Flagstar Bank HELOC and Home Equity Loan Review (2025)

3.4 _/5

Flagstar earns a 3.4 rating from our team. We generally don’t recommend lenders with ratings below 4.0 due to concerns about transparency, customer experience, and overall value. If you’re looking for stronger options, check out our picks for the best HELOC lenders and best home equity loans instead.

Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC)

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• Offers both HELOCs and home equity loans
• High maximum borrowing amounts (up to $1 million)
• Discounts for automatic payments from a Flagstar account

• Doesn’t offer soft credit check prequalification
• Rates and terms are less transparent than other leading HELOC lenders
• Poor customer reviews on Trustpilot and Better Business Bureau (BBB)

Rates (APR)	Starting at 4.99% for first 6 billing cycles, and then starting at 8.24% variable after intro period
Loan amounts	$10,000 – $1 million
Repayment terms	10-year draw / 20-year repayment

Home Equity Loan

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• No closing costs on home equity loans (borrower pays prepaid interest and state fees)

Rates (APR)	Starting at 8.30% fixed
Loan amounts	$10,000 – $1 million
Repayment terms	10, 15, or 20 years

Table of Contents

1. What is Flagstar Bank?
2. Flagstar HELOC
   1. Rates and terms
   2. How much can I borrow?
   3. Eligibility
   4. Fees and costs
   5. Alternatives
3. Flagstar home equity loan
   1. Rates and terms
   2. How much can I borrow?
   3. Eligibility
   4. Fees and costs
   5. Alternatives
4. Pros and cons
5. Appraisal process
6. How to apply
7. Customer reviews
8. Contact and customer service

What is Flagstar Bank?

Flagstar Bank is a full-service lender with branches in California, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. It offers both home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) and home equity loans (HELOANs), but it lacks the transparency, speed, and customer satisfaction of top-rated lenders.

Flagstar Bank HELOC

Rates and terms

Intro rate (APR)	4.99% for the first 6 billing cycles
Ongoing rate (APR)	As low as 8.24% variable
Loan amounts	$10,000 – $1 million
Draw period	10 years
Repayment period	20 years
Rate discounts	0.25% with automatic payments from a Flagstar account
Fees	$75 annual fee (waived first year); no closing fees if HELOC kept open for 36 months

What to know:

• Flagstar’s intro rate is competitive, but top HELOC lenders including Figure, Aven, and FourLeaf Federal Credit Union offer lower ongoing rates and no annual fee.
• You can’t prequalify with a soft credit check, unlike with Figure and Aven.
• Poor customer reviews note communication delays and unexpected changes in approved amounts. Aven’s HELOC earns the best customer reviews of all the lenders our team rated.

How much can I borrow?

You can borrow between $10,000 and $1 million, depending on your home equity and your creditworthiness. Flagstar allows a maximum combined loan-to-value (CLTV) of 89.99%. That means your current mortgage plus your HELOC cannot exceed 90% of your home’s market value.

Eligibility

Flagstar does not disclose minimum credit score or income requirements for HELOC approval. You must have sufficient equity and a CLTV under 90%. Unlike Figure and Aven, it doesn’t offer prequalification with a soft credit check to assess eligibility without affecting your credit.

Fees and costs

• Annual fee: $75 (waived the first year)
• Closing costs: None if you keep the HELOC open for at least 36 months; otherwise, closing costs may apply
• Appraisal: May be required, but fee details are not disclosed

Alternatives

Here’s how Flagstar compares to our team’s picks for the best HELOC lenders:

Flagstar Bank home equity loan

Rates and terms

Fixed rates (APR)	As low as 8.30%
Loan amounts	$10,000 – $1 million
Repayment terms	10, 15, or 20 years
Rate discounts	0.25% with automatic payments from a Flagstar account
Fees	No closing costs, but borrower pays prepaid interest and state/government fees

What to know:

• No published minimum credit score or income requirement makes it hard to pre-screen eligibility.
• Funding speed is not disclosed. Our top-rated home equity loan lenders are more transparent.

How much can I borrow?

Flagstar offers home equity loans from $10,000 up to $1 million, depending on your equity and financial profile. Its maximum CLTV is 89.99%, similar to the HELOC.

Eligibility

The bank does not list specific credit score or income requirements. Approval is based on home equity, CLTV, credit, and financial history. Flagstar does not provide a soft credit check prequalification process.

Fees and costs

• Closing costs: None
• Other costs: Borrowers pay prepaid interest plus any applicable state and government fees.
• Appraisal: Likely required, but details and fees are not disclosed publicly.

Alternatives

Here’s how Flagstar’s home equity loan compares to several of our team’s picks for top lenders:

Pros and cons

Pros

• Offers both HELOC and home equity loan options

• High max borrowing limits ($1 million)

• Low intro HELOC rate for 6 months

• Rate discount for autopay

Cons

• No soft credit check prequalification

• Poor Trustpilot and BBB reviews

• Less transparent than several competitors

Appraisal process

Flagstar does not publish details about its appraisal process, but generally:

• An in-person appraisal may be required to determine market value, especially for higher loan amounts.
• Appraisers note property condition, improvements, and comparable sales.
• Fees for appraisal may be waived if Flagstar waives other closing costs, but this is not guaranteed.

How to apply

You can apply:

• Online: Submit your requested loan or line of credit amount, purpose, property details, and personal financial information on Flagstar’s website.tru
• By phone: Call 866-379-0270 to apply with a loan advisor.

Customer reviews

Source	Customer rating	Number of reviews
Trustpilot	1.4/5	80
BBB	1.05/5	190

• Customers mention miscalculated monthly payments and unresolved issues.
• Reports of approval amounts changing multiple times before eventual denial.

Contact and customer service

Here’s how to contact Flagstar:

• Phone: 1-800-968-7700 Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern; Saturday, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET
• Online messaging: Log in to your account to send a secure message.
• Chat: Available on homepage.

How we rated Flagstar Bank

We designed LendEDU’s editorial rating system to help readers find companies that offer the best home equity products. Our system awards higher ratings to companies with affordable solutions, positive customer reviews, and online transparency of benefits and terms.

We compared Flagstar to several home equity lenders, using hundreds of data points from company websites, public disclosures, customer reviews, and direct communication with company representatives. We weighted, scored, and combined each factor to produce a final editorial rating. This rating is expressed on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest possible score. Our take is represented in our rating, recapped below.