Aylea Wilkins has been at Bankrate since 2019, editing content in student, personal and home equity loans and auto, home and life insurance before taking on editing content in a variety of other categories. She has nearly a decade of editorial experience with a primary focus on helping people confidently make financial and purchasing decisions by providing clear and unbiased information.
Troy Segal is a senior editor for Bankrate. She edits stories about mortgages and home equity, along with the finer financial points of owning and maintaining a home.
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At a glance
NMLS: 433960
Bankrate Score
Bankrate scores are objectively determined by our editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors consumers should consider when choosing financial products and services.
Star ranking and total number reflects the lifetime customer reviews received while this lender has been an advertiser on Bankrate.
To help serve you with relevant information, the customer reviews shown are limited to only those that this advertiser has received during the past 12 months.
Starting at $17,500 for HELOC; $5,000-$25,000 for GoalBuilder HELOC
Min. credit score required
Undisclosed
Repayment terms
10-year draw period and 15-year repayment term
Funds available in
14 days
Recent customer reviews
The customer reviews posted on Bankrate.com ("Bankrate") are individual, subjective opinions of reviewers, and not of Bankrate. Bankrate does not endorse any of the opinions expressed by reviewers or any responses to reviews. Bankrate cannot guarantee or verify the accuracy of the opinions shared by individual reviewers, and reserves the right to reject or remove any review, at any time, for any reason at Bankrate’s sole discretion, including but not limited to those that Bankrate deems inappropriate, fraudulent, invalid, irrelevant, or otherwise outside the parameters of the Bankrate Review Guidelines, the
Privacy Policy, or the Terms of Use.
Rating: 1 stars out of 5
Couldn't Produce a Set of Loan Docs for My Review
I worked with Citizens this past week to do a HELOC. My home had loads of equity available. I'm a high income earner, credit scores are good. This was a done deal, they had already done a drive by on the property, and I had provided all the required documentation. They advertised 2 or 3 weeks t...
There are no closing costs or application fees for a HELOC from Citizens Bank, and you won’t pay an annual fee (normally $50) for the first year. The GoalBuilder HELOC doesn’t impose this fee, nor a prepayment penalty.
During the 10-year draw period, you can choose to make interest-only payments or payments that include principal and interest.
Drawbacks
You’ll only be able to apply for a HELOC with Citizens Bank if you’re a borrower in Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia or Washington, D.C.
The bank charges an annual HELOC fee of $50 after your first year.
Home equity loan products offered
Citizens Bank offers a standard HELOC and its proprietary GoalBuilder HELOC. Both have variable interest rates.
Among the benefits of the standard HELOC, you can get a 0.25 discount off your rate if you sign up for automatic payments from a Citizens checking account (or auto-withdrawal from any checking account, depending on where you live). The line of credit has a 10-year draw period and a 15-year repayment term. While you can pay both principal and interest during the draw period, you only have to make payments on interest at that time. You’ll need to take out a line for a minimum of $17,500.
The bank’s GoalBuilder HELOC, in contrast, allows you to take out as little as $5,000 and up to $25,000. It has no annual fee or prepayment penalty, but is only available in some states.
Types of fees charged
While Citizens Bank doesn’t charge an application fee or closing costs on HELOCs, it does charge late fees, as well as a $50 annual fee after the first year. Its GoalBuilder HELOC doesn’t come with the annual fee or a prepayment penalty.
How to qualify for a HELOC with Citizens Bank
Citizens Bank looks at three main factors when determining eligibility for a HELOC: your credit history (FICO score); your loan-to-value (LTV) ratio; and your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio. The bank doesn’t disclose credit score requirements, but to get the best HELOC rates, you’ll need an LTV ratio of 80 percent or less.
How to apply with Citizens Bank
You can apply for a HELOC on Citizens Bank’s website or by calling 888-333-1206, Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET, Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET or Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. ET. Once you’ve submitted a HELOC application, a loan officer will respond to you within one business day. From there, they’ll provide next steps for your application.
During the online application process, you’ll need employment details and the date of birth and Social Security number for you and your co-applicant, if you have one, along with two of your most recent pay stubs. Additionally, you’ll need information on the property, including its current value, the year it was built, the purchase date and price, your current mortgage payment and details on any existing liens. You’ll also need your homeowners insurance and property tax information.
How Bankrate scored Citizens Bank
Affordability
9.6/10
Availability
7/10
Borrower experience
7.3/10
To determine a home equity lender's Bankrate Score, Bankrate rates lenders on a scale of one (1) to five (5) stars — with five (5) the highest rating — based on a variety of factors relating to the lender's products and services. To assign our ratings, we assessed each mortgage lender across three core areas:
The consumer reviews posted on Bankrate.com ("Bankrate") are individual, subjective opinions of reviewers, and not of Bankrate. Bankrate does not endorse any of the opinions expressed by reviewers or any responses to reviews.
Bankrate cannot guarantee or verify the accuracy of the opinions shared by individual reviewers, and reserves the right to reject or remove any review, at any time, for any reason at Bankrate’s sole discretion, including but not limited to those that Bankrate deems inappropriate, fraudulent, invalid, irrelevant, or otherwise outside the parameters of the Bankrate Review Guidelines, the Privacy Policy, or the Terms of Use.
To help serve you with relevant information, the consumer reviews shown below are limited to only those that this advertiser has received during the past 12 months.
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