Line of Credit....DENIED!

[Bob Houston]

Hello BP community. Here is the scenario. I own free and clear my house ($475,000 value). Credit score is 800. No other debt. I have NEVER been late on any payment. Also, we own a service business and purposely pay ourselves a low salary of 20K a year. I wanted a 100K line of credit to get started in REI.

After about 2 weeks, we were denied. The agent said it was due to low income.

Does anyone have any referrals to another loan company that might work with us?

Thanks in advance!

[Andrew Postell]

@Bob Houston is this your primary home or an investment property? Actually it may not even matter. I would guess that you went to a fairly large bank to apply for this product. Most large banks are going to underwrite you in a traditional method for a HELOC. Most large banks will not view a self-employed person favorably. What you need to do is find a local, smaller bank that would underwrite you differently. It might take a few phone calls. Some banks may only lend on your primary home and some may only lend on an investment property. Hope this helps.