Prosper: 2025 Home Equity Review

Prosper is a peer-to-peer lender: It doesn’t fund loans itself, but connects borrowers with a group of investors or investment company that will. A pioneer in P2P when it launched in 2005, Prosper originally focused on personal loans, but the company has become a notable name in the home equity lending space in recent years, handling more than $492 billion worth of HELOCs and HE Loans. All home equity products are underwritten and issued by Prosper’s lending partners.

Home equity loan products offered

Prosper offers both variable-rate HELOCs up to $500,000 and fixed-rate home equity loans up to $249,999.

When you close on the HELOC, you’ll be required to draw at least $50,000 ($60,000 in Texas) or 50 percent of the line. After that, you’ll need to wait 90 days before you make another draw. At that point, each draw must be at least $1,000 ($4,000 in Texas). The amount you can borrow varies by state, but the maximum is 90 percent of your home’s value (80 percent in Texas). 

With the lender’s home equity loan, you can borrow up to 90 percent of your home’s value, provided it’s your primary residence. For second homes or investment properties, that threshold shrinks to 80 percent. (The final determination depends on your financials and creditworthiness, of course.)

Affordability: 1.6/5

• APR: While Prosper advertises appealing rates on its site, its APRs vary tremendously, depending on borrower creditworthiness, and overall they skew higher than Bankrate’s national average. Additionally, Prosper doesn’t offer any introductory rates for HELOCs.
• Fees: Although no-closing-cost options are available, on Prosper’s HELOC, the total costs, origination fees or charges for items like appraisals can range from $1,712 to $8,902; a home equity loan might come with a $1,495 charge depending on the state you live in. Prosper also charges a $50 annual fee on HELOCs after the first year during the draw period.

Because Prosper’s rates are relatively high for borrowers who don’t have excellent credit, we gave it a 1.6 out of 5 for affordability. 

Availability: 4.5/5

• Loan products: Prosper offers both HELOCs and home equity loans.
• Footprint: Prosper’s footprint covers a wide chunk of the country, including 30 states and Washington, D.C. 
• Credit score: The company accepts credit scores as low as 640 for both types of home equity products–lower than other lenders’ minimums.
• Loan minimum: For home equity loans, you’ll need to borrow at least $40,000, while HELOCs have a minimum of $17,500. These minimums are on the high side for HE Loans, about the standard for HELOCs. 
• Draw requirement: At opening, Prosper requires borrowers with HELOCs to draw at least $50,000 or 50 percent of the line. That’s not unusual, though a tad high.

Because Prosper is licensed to lend in more than half the country and it accepts credit scores as low as 640, the company scores a 4.5 out of 5 for availability.

Borrower experience: 3.8/5

• Rate transparency: Like many lenders, Prosper displays APRs “as low as” on its site and indicates ceilings for HELOC rates in fine print. But you have to submit an online form for a more customized rate.
• Convenience: Prosper is an online company. Its digital tool allows you to get a personalized rate estimate easily, with no ding to your credit score. You can also call a representative. If you decide to move forward and apply, you might get funds in as quickly as 11 days (HELOCs). 
• Customer service: The company offers phone-based customer support from Monday through Friday between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. PT. Call 800-954-2172 for assistance. 
• Fixed-rate options: While some lenders allow HELOC borrowers to convert a portion of variable-rate debt to a fixed-rate option, Prosper does not allow such lock-ins on its lines of credit.

We gave Prosper a 3.8 out of 5 for its borrower experience, reflecting its lack of physical branches and lock-in features, along with limited customer support hours.

Prosper requires a minimum 640 credit score for home equity loans and HELOCs. Properties can be primary residences, secondary residences, or investment properties for loans; first or vacation homes for HELOCs. Borrowers should have homeowners insurance and flood insurance, if applicable.

Those seeking to borrow more than $250,000 may need to incur the cost of an in-home appraisal and obtain title insurance.

To apply for a Prosper home equity product, you’ll need to fill out an online application. The initial application asks for information about how much you want to borrow, your income and your location. Within minutes, you’ll have a personalized interest rate offer; this initial application does not affect your credit score. If you want to proceed, you’ll move on to the next part of the application. If you have questions about a line of credit or loan, you can call 800-954-2172 first, or at any time.

Prosper receives rave reviews on Trustpilot: Based on more than 13,000 reviews, the company has a 4.6 out of 5 rating with many customers commenting on the speed and ease of the application process. However, the company has a significantly worse profile with the Better Business Bureau, which has closed more than 500 complaints about Prosper in the past three years.