DSCR HELOC — a rental property equity line qualified on the rent
Loan Program

Let the rental qualify its own line of credit.

A DSCR HELOC is a home equity line on a rental property qualified on the property’s rent instead of your tax returns: a second lien behind the first mortgage you keep, up to 70% combined loan-to-value at a 720 credit profile, lines from $50,000 to $500,000, or a first-lien line on a paid-off rental to $1,000,000. No personal income calculation, vesting in your LLC allowed, an automated valuation with a property inspection on lines to $400,000, a five-year interest-only draw and a twenty-five-year repayment. Written in fifteen of Lendmire’s sixteen licensed states.

The Fundamentals

The rent carries the line. The first mortgage stays.

A DSCR HELOC applies the debt-service-coverage idea to a line of credit. The lender reads the rental’s gross rent — the lesser of the lease and the appraiser’s market-rent schedule — and divides it by the qualifying payment: a fully amortizing payment on the entire credit limit at a stress rate two points above the start rate. The ratio must reach 1.10. Your tax returns, W-2s, and debt-to-income ratio never enter the file, which is why the line works for the landlord whose returns understate the business, whose personal ratio is full, or whose rentals sit in an LLC that an income-qualified line would have to deed out.

The line is sized the way every home equity line is: the rental’s value times the combined loan-to-value ceiling for the credit tier and lien position, minus the balance already on the property, capped at the program maximum. Behind a first mortgage the ceiling is 70% at a 720 profile with lines from $50,000 to $500,000; on a rental with no mortgage the line stands first, starts at 700, reaches 75% at 740 on lines to $500,000, and runs to $1,000,000 at 65%. Lines to $400,000 are valued by an automated model with a property inspection report; larger lines take a full interior appraisal. At least 80% of the line, and $50,000, funds at closing; later draws are $5,000 or more; the draw period is five years interest-only, the repayment twenty-five.

Three Ways To Reach Rental Equity

Pick the route that fits the file.

The same rental can reach its equity three ways. They differ in what qualifies the borrower and in what happens to the first mortgage; the DSCR HELOC is the only one that reads the rent and leaves the entity on title.

Leverage limits, credit floors, line sizes, the coverage ratio, and the draw rules are wholesale program parameters, not offers. The valuation, the lease, the credit report, the entity review, and the lender’s own calculation decide every file. No rate, index, payment, or fee is stated on this page. Lendmire is a mortgage broker, not a lender.
Program Highlights

What makes the DSCR HELOC different.

Qualified On The Rent
Gross rent divided by the qualifying payment on the full line must reach 1.10. No tax returns, no W-2s, no personal debt-to-income ratio; a lease in place, with one vacant unit allowed on a two-to-four-unit property.
LLC Vesting Allowed
The line closes in the entity that holds the rental. The members sign as guarantors, non-borrowing owners acknowledge, and the deed never moves to a personal name before or after closing.
Automated Valuation To $400,000
Lines to $400,000 are valued by an automated model with a property inspection report; lines above take a full interior appraisal. Appraisal waivers are not accepted, and a model that misses the confidence standard goes to an appraisal.
Keep The First Mortgage
A standalone second lien up to 70% combined loan-to-value at 720, lines to $500,000; or a first-lien line on a paid-off rental to $1,000,000. Five-year interest-only draw, twenty-five-year repayment, no reserves, six months of seasoning.
Why Lendmire

Every rental file read against all three routes.

A lender with one rental-line program sells that program. Lendmire reads every rental file against the rent-qualified line, the income-qualified line, and the DSCR cash-out refinance on the same figures: the ceiling and the floor on one side, the paperwork and the first-mortgage rate on the other. The landlord with clean returns may do better on the income-qualified line; the one whose rate is no longer worth keeping may do better on the refinance. The comparison is made on the file, and the owner sees it before an offer is written.

We place DSCR HELOCs with select lenders in our wholesale network — the lender is never named on these pages — and the terms come in writing from a licensed loan officer. A home equity line is a licensed consumer product even on a rental, so the line is arranged under Lendmire’s consumer licensing in sixteen states, with the disclosures and the written terms that attach to a licensed home equity line; this program is written in fifteen of them.

Learning Center

Know before you borrow.

Guides, scenario breakdowns, and rental equity-line strategy from our licensed loan officers.

  • Complete Guide For A DSCR HELOC

    Complete Guide For A DSCR HELOC

    Getting the distinction right before applying saves a file from stalling mid-underwrite.

  • DSCR HELOC

    DSCR HELOC

    “DSCR HELOC” isn’t one standardized loan — it’s a label the market uses loosely for two different things.

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Available In 15 States

DSCR HELOCs, state by state.

The rent test, the tiers, and the draw rules are the same across the footprint, and a few states add rules of their own. Explore the tiers, the markets, and the scenarios for your state.