A straight answer
Can I use a HELOC to pay off business loans and credit cards?
The direct answer
Yes, I offer HELOCs that pay off business loans and business credit cards while your first mortgage stays as it is. For self-employed owners, I qualify the line on 12 months of personal or business bank statements instead of tax returns.
I'm Zach von der Linden (NMLS 1652805), a mortgage broker with West Capital Lending, based in San Clemente. I put the financing together, and I tell you plainly which program fits. I work with homeowners in California, Utah, Oregon and Arizona.
Zach von der Linden, mortgage broker and Branch Manager, West Capital Lending · NMLS 1652805
Wholesale pricing · California, Utah, Oregon and Arizona
5.0 across 66 reviews on Experience.com (read on 2026-09-24) · Text reaches Zach directly · Last updated 2026-10-19
Business debt you want off your plate? Text me the balances, whose name each one is in, what you owe on the home and what it is worth.
This situation is worked out in a short conversation. No credit pull happens from a conversation. The options check is a soft credit pull with no impact on your credit score for the first look. Texts go to Zach's cell.
How does a HELOC pay off business debt?
The line sits behind your first mortgage.
Your first mortgage keeps its rate, its payment and its payoff date.
I offer two ways to pay the business balances you choose.
I can set up the HELOC so your creditors are paid at closing.
I can also set it up as cash to you, and you pay the debts off yourself.
Once the line funds, you use the money however you choose.
I qualify you on 12 months of personal or business bank statements, using whichever account shows the larger average monthly deposits.
Business-account deposits get an expense factor.
I also offer a HELOC qualified on a profit-and-loss statement.
It counts your profit, not losses, based on what runs through your bank accounts each month.
The lender still verifies you can repay.
What changes when business debt moves onto my home?
The debt becomes secured by your house. The CFPB says "using a home equity loan to consolidate credit card debt is risky. If you don't pay back the loan, you could lose your home in foreclosure" (CFPB).
The CFPB describes a HELOC as a line of credit against your home equity and warns that falling behind could cost you your home (CFPB, What is a HELOC?).
A slow season at the business does not pause the line payment.
I walk through the payment with you before anything is submitted.
Which rules apply to a line used for business debt?
Federal consumer credit rules exclude "An extension of credit primarily for a business, commercial or agricultural purpose" (12 CFR 1026.3(a)).
Which rules apply to your line is set by the program and shown in your documents.
Tell me in the first text what each balance is for.
What if the business already makes the payments?
The bank statement HELOC I offer is underwritten on consumer debt.
Its review looks at your personal debts, not your business debts.
On a mortgage, Fannie Mae's rule is different: a mortgage can leave those payments out of your personal debts when the file proves the business pays them. The page on business-paid debts explains what Fannie Mae requires to leave them out.
Once the line pays them off, the line payment is yours.
What should I send first?
- A statement for each business loan or card you want paid, and whose name it is in.
- Which account your business deposits land in, personal or business.
- A rough value for the home and your first mortgage statement.
- How much you want to access in total.
The full bank statement method is on the self-employed HELOC page.
Questions people ask next
Do I have to refinance my first mortgage to do this?
No. The line sits behind your first mortgage, which stays as it is.
Are my business creditors paid at closing?
Yes, if you want them to be. I can also set up the line as cash to you, and you pay the debts off yourself.
Is this the same as paying off personal credit cards with home equity?
The structure is the same: the line sits behind your first mortgage and pays the balances. The purpose is different, and the program decides which federal rules apply to a line used for business. The debt consolidation page covers personal cards.
What happens if the business slows down?
The line payment is still yours. The CFPB warns that you could lose your home if you do not pay back a home equity loan used to consolidate credit card debt.
Does asking about this affect my credit?
A conversation does not pull credit. A full application does.
What clients say
Zach was so easy to work with. He made a stressful situation into a very positive experience for us and did push us one way or another. He listened to what we hoped we could accomplish and made it happen.
Word for word from Experience.com. Read all reviews.
Sources and checked dates
Sources: Confirmed by Zach, October 19, 2026 (9:29 PM PT, via the Chief of Staff) (checked 2026-10-19) · Confirmed by Zach, October 2026 (checked 2026-10-19) · Confirmed by Zach, September 27 and October 17, 2026 (restated for these pages) (checked 2026-10-19) · Confirmed by Zach, September 2026 (checked 2026-09-27) · Confirmed by Zach, October 17, 2026 (checked 2026-10-17) · CFPB, What do I need to know if I'm thinking about consolidating my credit card debt? (last reviewed September 2, 2026) (checked 2026-10-19) · CFPB, What is a HELOC? (checked 2026-09-27) · 12 CFR 1026.3, Exempt transactions (eCFR) (checked 2026-09-27) · Fannie Mae Selling Guide, B3-6-05, Monthly Debt Obligations (08/05/2026) (checked 2026-10-19) · West Capital Lending HELOC registration page (referral id omitted here) (checked 2026-09-09).
Show each claim on this page, what it depends on, and the date it was checked (13)
| What we say, and what it depends on | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| Zach offers financing for these self-employed situations: a HELOC to pay off an IRS tax lien; mortgage income for S corporation owners (W-2 wages, K-1 income and distributions); a HELOC to pay off business loans and business credit cards; a divorce buyout for a self-employed homeowner; a DSCR cash-out refinance of a rental qualified on its rent; business funds for a down payment; a HELOC after a drop in self-employed income; combining a spouse's W-2 income with bank statement income; a mortgage when the business pays a debt in the owner's name; seasonal business income; bank statement loans when real business expenses are lower than the expense factor; and a mortgage when a self-employed owner moves a business into California, Utah, Oregon or Arizona. He arranges each as a broker. | Confirmed by Zach, October 19, 2026 (9:29 PM PT, via the Chief of Staff) | 2026-10-19 |
| A HELOC Zach offers can pay off business debt with the creditors paid at closing; it can also be set up as cash to the borrower, who then pays the debts off themselves. | Confirmed by Zach, October 2026 | 2026-10-19 |
| The bank statement HELOC Zach offers is underwritten on consumer debt, so the review looks at the borrower's personal (consumer) debt, not business debt. | Confirmed by Zach, October 2026 | 2026-10-19 |
| Once a HELOC Zach offers funds, the borrower can use the money however they want, with no use restrictions. | Confirmed by Zach, October 2026 | 2026-10-19 |
| Zach's answers for the self-employed HELOC answers. The bank statement HELOC he offers has no set minimum time in business, so a business under two years old is fine. An unfiled or extended tax year does not matter for the bank statement HELOC, because tax returns are not part of how it qualifies; no extra documents are needed for it. He also offers a HELOC qualified on a profit-and-loss statement; it counts profit only, not losses, based on what runs through the borrower's bank accounts each month. He takes 1099 and gig earners with no business entity and no business account: any account the borrower receives income into can be used, as long as it gets frequent deposits, and those deposits count toward qualifying income. | Confirmed by Zach, October 2026 | 2026-10-19 |
| Zach offers bank statement HELOCs that qualify self-employed owners on 12 months of personal or business bank statements instead of tax returns, using whichever account shows the larger average monthly deposits; business-account deposits get an expense factor. He arranges the line as a broker and works with homeowners in California, Utah, Oregon and Arizona. | Confirmed by Zach, September 27 and October 17, 2026 (restated for these pages) | 2026-10-19 |
| Zach arranges a home equity line for self-employed owners that can be qualified on bank statements, which reads deposits instead of the net income on filed returns. | Confirmed by Zach, September 2026 | 2026-09-27 |
| Zach offers loans qualified on 12 months of bank statements instead of tax returns, at any loan size. He qualifies the borrower on either the personal or the business bank account, whichever shows the larger average monthly deposits over the past 12 months, and business-account deposits get an expense factor. | Confirmed by Zach, October 17, 2026 | 2026-10-17 |
| CFPB, What do I need to know if I'm thinking about consolidating my credit card debt? (last reviewed September 2, 2026): "using a home equity loan to consolidate credit card debt is risky. If you don't pay back the loan, you could lose your home in foreclosure." | CFPB, What do I need to know if I'm thinking about consolidating my credit card debt? (last reviewed September 2, 2026) | 2026-10-19 |
| The CFPB describes a HELOC as an open-end line of credit for borrowing repeatedly against home equity, says draw and repayment periods vary, and warns that falling behind could cost you your home. | CFPB, What is a HELOC? | 2026-09-27 |
| Regulation Z does not apply to "An extension of credit primarily for a business, commercial or agricultural purpose" or to "An extension of credit to other than a natural person" (12 CFR 1026.3(a)). | 12 CFR 1026.3, Exempt transactions (eCFR) | 2026-09-27 |
| Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-6-05, Monthly Debt Obligations (08/05/2026), Business Debt in Borrower's Name: "When a self-employed borrower claims that a monthly obligation that appears on their personal credit report (such as a Small Business Administration loan) is being paid by the borrower's business, the lender must confirm that it verified that the obligation was actually paid out of company funds and that this was considered in its cash flow analysis of the borrower's business." "The account payment does not need to be considered as part of the borrower's DTI ratio if: the account in question does not have a history of delinquency, the business provides acceptable evidence that the obligation was paid out of company funds (such as 12 months of canceled company checks), and the lender's cash flow analysis of the business took payment of the obligation into consideration." The payment must stay in the ratio if the business does not provide sufficient evidence, if the cash flow analysis does not reflect any business expense related to the obligation, or if the account has a history of delinquency. | Fannie Mae Selling Guide, B3-6-05, Monthly Debt Obligations (08/05/2026) | 2026-10-19 |
| On the West Capital Lending HELOC registration page, checking qualifying rates and terms uses a soft credit pull that does not affect the credit score; continuing and submitting an application requests a full credit report, which is a hard pull that may affect credit. | West Capital Lending HELOC registration page (referral id omitted here) | 2026-09-09 |
Written for and accountable to: Zach von der Linden, Mortgage broker and Branch Manager, West Capital Lending.
Last updated 2026-10-19.
Verify him: NMLS Consumer Access, ID 1652805 · 66 reviews on Experience.com.
Sources for product claims are listed on this page, with the date each was checked.
Business loans and cards you want to pay off?
No credit pull happens from a conversation. The options check is a soft credit pull with no impact on your credit score for the first look. Text Zach first so he can review your situation. The online check covers one HELOC program, not every option he may be able to arrange. Texts go to Zach's cell.