Chase Home Equity Loan Review

Whether you’re an existing Chase customer or not, America’s largest bank may be the right fit for your home equity needs. Though Chase isn’t currently offering home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) or traditional home equity loans, you may qualify for a cash-out refinance. Keep reading to learn whether this home lending option could work for you.

Best option for borrowers with good credit

Chase doesn’t explicitly list its minimum credit score requirement online, but most lenders require at least a 620 FICO rating to take cash out of your home’s equity. You will likely need this score or higher to qualify for a loan from Chase.

If you meet the bank’s credit and income requirements, you can look forward to fast funding and potential interest rate discounts of up to 0.5%. Otherwise, it may be worth it to look into how to get a home equity loan with bad credit. Take a more detailed look at the pros and cons of a Chase cash-out refinance below.

Chase home equity pros and cons

Pros explained

Access funds three days after closing

Chase gives you full access to your lump sum loan payment three days after closing. That’s in line with competitors like Rocket Mortgage, and provides clarity that you can use for planning purposes. Just keep in mind that it can take between 30 and 45 days to get approval for a home loan.

Fixed interest rates for the life of the loan

Chase’s cash-out refinance loans offer fixed interest rates for the lifespan of the lending agreement. Unlike variable interest rates, fixed rates keep your monthly payments the same for your entire repayment period. However, there are pros and cons to this.

On the plus side, if you apply for a home equity loan when interest rates are low, you can lock in low rates for the life of the lending agreement. But if you apply for a home equity loan when rates are high, you would need to look into alternative solutions to improve the rate in the future. For instance, you might need to apply for a refinancing loan from another company to improve your rate.

Rate discounts of up to 0.25%

You may be able to qualify for loyalty-based interest rate discounts on your cash-out refinance from Chase. The company offers these to existing customers that meet thresholds for deposits and investments.

If you have between $500,000 and $999,999 in accounts with Chase Bank, the company will decrease your interest rate offer by 0.125%. If you have a million dollars or more in your accounts, your rate will decrease by 0.25%.

Chase’s website notes that its maximum rate discount per client is 0.5%. This means that you may be able to enjoy the 0.25% discount on another loan, such as a personal loan or original mortgage for an investment property, in addition to your cash-out refinance.

Earned second place in the latest J.D. Power customer satisfaction poll

Chase has high rates of customer satisfaction as a lender, as evidenced by the latest J.D. Power polls for mortgage provider satisfaction. The company took home second place in the survey of nearly 6,000 consumers, beating out competitors like Bank of America and Citibank in the process. Only Rocket Mortgage earned a higher score.

Cons explained

Chase HELOCs are no longer available to new applicants

Chase Bank HELOCs are unfortunately no longer offered. The company may decide to reinstitute this home equity product at some point in the future but currently has not set any timelines for making that decision. We are therefore highlighting the cash-out refinance, another loan product that allows you to access your home’s equity as cash.

Doesn’t offer traditional home equity loans

Another downside is that Chase lacks a traditional home equity loan. You can’t take out a second mortgage on your home through this institution. You can only refinance your primary mortgage with Chase and take cash out of your equity in the process.

Terms and eligibility criteria are not clearly listed online

One challenge with Chase’s fixed-rate home equity loans is a lack of transparency. The company doesn’t publish its minimum credit score requirement or any other eligibility criteria. There’s also no clarity around loan terms.

That being said, you can pre-qualify for a cash-out refinance online. Completing the pre-qualification process will let you know whether you can qualify for a home equity loan from Chase before you submit a full application.

Chase home equity offerings

Chase’s home equity loan offerings are more limited than you may expect from a financial institution of its size and customer base. The only current option is a cash-out refinance loan, although the company could expand its home equity product line in the future.

Home equity lines of credit

Chase accepted HELOC applications until 2020 when it paused the offering due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, at least one executive has hinted that the company is considering bringing back the product. However, there have been no indications that this will happen anytime soon.

Cash-out refinance loans

The only real home equity loan option that Chase offers today is its cash-out refinance loans. These involve refinancing your full primary mortgage so that the terms and interest rates you had in the past are replaced by a new home loan from Chase. In the process of refinancing your home with Chase, you can tap into some of the equity that you have built up.

Cash-out refinances can be advantageous if your current mortgage has a higher fixed interest rate than you want. They allow homeowners to take advantage of improvements in their creditworthiness to secure lower interest rates while also accessing upfront cash from equity.

However, this can be a double-edged sword. Even if you’re happy with your current loan terms and interest rate, they would still be reset if you accepted a cash-out refinance from Chase (or any other institution). If you want to keep your primary mortgage the same, consider researching the best home equity loans from other providers.

Chase loan pricing

Chase’s pricing isn’t clearly stated. However, the company does note that borrowers will need to pay closing costs on their cash-out refinance. These can include application fees, appraisal charges and title costs. You can also look up your potential refinancing interest rates on Chase’s website by entering your zip code. The rates you see won’t be actual offers from Chase, but they can give you a sense of the general interest range you may qualify for based on your home’s location.

Chase financial stability

J.P. Morgan Chase is a financially stable institution, as evidenced by the “stable” ratings it received from Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch. A stable rating means that an institution’s financial stability isn’t trending up or down but is projected to remain the same. That’s a good sign for Chase, which also has ratings within the “A” category from each of the third-party institutions mentioned above.

Chase accessibility

If you’re interested in a Chase cash-out refinance loan, the next step is determining whether the product is available for you. We take a closer look at this below while highlighting other factors in accessibility, such as customer support and user experience.

Availability

Chase doesn’t explicitly say that it only offers cash-out refinancing to customers in certain states or those that meet specific eligibility criteria. If you want to learn whether this product is an option for you, your best bet is to go through the pre-qualification process online.

Contact information

Chase’s phone number for mortgage and refinancing inquiries is (800) 848-9380. The company doesn’t provide operating hours for this number, but its other phone numbers have the following availability:

• Monday through Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET
• Saturday: 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET

If you're an existing customer, you also have the option of sending a message to Chase through your online account. The company says it responds to these messages within 24 hours.

User experience

Chase offers all of the modern convenience you would expect from a bank of its size, with mobile apps for Android and iOS devices as well as an easy-to-navigate online account interface. There are also more than 4,700 physical Chase branches across the country where you can talk face-to-face about home equity loans with banking professionals.

Chase customer satisfaction

Third-party polling suggests that Chase’s customer satisfaction concerning its lending products is quite high. The company earned second place in J.D. Power’s latest consumer poll for mortgage origination satisfaction.

How we evaluated Chase home equity loans

We considered each of the following factors while creating this review of Chase’s home equity loan options:

• Product offerings: We looked at Chase’s total home equity product line to evaluate the company’s potential fit for different types of borrowers.
• Support availability: We considered both the type of support Chase offers and its hours of availability.
• Customer satisfaction: We looked at polling from third-party rating agencies to evaluate how satisfied customers are with Chase’s mortgage offerings.
• Discount opportunities: We evaluated Chase’s loyalty-based rate discounts when assessing the affordability of its lending products.
• Funding timelines: We considered how quickly borrowers receive the home equity funds they qualify for.

These factors may not encompass everything that matters to you while evaluating your home equity lending options. If you need to conduct further research, you can do so by visiting Chase's website, contacting the company's customer service phone number or visiting a branch in person. Some information, such as credit limit details, origination fees and income requirements, is not publically listed on the bank's website.

Summary of Money's Chase home equity loan review

Today, Chase home equity lending's only real offering is a cash-out refinance. If that’s what you’re looking for, the bank could be a good fit for your needs thanks to its loyalty-based discounts and high rates of customer satisfaction. However, the company’s lack of alternative home equity options makes it a non-starter for borrowers interested in other mortgage refinancing products.