Police and Fire Federal Credit Union: 2024 Home Equity Review

Benefits

• PFFCU’s home equity loans and HELOCs have no application fees and no closing costs, although you can opt to pay $150 for an appraisal upgrade.
• Borrowers typically get a HELOC decision one business day after applying, and the credit union strives to close on your home equity loan or HELOC within 35 days of application.

Drawbacks

• PFFCU membership requires you to be an active or retired Philadelphia police officer, firefighter — or family member — or a member of one of the credit union’s affiliated organizations.
• The credit union’s HELOC has a five-year draw period and a 15-year repayment period. Many other home equity lenders offer a 10-year draw period, which is helpful if you’ll need money for a longer stretch of time.

Home equity loan products offered

Police and Fire Federal Credit Union (PFFCU) offers two home equity products: a home equity loan and a line of credit (HELOC).

The fixed-rate home equity loan comes with two options: the first for up to 80 percent of the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of your primary home; the second for up to 100 percent LTV ratio. With the first option, the loan terms range from five years to 20 years and the maximum you can borrow is $600,000. With the second option, the loan terms are only five years to 15 years, and you can only borrow up to $100,000.

PFFCU’s HELOC, on the other hand, has a five-year draw period and 15-year repayment term. You can borrow up to $600,000 to finance up to 80 percent of the LTV ratio of your primary home.

Types of fees charged

There are no application fees or closing costs on PFFCU’s home equity loans or HELOCs. However, for either a home equity loan or a HELOC, you can choose to pay for an appraisal upgrade for $150. The credit union charges a $15 returned loan payment fee and a $10 fee for making payments by credit card. The late fee for home equity loans is 5 percent of the monthly principal and interest, and the late fee for HELOCs is the lesser of $20 or 4 percent of the unpaid amount. If you sign up for autopay on a home equity loan, you’ll receive a rate discount of 0.25 percent.

How to qualify for a home equity loan with Police and Fire Federal Credit Union

To qualify for either of PFFCU’s home equity products, you must first join the credit union. To be eligible for membership, you’ll need to be a current or retired Philadelphia police officer or firefighter (or a family member of one), or an employee with one of several partner organizations in and around Philadelphia and South Jersey. Residents of select Delaware counties may also be eligible, if a family member can refer them.

How to apply with Police and Fire Federal Credit Union

To apply for one of PFFCU’s home equity products, simply fill out the online application on the credit union’s website; it only takes about 10 minutes to complete. If you prefer to speak to a loan officer, you can call the credit union or visit a branch.

How Bankrate scored Police and Fire Federal Credit Union

• Methodology

  To determine a home equity lender's Bankrate Score, Bankrate rates lenders on a scale of one (1) to five (5) stars — with five (5) the highest rating — based on a variety of factors relating to the lender's products and services. To assign our ratings, we assessed each mortgage lender across three core areas:

  • Affordability: Annual percentage rate (APR) - 80%; introductory APR - 20%
  • Availability: Licensing - 50%; credit score - 20%; loan minimum - 10%; draw requirement - 10%; loan products - 10% 
  • Borrower experience: Rate transparency - 45%; convenience - 35%; customer service - 10%; fixed-rate options - 10%

  Learn more about our methodology.