Home Equity Investment for ADU Construction: Will You Share the Value Your ADU Creates?

How the four ADU financing paths compare in 60 seconds

The single first-screen table on this page. Save it, screenshot it, send it to your spouse. The rest of the article explains why each row reads the way it does.

Sources: HELOC and cash-out refi structures per Bankrate HELOC rates page (May 2026); renovation loan ARV underwriting per Fannie Mae HomeStyle product guidance and FHA 203(k) guidelines. HEI structure per the CFPB Issue Spotlight on home equity contracts (January 15, 2025). Last verified May 19, 2026.

General guide — compare terms before you choose.

What is a home equity investment for an ADU?

A home equity investment is a financial arrangement in which a company gives you a lump-sum cash payment today in exchange for a share of your home’s value at a future settlement date. There are no required monthly payments and no stated interest rate. The agreement is secured by a lien on your property. Settlement is typically due at the end of a 10- to 30-year term, or upon a triggering event such as sale or refinance. For ADU construction, that lump sum funds your build directly.

The product goes by several names — home equity investment (HEI), home equity agreement (HEA), home equity sharing agreement (HESA), shared appreciation agreement, or what the CFPB officially calls a “home equity contract.” The terminology varies; the structure does not. You receive cash. You eventually owe a settlement amount. The settlement amount depends on your home’s value when you exit. (Source: CFPB Issue Spotlight on Home Equity Contracts, January 15, 2025.)

The five-step mechanic

Here’s how money actually moves through an HEI for an ADU build, end to end:

1. 1
   You apply. The provider reviews your home value, mortgage balance, credit (FICO floors range from 500 at Unlock and Point to 575 at Hometap as of May 2026, per each provider's published materials), property type, and state availability.
2. 2
   The provider appraises your home and applies a risk adjustment. This is industry-standard — the provider values your home below its appraised value to offset their own risk. Money.com reported in 2025 that risk adjustments range from roughly 2.75% to 20% of appraised value depending on the provider.
3. 3
   You receive cash, minus an origination fee. Origination fees range from roughly 3% to 4.9% (Bankrate: Hometap ~3%, Unlock up to 4.9% as of March 2026). Closing costs apply on top.
4. 4
   You build the ADU. Funds aren't restricted to construction — but for the purposes of this article, that's what they're doing.
5. 5
   At settlement, you owe the provider's share of your home's value. Sometimes plus the original advance, sometimes calculated as a percentage of total value, sometimes capped, sometimes credited for renovations. The specific formula is in your agreement, and it is the single most important paragraph in the document.

Why “no monthly payment” doesn’t mean “no cost”

The advantage of an HEI is genuine: you preserve cash flow. The cost of that preservation is real: you may pay substantially more in absolute dollars than a HELOC would have cost over the same period. Neither is inherently better. The right one depends on whether you can carry a payment.

How an HEI for ADU differs from a HEI for a kitchen remodel

This is where ADU borrowers diverge from typical HEI customers — and where most generic HEI guides fail you.

An ADU is not a cosmetic improvement. The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s 2024 analysis of California Enterprise-backed purchase appraisals found median appraised values of $1,064,000 for properties with ADUs versus $715,000 for properties without ADUs in 2023, and 9.34% annualized median appraised-value growth from 2013 to 2023 for California ADU-equipped properties versus 7.65% for properties without ADUs. (Source: FHFA, “Trends in Median Appraised Value for Properties with Accessory Dwelling Units in California”.) The pattern is California-specific, but the directional point applies broadly: a kitchen remodel does not move the appraisal the way a permitted ADU does.

That means the dollar amount you owe at HEI settlement may be substantially larger after an ADU build than after a kitchen remodel of the same cost. Whether that’s a problem depends on the provider’s improvement-value treatment — and that’s the next section.

Can you actually use a home equity investment to build an ADU?

Yes. Hometap, Unlock, and Point each publish flexible-use or home-improvement language in their consumer materials, and ADU construction qualifies under that language. But three ADU-specific catches matter: the property must qualify under the provider’s eligibility rules, the lien position must work with any construction loan you plan to layer on, and the agreement’s improvement-value language must align with what you’re about to build.

What HEI cash typically covers in an ADU project

• Architectural design and feasibility work
• Permit and plan-review fees (these vary substantially by city and project; verify with your local building department)
• Site work (grading, utility trenching, soil testing)
• Utility connection upgrades or new laterals (a utility lateral is the pipe or conduit running from the public main to your property; site-specific work may require new water, sewer, or upgraded electrical service)
• Garage conversion construction
• Detached ADU construction
• Prefab or modular ADU installation
• Construction contingency (typically 15–20% of construction cost)

Property eligibility — what stops an HEI deal

HEI providers don’t lend on every property. Common ineligibility flags as of May 2026, drawn directly from each provider’s published eligibility pages:

• Manufactured homes — Hometap, Unlock, and Point all exclude manufactured homes per their published disclosures.
• Existing unpermitted ADUs or rental units on the lot — Some providers ask, some don't, but disclosure matters and unpermitted units often disqualify.
• Large parcels — Point states it does not currently offer HEIs on properties with 7 or more acres. Splitero and other providers have their own acreage limits; verify directly.
• Home value minimums — Point requires a minimum home value per its help center; Unlock requires $175,000+ per Unlock's how-it-works page; Splitero publishes its own minimum on its eligibility page.
• Insufficient equity — Unlock publishes a 30% equity requirement; Hometap looks for 25%+ post-investment; Point requires homeowners to retain a significant percentage of equity after Point's investment, with the exact percentage confirmed by prequalifying.
• Credit score below the floor — Unlock and Point accept 500 FICO per their published terms; Hometap publishes a 575 minimum FICO per its resource page on accessing home equity without perfect credit; Unison historically requires 620.
• Active flood zone without insurance — Hometap will fund flood-zone properties only if flood insurance is maintained for the duration.

Will an HEI lien interfere with a construction draw or future refinance?

Possibly — and this is the question most homeowners don’t ask in time.

An HEI lien sits in second-lien position behind your first mortgage. If you want to add a construction loan or a HELOC during the build, that lender will need to be comfortable with the HEI’s position, and many will require the HEI to subordinate or won’t lend at all. If you want to refinance your first mortgage later — say, to pull cash out of the ADU’s added value to settle the HEI itself — your refinance lender will see the HEI lien on title and price accordingly, or may decline.

The CFPB specifically noted in its January 2025 Issue Spotlight that consumers reported difficulties refinancing their first-lien mortgage after entering home equity contracts. This isn’t a hypothetical. Ask your HEI provider for its written subordination policy and refinance rules before signing.

What an HEI does not solve

An HEI gives you cash. It does not give you a permit. It does not give you a buildable lot. It does not give you a contractor. The work that determines whether your ADU project succeeds — confirming zoning eligibility, navigating local setback and Floor Area Ratio (FAR — the ratio of total building floor area to the lot size, used as a zoning cap) rules, securing ministerial approval (a ministerial permit is one where the city must approve if you meet objective standards, no discretionary review allowed), passing plan check (the city’s engineering and code review of your construction documents), and getting through inspections — all happens independently of the financing path. Don’t take HEI cash before confirming the ADU itself is feasible.

Will the HEI company share in the value your ADU creates?

This is the central question for any ADU homeowner considering an HEI, and the answer varies dramatically by provider. Hometap allows a renovation adjustment for qualifying renovations of $25,000 or more with proper documentation. Unlock states it does not share in the value created by improvements made at the homeowner’s expense. Point’s help center states that improvement appreciation is part of the appreciation Point shares. The same ADU built with the same cash from three different providers can produce three very different settlement amounts ten years later.

This is the answer that no other ADU financing page on the internet assembles in one place. We built the table below by reading each provider’s official help center and public agreement summaries. Verification date: May 19, 2026.

The improvement-value matrix

This is the table to print and bring to any HEI conversation. Three identical homeowners with three identical $200,000 ADU builds and three identical home appreciation rates will owe meaningfully different amounts at settlement depending on which provider’s agreement they signed. The improvement-value clause is, for an ADU builder, the single most consequential paragraph in the document.

Why an ADU is uniquely affected by this clause

Most HEI customers use the cash for debt consolidation, education, retirement supplementation, or general renovations — uses that don’t dramatically change the home’s appraised value. An ADU is different. The FHFA’s California data shows ADU-equipped properties appraising at a median value 49% higher than properties without ADUs, with measurably faster annualized appraisal growth. The ADU isn’t a marginal addition — it’s often a category change in the property’s valuation.

If your provider includes that uplift in its share, the cash advance can become a very expensive trade. If the provider carves it out, the trade becomes much more reasonable. Same ADU, same cash, same homeowner — radically different outcomes.

The damaging admission, said plainly

Documentation checklist before you sign

• Written confirmation from the provider that the ADU qualifies as a covered improvement
• Approved permits (not just submitted — approved)
• Signed construction contract with itemized scope
• Before photos taken before any work begins, geo-tagged and dated
• Itemized contractor invoices showing what was spent where
• Receipts for materials purchased directly
• Final inspection card or certificate of occupancy
• Appraisal dispute process described in writing in your agreement
• The exact settlement formula with worked example for your home value

Save every document in cloud storage with backups. The settlement will happen a decade from now. The contractor you used may not be in business then. The receipts you toss today are the receipts you’ll wish you had.

Is a home equity investment for ADU construction better than a HELOC?

For most homeowners who can qualify for a HELOC, no. A HELOC will typically cost less in absolute dollars over a 10-year horizon than a home equity investment for ADU construction, and you keep 100% of the appreciation your ADU creates. The home equity investment for ADU funding wins in a narrow set of cases: when you can’t qualify for or can’t carry a HELOC payment, when your local market is unlikely to appreciate over the term, or when the provider’s improvement-value clause explicitly carves out the ADU’s contribution.

This is the comparison most ADU-financing pages skip because it requires actually running the math. We ran it.

Across realistic appreciation scenarios (3% to 7% annual), the HELOC costs less in absolute dollars than a 35%-share HEI — and you keep all the appreciation your ADU creates. The HEI cost rises because your ADU works.

Compare both before you decide.

For a full HELOC deep-dive see our guide: HELOC for ADU: Real 2026 Rates, Draw Schedules & How to Qualify. For a head-to-head Hometap comparison see: Hometap vs HELOC for ADU: Real Costs, Risks & the Right Fit.

Which home equity investment companies are available in my state?

HEI availability is state- and address-specific. As of May 2026, Hometap publishes availability in 16 states; Point publishes availability in select regions of 27 states plus Washington, D.C.; Unlock requires the property to be in Unlock’s service area, verified by address. Connecticut, Maryland, Illinois, and Maine have enacted laws that bring shared-appreciation or HEI-style products into mortgage or consumer-credit regulatory frameworks. Washington has open Department of Financial Institutions rulemaking and pending legislation. State availability is the first filter; if no provider operates where you live, the rest of the decision is moot.

Provider state availability (verified May 19, 2026)

Why we don’t publish a single Unlock state count: Unlock’s official availability page directs prospective customers to verify by address rather than presenting a clean state list, and provider service-area maps can change between our verification dates. We treat each provider’s own current “where we operate” page as the source of truth — and re-verify monthly.

Why “state available” doesn’t mean “you qualify”

State availability is the floor, not the ceiling. Within a served state, providers may still decline based on:

• Property type (manufactured homes, mixed-use, raw land, certain co-ops are commonly excluded)
• County or region (Point in particular notes "select regions" within served states)
• Lot size (Point excludes 7+ acre properties; other providers have their own limits)
• Existing liens or encumbrances
• Title issues (trusts, life estates, co-ownership complications)
• HOA restrictions on improvements
• Property condition flagged in the appraisal
• Recent bankruptcy or foreclosure (typical waiting periods of 3–5 years)

A “yes, we’re in your state” is not an offer. It’s permission to apply.

State regulatory map for HEIs (as of May 19, 2026)

A growing number of states have moved to regulate HEIs as mortgage loans or under consumer-credit frameworks. The status varies — enacted, in rulemaking, or in committee — and matters because the consumer-protection environment around HEIs is genuinely different in regulated states than in unregulated ones.

The pattern across state action is the same: lawmakers and regulators are concluding that HEIs function as home-secured credit and need disclosure, licensing, or consumer-protection coverage. If you are entering a 10- to 30-year agreement, plan for the possibility that the rules around it will be different at exit than they were at signing.

The real 10-year cost: HEI vs HELOC vs cash-out refinance for a $150,000 ADU

On a $150,000 ADU funded by HEI in our illustrative model (10% risk adjustment, 35% share at settlement, 4% origination fee), expect to settle between $245,000 (if your home stays flat) and $482,000 (if your home appreciates at 7% annually) at the end of a 10-year term. A HELOC at an 8% interest rate, interest-only for 10 years, costs roughly $120,000 in interest plus the original $150,000 principal at exit — total $270,000. The HEI is cheaper only in scenarios where your home substantially depreciates. In every realistic appreciation scenario, the HELOC costs less.

This is the math no HEI provider will run for you in writing. Here it is.

Setup assumptions for the illustrative model

• Home appraised today at $700,000
• Existing mortgage balance: $300,000 (43% LTV — Loan-to-Value, the ratio of debt to property value)
• ADU project cost: $150,000 (a mid-range garage-conversion-plus-detached scenario in many U.S. markets)
• HEI advance: $150,000 — Risk adjustment: 10% — Provider’s share at settlement: 35% (illustrative; actual provider formulas vary)
• Origination fee: 4% deducted from disbursement, so the homeowner receives $144,000 in cash
• Term: 10 years

This is illustrative modeling using the assumptions stated above — not a quote from any provider, and not a guarantee of any outcome. Actual settlement amounts depend on the specific agreement, the actual appraisal at settlement, and the provider’s improvement-value treatment.

Worked HEI scenarios on a $150,000 ADU

The HELOC comparison

Same $150,000 ADU, 10-year horizon. Bankrate’s HELOC rates page reported a national average HELOC rate of approximately 7.26% as of May 6, 2026; U.S. Bank’s HELOC calculator (December 11, 2025) listed 7.20%–10.85% APR. We use 8% as a middle assumption.

Why does the HEI get more expensive precisely because your ADU works?

Because in most HEI agreements, the provider’s share is calculated on your home’s value at settlement — and your ADU is what drives that value up. The very success of the project that justified the HEI is what enlarges the settlement. This is why the improvement-value clause matters so much.

When does HEI math actually beat HELOC math?

• The homeowner truly cannot qualify for or carry a HELOC payment (self-employed with inconsistent income, retired on a fixed income, recent bankruptcy aged off but credit not yet recovered) — in which case the HEI isn't being compared to a HELOC; it's being compared to no financing at all.
• The home is unlikely to appreciate much over the term (flat or declining local market, plans to sell at a known price) — in which case the HEI share stays small.
• The ADU's improvement value is contractually excluded from the provider's share — which puts you back in territory where the math is reasonable.

The 2025–2026 regulatory reality: what the CFPB and the courts have said about HEIs

On January 15, 2025, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued three coordinated actions on home equity contracts: a Consumer Advisory warning homeowners to “beware” of these products, an Issue Spotlight characterizing them as costly, risky, and complex, and an amicus brief in Roberts v. Unlock arguing that the specific product at issue meets the federal definition of a “residential mortgage loan” under the Truth in Lending Act. The CFPB later moved to withdraw that amicus brief. State-level action has continued: Connecticut, Maryland, Illinois, and Maine have enacted laws; Washington has open rulemaking and pending legislation. None of this makes HEIs illegal. It does mean the agreement you sign today may be reinterpreted by a regulator or a court during its 10- to 30-year life.

The 2024–2026 regulatory timeline

Sources: CFPB Issue Spotlight + Consumer Advisory, January 15, 2025; CFPB motion to withdraw amicus in Roberts v. Unlock; National Consumer Law Center issue brief, May 27, 2025; CommonWealth Beacon; JD Supra licensing update; Justia case records; Maine Legislature; Washington State Legislature.

What the CFPB actually said (and didn’t say)

The CFPB’s Consumer Advisory used unusually direct language: it told homeowners to “beware” of home equity contracts and warned that even if the home loses value, the homeowner will probably still have to pay the company more than they received and might have to sell the home.

In the Issue Spotlight, the CFPB modeled scenarios showing the equivalent of 20% annual interest in the early years, with final repayment amounts ranging from $94,074 to $215,892 on a $50,000 advance. Consumers also complained of:

• Surprise at the size of repayment amounts
• Feeling misled about how rate caps work
• Difficulty refinancing their first-lien mortgage with an HEI lien on title
• Disputes about home valuations (too low at origination, too high at repayment)
• Feeling that their only option was to sell the property to repay the HEI
• Six of 21 published complaint narratives used the word “predatory”

The CFPB did not ban HEIs. What it did was put providers on notice and provide a roadmap for state regulators and plaintiffs’ attorneys.

What all of this means for an HEI you sign in 2026

1. 1
   Read the agreement with a lawyer. A licensed attorney in your state, ideally one with consumer-protection or mortgage experience. The agreement is 30–60 pages of provisions written by sophisticated counsel for the provider. You deserve sophisticated counsel reading it for you.
2. 2
   Assume the regulatory environment will continue to develop. Four states have enacted HEI-relevant laws; a fifth has open rulemaking. If you're entering a 10-year agreement, plan for the possibility that the rules around it will be different at exit than they were at signing.
3. 3
   Flag any mandatory arbitration clause for attorney review before signing. The CFPB specifically identified arbitration provisions as a consumer-protection concern; their inclusion limits your remedies if disputes arise. Some providers have removed them. Ask.

Who HEI for ADU actually fits — and the better path for everyone else

An HEI for ADU funding is a reasonable choice when all five conditions are true: (1) an HEI provider serves your state, (2) you have substantial equity but limited W-2 income, below-prime credit, or another barrier that prevents HELOC qualification, (3) you plan to stay in the home for the full HEI term, (4) you have a written and credible plan to settle the lump sum at term-end, and (5) the agreement’s improvement-value clause explicitly excludes the ADU’s value-add from the provider’s share. For everyone else, one of four alternative financing paths typically costs less over ten years.

The five-condition HEI fit check

You fit the HEI-for-ADU profile if all five are true:

If any one is false, look elsewhere.

The 6-path ADU financing decision matrix

Assembled from the underwriting realities of each path, cross-referenced against Urban Institute ADU financing research (2024) and Terner Center for Housing Innovation data on California ADU financing usage, which found that 56% of California homeowners who built an ADU used a Home Equity Loan or HELOC.

If your equity is thin, look at after-renovation-value lending

ARV — after-renovation value — lenders underwrite against what your home will be worth after the ADU is built, not what it’s worth today. RenoFi is the best-known consumer-facing brand in this category; Fannie Mae HomeStyle and FHA 203(k) loans operate on similar principles through traditional bank channels. For a homeowner with 10–20% current equity but a strong projected post-ADU appraisal, ARV-based lending often beats HEI in both cost and structure. See our guide: How to Finance an ADU With No Equity: 7 Paths.

If you’re 62+, a HECM may be safer than an HEI

A Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) — the FHA-insured reverse mortgage — gives you cash without a monthly payment, just like an HEI. But unlike an HEI, a HECM is insured by the federal government, is regulated by HUD, requires mandatory housing counseling from a HUD-approved counselor before signing, and lets you remain in the home indefinitely as long as it remains your primary residence and you keep up taxes, insurance, and maintenance. HECMs are available to homeowners 62 and older. The consumer protections are dramatically stronger than those around HEIs.

Your exit plan: the section that decides whether the HEI will work

Do not sign an HEI for an ADU unless you can describe — in two sentences — exactly how you will settle the obligation when the term ends. “The ADU will pay for itself someday” is not an exit plan. A real exit plan names the likely settlement method, the timing, the backup if Plan A doesn’t work, and what happens if the appraisal or refinance at settlement comes in different from what you expect.

The CFPB Issue Spotlight noted that some HEI customers reported feeling their only option was to sell their homes to settle the contract. The exit plan is what prevents you from becoming that homeowner.

The five viable exit paths

The exit-plan stress test

Before you sign, walk through these scenarios out loud and write your answer:

• → If my home appreciates at 5% per year, my settlement is approximately $X. How would I cover that?
• → If my home appreciates at 7%, settlement is approximately $Y. Same question.
• → If I want to refinance in Year 7 to settle, does my projected post-ADU appraisal support enough cash-out to cover the HEI plus closing costs?
• → If the refi doesn’t appraise, what is Plan B? Do I have it written?
• → If I need to sell, am I willing to give up this home?

If you can’t answer one of these clearly, you don’t have an exit plan yet.

The refinance warning, said plainly

The HEI lien sits on your title. A refinance lender will see it. The refinance lender’s terms may require the HEI to subordinate or be paid off entirely from the refi proceeds — and if the cash-out isn’t enough to cover the HEI buyout, the refi can’t close.

Ask your HEI provider, in writing, before signing:

1. What is your subordination policy when I want to refinance my first mortgage?
2. How long does subordination take to process?
3. What documentation do you require?
4. Will you subordinate to any first-lien lender, or only to specific ones?
5. Are there fees for subordination?

A provider that won’t put this in writing isn’t a provider you want.

ADU cost reality check: what you’re actually funding

An ADU in the United States in 2026 ranges from approximately $80,000 for a basic garage conversion at the low end to $400,000 or more for a detached new build in coastal California at the high end. Most permitted ADU projects fall between $150,000 and $300,000 all-in. California projects cluster in the $200–$450 per square foot range, with Bay Area detached units in 2026 often running $250,000–$350,000 for 500–800 square feet, per industry cost guides published within 90 days. Use these as anchor points for sizing your HEI request — and remember that HEI funding caps of $500,000–$600,000 mean it’s possible to over-borrow.

For a full city-by-city cost breakdown see: ADU Financing Options: 8 Paths Compared.

ADU rental income vs HEI buyout: the math most providers won’t run for you

If you’re funding an ADU as a rental property, you’re running two cash flows simultaneously: the HEI obligation building on one side, and rental income accumulating on the other. Here’s a worked illustrative example using a $150,000 HEI advance, a $1,500/month ADU rental rate (moderate-market assumption for a one-bedroom ADU), and 5% annual appreciation.

This is exactly the math that the improvement-value clause changes. It’s also the math no provider’s online calculator runs for you.

If you’re building for rental — the operational side

Once your ADU is built and producing, the operational side matters as much as the financing. Tenant screening, lease templates, rent collection, maintenance scheduling, and tax reporting all become real work. We recommend Buildium (affiliate) for property-management software built for landlords with one to a few rental units — useful for ADU owners stepping into the rental landlord role for the first time. Buildium handles tenant screening, lease documents, rent collection, maintenance tickets, and the accounting your CPA will ask about at tax time.

What to look for in the HEI contract before you sign (ADU-specific)

Before signing any HEI for an ADU build, get five things in writing: (1) the improvement-adjustment clause naming the ADU specifically and how the added value will be excluded from the provider’s share, (2) the rate cap on the annualized cost, (3) the partial-buyback option and prepayment penalties, (4) any restrictions on renting the ADU or the main home, and (5) the appraisal methodology and dispute process for the settlement-date valuation. These are the five clauses where HEI providers most often diverge and where ADU homeowners most often get surprised.

Pre-application checklist: the order to do things in

Confirm ADU feasibility first, then estimate project cost, then compare financing paths, then verify HEI provider state availability, then ask each finalist in writing about improvement-value treatment, then run the exit-plan check, then consult with a financial or legal professional, and only then apply. This order matters — applying for an HEI before confirming ADU feasibility creates a future settlement obligation against a project that may not be buildable.

The 8-step pre-application sequence

1. 1
   Confirm your property can host the ADU you want. Setbacks, FAR, lot coverage, height limits, parking, utility capacity, HOA rules. Run the Dwelling Index feasibility check or consult a local architect or builder.
2. 2
   Get a rough total project cost including design, permits, sitework, utilities, construction, contingency (15–20% of construction), and financing costs.
3. 3
   Compare all financing paths for your specific situation — HELOC, cash-out refi, renovation loan (RenoFi-style, HomeStyle, 203(k)), construction-to-permanent, HEI, and cash.
4. 4
   Check HEI provider state availability at the provider's own current "where we operate" page.
5. 5
   Ask each HEI finalist three written questions: "How will an ADU I build with these funds be treated under your improvement-value adjustment?" / "What is your subordination policy if I refinance my first mortgage during the term?" / "What is your appraisal dispute process at settlement?"
6. 6
   Run the exit-plan stress test (covered in this article).
7. 7
   Consult a qualified financial, legal, or tax professional before signing. Specifically: a licensed attorney in your state with consumer-protection or mortgage experience.
8. 8
   Apply only if the cash-flow advantage of avoiding a monthly payment outweighs the future-value tradeoff and the regulatory uncertainty.

Documentation you’ll need to gather

• Recent mortgage statement
• Most recent home appraisal (or comparable market analysis)
• Government-issued ID
• Social Security number
• Proof of homeowner's insurance
• HOA documents if applicable
• Property tax bills
• Two months of bank statements (some providers)
• Recent credit report (free at annualcreditreport.com)
• Title information / deed
• For ADU applications: preliminary design, cost estimate, permit application or approval

Frequently asked questions

What we verified

Last verified: May 19, 2026