Trouble accessing equity on rental property?

[Andrew Korver]

I am running into a roadblock with my current financial institution opening an equity line of credit on a property in my rental portfolio. I have roughly 90-100k in equity and the lender is saying it won’t be possible to obtain a line of credit on a non owner-occupied residence. This sounds like more like their own institutional lending policy versus actual reality/regulation. Can anyone shed light on this? My understanding is that I should be able to access this equity without a “cash-out” style refinance. Thanks in advance!

[Kyle J.]

@Andrew Korver  You're right...it's just your financial institution's own policy that doesn't allow them to do a line of credit on non-owner occupied properties.  Other lenders can and do offer them.  (I have two from two different lenders.) 

You'll just have to call around until you find the ones in your area that do them on rentals.  Here's some questions you can ask when calling around: What You Need to Know When Shopping for a HELOC.

Good luck.