.
On the line we place, 640 for most applications. Scores below 640 aren’t eligible. Second homes and investment properties need 680+, and the highest amounts require 760+.
Funds are sent after you sign with a notary and any rescission period ends (three business days on a primary residence), then typically arrive in 2–3 business days. What adds time before signing: a desktop appraisal, a lien payoff statement (up to 14 days), identity or income verification, and ownership documents such as a trust certification. Payments to creditors for eligible debt payoffs can take up to 7 business days after funding.
Yes, if you meet the other requirements. With no mortgage, the HELOC is in first position.
All of California. Our home market is Southern California — Orange County and Los Angeles County, including Irvine, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Tustin and surrounding communities — and we also cover the San Francisco Bay Area, including San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Walnut Creek. We work with homeowners anywhere in the state.
These are the requirements for the home equity line we place. Other lenders set their own guidelines, and some are more flexible.
Find out what your equity will actually do
Unlock liquidity through a fast, digital experience. No need to wait for an in-person appraisal for loans under $400K.1 Competitive rates.2 Faster than a bank loan, often lower cost than a personal loan.12 Eligible for properties held solely, jointly, in a revocable trust, or by an LLC. Get the funds you need now, and move forward with life.