By Halo Programs
Many of your customers and members own homes with more equity than ever and a first mortgage at a rate they will not give up. When they need money for a roof, a tuition bill or a kitchen, the loan they want is a home equity line, and the lender they could choose is the one that already holds their checking account.
That is the case for HELOC marketing at a community bank or credit union: start with the people who already bank with you, reach them before they shop, and keep the advertising rules in mind from the first draft. This guide covers who to reach first, what Regulation Z requires once a piece mentions terms, the messages that need no terms at all, and how to measure what the campaign produced.
This is general information for lenders, not legal advice. Have your compliance team review any piece before it goes out.
Why home equity, and why now
ICE’s August 2026 Mortgage Monitor reported that mortgage holders’ equity reached a record $18 trillion in the second quarter, and that 47.5 million mortgage holders hold $11.7 trillion in tappable equity. In its March 2026 report, ICE said homeowners withdrew $205 billion of equity in 2025, and that $116 billion of it came through second liens, the largest annual second-lien volume since 2007.
A second lien lets a homeowner borrow against the house and keep the first mortgage untouched. For a borrower with a low first-mortgage rate, that is often the only kind of equity borrowing that makes sense. The demand is there; the question is who it goes to.
HELOC marketing starts with the people who already bank with you
A bank or credit union knows things about its own customers that no outside lender does: who has had a checking account for twelve years, who pays a mortgage to you, who just paid off an auto loan. That knowledge is the advantage, and it is wasted if the home equity campaign goes to a purchased list first.
| Group | Why they are a good first audience | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Borrowers whose first mortgage you service | You know the property, the loan balance and the payment history | Keep the message about the line of credit, not about refinancing the first mortgage they want to keep |
| Deposit customers and members who own a home | An established relationship, with a mortgage held somewhere else | Address and ownership data may be old; verify before mailing |
| Past borrowers whose loans you sold | They chose you once and may not know you offer home equity lines | Remind them who you are first; the servicer’s name is the one on their statement |
| Customers with an upcoming need | Someone who asked about a renovation or a tuition payment has told you what they need | Only use what they told you and what your policies allow |
What Regulation Z requires in a HELOC advertisement
Home equity lines are open-end credit, so their advertising rules are in Regulation Z section 1026.16, not the closed-end rules in 1026.24 that apply to most mortgage mail. The two are easy to confuse. The main requirements for a home equity plan advertisement:
| If the piece says this | It must also say this |
|---|---|
| Any of the plan’s finance charge or rate terms, or its payment terms (including the draw or repayment period), stated positively or negatively | Any loan fee that is a percentage of the credit limit and an estimate of other opening fees; the periodic rate expressed as an annual percentage rate; and the maximum APR for a variable-rate plan |
| An introductory rate that is not based on the plan’s index and margin | How long that rate lasts, and a reasonably current APR based on the index and margin, with equal prominence and close by |
| A minimum payment, where a balloon payment could result | That a balloon payment will result, and its amount and timing, with equal prominence and close by |
| That interest is or may be tax deductible | Nothing misleading about it; and if credit may exceed the home’s value, that interest on that portion is not tax deductible and the borrower should consult a tax adviser |
| “Free money” or a similar term | Not allowed |
In practice, “rates as low as” or “no payments for six months” turns a postcard into a disclosure document. For mail that mentions closed-end mortgage terms, see our guide to mortgage direct mail marketing, and for credit union advertising more broadly, credit union advertising compliance.
Messages that need no loan terms
Many of the best home equity pieces state no rate or payment at all. They remind the customer that the option exists and that their own institution offers it. Illustrative examples:
- “Planning a new roof or a kitchen? Your home’s equity may help. Ask us how a home equity line works.”
- A spring home-improvement card from the borrower’s loan officer, with a direct phone number.
- A note to a member who just paid off an auto loan, thanking them and listing the lending products the credit union offers.
- A homeowner newsletter with one short item on how a line of credit differs from a cash-out refinance.
These read as relationship mail, not solicitation, and they tend to be easier to approve. When a piece does need terms, give it to compliance with the table above.
Timing and channel
Home equity needs tend to follow the calendar: home projects in spring, tuition in late summer, holiday spending and year-end bills in the fall. A campaign that arrives a few weeks before those moments is more useful than one that arrives after the customer has already found financing.
Use mail and email together. Email is inexpensive and fast; a printed piece reaches customers whose email on file is old, and stays on the counter. Send both from a named person at the institution, with a phone number that reaches someone who can take an application.
How to measure it
Count applications and funded lines from the campaign list, not clicks. The cleanest test is a holdout: set aside a random share of the eligible list, send nothing to them, and compare the two groups after a few months. An illustrative example, with invented numbers: 10,000 eligible homeowners, 9,000 contacted and 1,000 held out. If 1.2% of the contacted group opens a line and 0.6% of the holdout does, the campaign produced the difference, about 54 lines, and not the 108 a simple count would credit it with.
Also watch who you are not reaching. Our guide to mortgage recapture rate shows how to count past borrowers who took their next loan somewhere else; the same review will show home equity lines opened with other lenders.
How MortgageHalo handles it
MortgageHalo is mortgage CRM and marketing automation for banks, credit unions and mortgage lenders. For a bank or credit union, the program can be extended to the institution’s entire retail customer or member base, with co-branding where the institution approves it, and can cross-sell the institution’s retail and deposit services. A home equity line is one of those services. Multi-year follow-up programs are most popular with banks and credit unions for this reason: they have more services to offer the people they already serve.
What that means in practice for home equity:
- The institution owns the offer. Your bank or credit union decides whether to offer a line, its rates and terms, and who qualifies. Your compliance team approves each piece before it goes out.
- Halo runs the marketing. Halo writes and designs the pieces, schedules the emails, and prints and mails the cards and postcards, under the institution’s name and branding.
- Applications go to you. Halo does not originate, underwrite, fund or service home equity lines. A customer who responds talks to your lender, and your institution makes every credit decision.
Halo handles the setup, content, scheduling and delivery, and does programming, marketing, and print and mail in-house. Halo has run retention programs since 1973, and for mortgage lenders since the late 1980s. For more ways to reach existing customers, see community bank marketing ideas, or how a borrower satisfaction survey starts the relationship after closing.
Schedule a MortgageHalo Demo to see how a program for your customers or members would run.
Sources: ICE Mortgage Monitor press release, August 10, 2026 (second-quarter 2026 data); ICE Mortgage Monitor, March 2026 report (2025 data); Regulation Z, 12 CFR 1026.16(b) and (d), as published by the CFPB (read October 18, 2026). The $89 billion is $205 billion less $116 billion. Examples and the holdout figures are illustrative.
