Rockland Trust Bank: 2025 Home Equity Review

Rockland Trust Bank was established in 1907 in Rockland, MA, where it’s still headquartered today. Providing a variety of personal and commercial financial services to New England residents, the financial institution now has nearly $20 billion in assets and 120 branches and eight mortgage centers spread across Massachusetts.

Rockland Trust Bank also operates a commercial lending center and investment office in Rhode Island.

Home equity loan products offered

Rockland Trust Bank offers three home equity products: a home equity loan, a home equity line of credit (HELOC) and what the bank calls an “Express Mortgage.”

The fixed-rate home equity loan has a minimum loan amount of $25,000 and a maximum loan amount of $400,000, with repayment terms from five years to 20 years.

The HELOC comes with a variable rate, a minimum loan amount of $25,000 and a maximum loan amount of $750,000. The HELOC draw term goes up to 10 years and comes with a repayment period of 15 years. Alternatively, you can convert the HELOC balance (a minimum of $10,000) to a fixed rate during the draw period, with up to 20 years to repay.

The Express Mortgage, meanwhile, is a first-lien, fixed-rate home equity loan with a term of up to 20 years. That means it’s only an option if you’ve already paid off your mortgage, or will use this new loan to replace your mortgage (i.e., refinance). With Rockland Trust’s Express Mortgage, you could qualify for between $25,000 and $500,000. The Express Mortgage doesn’t come with any closing costs.

For the first two equity-backed products, borrowers need a combined loan-to-value (CLTV) ratio of 75 percent or less. To qualify for the best rate with a Rockland Trust Bank HELOC, you need to set up automatic repayment from a Rockland Trust checking account, take an initial draw of at least $25,000 and maintain a $25,000 balance for the first 30 days of your draw period.

Affordability: 5/5

• APR: Rockland Trust’s rates are lower than Bankrate’s national averages, even at a discount to the prime rate in some cases. However, the best rates come with conditions, like a six-figure loan amount and a minimum draw/maintaining a minimum balance for the first month (for HELOCs).
• Fees: Rockland Trust Bank advertises no upfront fees (e.g., closing costs) on any of its home equity products. That said, if you close your HELOC within two years of opening it, the bank will charge you a $500 early termination fee. For a $50 rate lock fee (per conversion), you can convert all or part of your HELOC balance to a fixed rate.

Because Rockland Trust Bank offers starting APRs that are competitive against current average rates and doesn’t attach closing costs to any of its equity-backed products, we gave it a perfect score of 5 out of 5 for affordability.

Availability: 2.2/5

• Loan products: Rockland Trust offers three equity-backed products: HELOCs, a second-lien HE Loan and a first-lien HE Loan (the “Express Mortgage.”)
• Footprint: Rockland Trust Bank currently extends home equity loans in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and Rhode Island.
• Credit score: Rockland Trust doesn’t disclose its credit score requirements. 
• Loan minimum: All three of Rockland Trust Bank’s equity-backed products come with loan minimums of $25,000. 
• Draw requirement: To qualify for the best starting rate on a HELOC, Rockland Trust requires borrowers to immediately draw $25,000 and to maintain that balance for 30 days.

While Rockland Trust Bank does offer a variety of equity-backed financing options, we only scored it 2.2 out of 5 because of its small footprint and lack of transparency about credit scores.

Borrower experience: 4/5

• Rate transparency: Rockland Trust Bank is very transparent about its rates, even maintaining a dedicated webpage to show starting APRs for its HELOCs, HE loans and Express Mortgages, broken down by amount and term length.
• Convenience: Potential borrowers can apply for a loan or line of credit online or at any branch locations throughout Massachusetts. The online option doesn’t require you to set up login credentials, and you can also check the status of your loan/line of credit application online. 
• Customer service: The bank’s customer information center associates can be reached at 508-732-7072 from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays and from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Sundays. Rockland Trust also offers live chat support – though when we called into the phone tree, we found it difficult to get connected with an individual who was knowledgeable about the bank’s equity-backed products.
• Fixed-rate options: Not only does Rockland Trust Bank offer fixed-rate home equity loans, but it also provides HELOC borrowers with the option to convert their outstanding balance to a fixed-rate loan for repayment.

Because Rockland Trust offers the convenience of online application and the predictability of fixed-rate loans, we scored it 4 out of 5 for borrower experience. It lost a point because navigating its customer service phone tree isn’t overly easy and only one state has physical branches.

For a home equity product from Rockland Trust Bank, your property must be in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire or Rhode Island. In most cases, you’ll also need to have a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of no more than 75 percent (in other words, you’ll need at least 25 percent equity to qualify).

Financing is generally available on one-to-four-family, owner-occupied properties. The Express Mortgage is also available on second/vacation homes. Hazard and flood insurance may be required.

You can apply for a home equity loan or HELOC from Rockland Trust Bank at a branch, online or by phone. If you have questions during the application process, you can call 508-732-7072 or use the bank’s online chat feature. The bank’s customer information center is open Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET, Saturday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET.

Rockland Trust Bank gets consistently high marks in terms of customer satisfaction. In the 2024 J.D. Power U.S. Retail Banking Satisfaction Study, it earned second place for the New England region. Its other recent awards and accolades include being named to the Boston Globe’s Top Places to Work list and S&P Global Market Intelligence's Top 50 Public Banks List. Forbes also ranked it the #1 bank in Massachusetts.