Chase HELOC: Status as of 2026

The pause, and the 2025 relaunch

JPMorgan Chase announced in April 2020 that it would pause new HELOC originations effective immediately, citing the operational impact of COVID-era credit-tightening and the bank's capital-allocation priorities. The pause was part of a broader retreat by several large banks from consumer home equity products, including Wells Fargo (which paused HELOCs in the same window and, as of 2026, has not relaunched). For roughly five years Chase directed equity-seeking customers to its cash-out refinance product instead.

Chase reintroduced the HELOC in late 2025, positioning it against the record levels of tappable home equity US homeowners now hold. The relaunched line is not a copy of the pre-2020 product. The most important difference is that Chase now requires borrowers to draw at least 85% of the approved credit line at closing, rather than opening the line and drawing on demand. That single feature makes the new Chase HELOC behave more like a lump-sum second mortgage than a flexible revolving line for the first few years.

For customers, the practical effect is that Chase is again a real option for a new HELOC, but it is a structurally different one. If you want a line you can open now and draw against slowly over a decade, Chase's required 85% initial draw and roughly three-year draw window may not fit. If you have a defined, large, near-term funding need, the required draw is less of a constraint. The Chase relationship itself does not carry any HELOC underwriting advantage at other banks; applying at Bank of America, US Bank, or a credit union proceeds as a normal third-party application regardless of an existing Chase deposit relationship.

How the relaunched Chase HELOC works

Terms from Chase's home equity line of credit product and eligibility pages (chase.com) and 2026 lender reviews, verified September 2026. Chase sets the offered rate and limit individually at application and does not publish a full underwriting matrix.

Because Chase requires an 85% initial draw, you begin paying interest on most of the line immediately, whether or not you have deployed the funds. Payments are interest-only for the first 10 years, which keeps the early monthly cost low, and then the balance converts to a fully amortizing principal-and-interest payment over a 20-year repayment period. The roughly three-year draw window governs how long you can pull the remaining unused portion of the line before it closes to new advances.

Cash-out refinance from Chase: how it compares

Chase also offers cash-out refinances on conventional, FHA, and VA first mortgages, and for some borrowers that remains the better equity-access route. A cash-out refinance replaces your existing first mortgage entirely with a new, larger first mortgage. You receive the difference in cash at closing, less origination costs and the payoff of the existing first. The rate is typically fixed for 15 or 30 years at first-mortgage market rates, giving payment certainty, but the amortization clock resets to a new 15 or 30 year term, which lowers the monthly payment while extending total interest cost.

Closing costs on a cash-out refinance are higher than on a HELOC, typically 2% to 4% of the new loan amount versus roughly 0% to 2% on a HELOC, reflecting full-mortgage origination costs. Title insurance is recalculated against the new loan amount and is typically borrower-paid. The math favours a cash-out refinance when current first-mortgage rates are at or below the rate on your existing first mortgage and you want long-term payment certainty. It favours a HELOC (Chase's or another lender's) when current first-mortgage rates sit well above your existing rate, because refinancing the whole balance just to access equity would reprice your entire mortgage at the higher rate.

For a homeowner with an existing low-rate first mortgage (originated 2020 to 2022 at rates of 2.75% to 4.00%), a cash-out refinance is usually a poor choice, because it would refinance the low-rate balance into today's higher first-mortgage rate. Borrowers in that profile who want revolving flexibility rather than a required upfront draw should compare Chase's HELOC against a second HELOC from another lender rather than defaulting to the refinance.

How Chase compares to other lenders

Chase is now a genuine option again, but its required 85% initial draw and roughly three-year draw window make it less flexible than the standard 10/20 revolving lines at several competitors. For a borrower who wants to open a line and draw slowly, Bank of America is the closest large-bank alternative: a 10/20 product with low or zero closing costs, an autopay rate discount, and BofA Rewards relationship discounts based on combined account balances. US Bank (10/20 HELOC), Citizens (up to 85% CLTV), PNC Choice HELOC (convert-to-fixed feature), and Truist all offer comparable revolving structures without a mandatory large initial draw.

Credit unions are often cheaper than any large bank if the borrower is eligible: Navy Federal for military and select federal employees, PenFed via open membership, and Alliant via open eligibility, plus the borrower's local community credit unions. For customers who prioritize speed and a digital-first experience over rate, Figure and Aven fund faster but at higher rates. Figure's product is a fixed-rate single-advance loan carrying a HELOC label, which removes the revolving feature but locks the rate; Aven's is accessed via a Visa card. Against all of these, Chase's new HELOC fits a borrower with a defined, large, near-term need who values the Chase relationship, more than one who wants an idle standby line.