Title sits in an LLC
An LLC on title disqualifies the file at nearly every retail HELOC lender before income is discussed — entity vesting simply is not in their guidelines. The workable routes are the handful of wholesale programs that accept LLC vesting on investment property, or deeding to yourself where your lender and liability strategy allow it.
The situation
You did what every asset-protection article says: the rentals live in LLCs. Then you asked for an equity line and discovered the same structure that protects you also walls off the retail credit market.
Why the usual channels say no
- Consumer equity products are written for people, not entities; LLC title fails the vesting gate on page one.
- Even lenders comfortable with rentals often require deeding out of the LLC before closing — undoing the structure you built.
- Published matrices that do allow entities usually restrict it to investment occupancy with ownership-percentage rules.
What actually places it
A short list of wholesale second-lien programs accept LLC vesting on investment property — typically requiring the borrowers to hold a controlling share of the entity and to sign a personal guaranty.
Investor-channel DSCR seconds and HELOCs are the most natural fit: entity title, property-based income, no pretense that this is a consumer file.
A worked example
A two-property landlord with the duplex vested in an LLC:
- Duplex value
- $680,000
- First mortgage (kept in place)
- $300,000
- Cash needed
- $110,000
- Combined loan-to-value
- 60.3%
- Borrower share of the LLC
- 100%
Leverage is easy here; the entire placement question is which lenders’ vesting language this LLC satisfies — a list, not a mystery.
Illustration with rounded figures — a scenario review, subject to full underwriting, credit approval, and property review.
Questions people bring to this page
Should I just deed the property out of the LLC?
Sometimes — but check your first mortgage’s due-on-sale posture and talk to whoever designed your liability structure first. A placement that requires dismantling your protection may not be a win.
Will I have to sign a personal guaranty?
Almost certainly. Entity vesting changes whose name is on title, not who stands behind the debt.
Does my primary residence in an LLC work the same way?
No — a primary residence in an LLC is a harder file, since the programs that accept entity vesting are built for investment occupancy. Expect the private-money conversation.