HELOC's and new Mortgages

[Wei Jie Yang]

Here's my situation. I own 5 pieces of property. One in NYC, which is free and clear, and four rentals in three other states that I bought this year with a mortgage.

Tried signing up for a HELOC on my primary and just got the call from the underwriter of the particular credit union I was using that I was rejected because of the mortgages on my outstanding properties.They will not count the rent of a property until it's been on my tax returns for at least two years.

My question is, is the two year tax return on rental properties standard across all banks and CU's or is it just a particular overlay for that particular credit union? Any strategies to avoid it other than waiting two years?