Lowest Credit Score HEI: Point, Splitero & Nada Compared (2026)

The lowest credit score accepted by major home equity sharing (HEI) providers in 2026 is 500. Three providers tie for this market floor: Point, Splitero, and Nada. While all three share the 500 FICO minimum, they differ significantly in term length (10 to 30 years), maximum loan-to-value limits (65% to 75% LTV), and up-front fees (3.9% to 4.99%)

In this Article

• Point vs. Splitero vs. Nada at a Glance
• What Is the Lowest Credit Score an HEI Provider Will Accept?
• Point: 30-Year Term and Homeowner Protection Cap
• Splitero: Term Matched to Your Mortgage
• Nada: Highest Lien Ceiling When Your Equity Is Thin
• Which HEI Provider Should You Choose?
• What an HEI Costs If Your Arizona Home Keeps Appreciating
• FAQ: Home Equity Sharing With a Low Credit Score

Point vs. Splitero vs. Nada at a Glance

All three companies share the same 500 credit score floor. The core differences lie in repayment timelines, lien caps, and property eligibility.

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For a complete breakdown of FICO minimums across all major providers, see our full Arizona HEI Credit Score Requirements Guide. Below, we compare the three platforms that go lowest, for scores between 500 and 580.

What Is the Lowest Credit Score an HEI Provider Will Accept?

The absolute lowest credit score any major home equity sharing provider accepts is 500 FICO. Point, Splitero, and Nada all share this floor. Most competing providers require a 600 score or higher.

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A bank lending at a fixed rate needs to believe you will make 120 or 240 monthly payments on time. Your credit score is the cheapest way to guess at that. An HEI company collects no monthly payments at all. So a late car note from 2023 matters far less to them than whether your Phoenix or Tucson home has real equity and will hold its value.

That flips the question being asked. A bank asks whether you can pay every month. An HEI company asks whether it can get its money back out of the property when the deal ends. Your score still has to clear 500, and a recent foreclosure or bankruptcy can still stop an application. But the real work is done by three things: your home’s appraised value, how much equity sits behind your mortgage, and whether your property type qualifies.

Is Point a Good HEI Option With a 500 to 580 Credit Score?

Point is the strongest fit if you do not have a firm exit date. Its agreement runs up to 30 years, the longest window of the three, and you can settle any time inside it with no prepayment penalty. If you are in the 500s and need several years to rebuild credit before you refinance, that runway is the whole argument.

Check your baseline eligibility with no credit impact.

How the pricing works. Point starts with an appraisal. It then applies what it calls a Risk-Adjusted Home Value, a discount to that appraisal that can run as high as about 20%. Your future gain is measured from the lower number, not the full appraisal. Most HEI companies do some version of this, so it is not a Point quirk. But it changes your math. A $500,000 appraisal might go into the agreement at $425,000, and every dollar of “appreciation” is counted from there.

The Homeowner Protection Cap. Point puts a ceiling on what you can owe at settlement. If your home jumps in value, you pay either the calculated share or the capped amount, whichever is lower. Ask for your specific cap in writing. It is set as a yearly limit, and in a fast market like Maricopa County that number can make or break the deal.

Costs and requirements. Point charges a processing fee of up to 3.9% of the cash you receive, with a minimum around $2,000. On top of that come third-party costs for appraisal, escrow, and government fees. There is no income requirement. You will usually need to keep 20% to 30% equity after funding, and Point records behind your mortgage in at least second position.

Where it falls short. Point does not fund commercial or agricultural property, manufactured or modular homes, lots of five acres or more, or co-ops. Title held by an LLC needs approval. One more thing to plan around: while a Point agreement is open, you generally cannot take a new HELOC, home equity loan, or cash-out refinance until you settle.

Already narrowing to two? See our head-to-head Point vs. Splitero comparison.

Is Splitero a Good HEI Option With a 500 to 580 Credit Score?

Splitero is the best fit if you want the agreement to end when your mortgage does rather than on an arbitrary date. Splitero calls this Maturity Match™, and the term runs as long as your senior mortgage, with a floor of about 10 years and a ceiling of 30. If you are 22 years into a 30-year note, your Splitero agreement is sized to that remaining timeline instead of dropping a fresh 30-year clock on your house.

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Qualification is unusually light. There are no income or employment requirements at all, which is why Splitero shows up often for self-employed Arizona homeowners, retirees on Social Security, and anyone whose tax returns do not tell a clean story. Combined with the 500 credit floor, the underwriting leans almost entirely on the property.

Costs and requirements. Splitero charges a 4.99% origination fee with a $1,500 minimum. It comes out of your proceeds, not your pocket. Add escrow, title, and settlement fees of $500 to $1,500 and an appraisal of $200 to $700. You will need roughly 30% equity. Your mortgage plus the investment generally cannot top about 65% of your home’s value, and the home itself must appraise between roughly $200,000 and $5 million. Splitero also applies an annual Safety Cap, which limits its own yearly return and so puts a ceiling on your payoff. Ask for that figure in writing.

Lien position matters here. Splitero needs second position behind your first mortgage, or first position if the home is paid off. Already carrying a second lien, such as a HELOC or a solar loan recorded against the house? That has to be cleared before Splitero can fund. Raise it on your first call, not at underwriting.

Where it falls short. Splitero funds owner-occupied homes only. Rentals, second homes, and manufactured homes are out. It operates in about 14 states, which is the narrowest footprint of the three, though Arizona is included. Repayment is a single lump sum with no partial buyback option.

Is Nada a Good HEI Option With a 500 to 580 Credit Score?

Nada is the one to start with if you do not have much equity to work with. Its combined lien cap sits near 75% of your home’s value, the highest of the three, and it will fund up to 30% of your home’s value in cash while allowing total liens up to about 75% CLTV. Point generally wants you to leave about 30% equity in the home. Splitero is tightest, with a combined cap near 65%.

Find out how much equity you can access with a pre-qualification.

A worked example. Say your Chandler home appraises at $400,000 and you owe $250,000. That puts you at 62.5% loan-to-value before anyone invests. Under a 75% ceiling, there is room for about $50,000. Under a 65% ceiling, there is almost nothing left. Your real offer still depends on the appraisal, how each company sets its share (via exchange rate or risk‑adjusted value), and underwriting.

Nada also has the lowest property value floor. Nada looks at homes valued from about $175,000. Splitero starts at $200,000. In Arizona that gap matters most outside the Scottsdale and north Phoenix price bands, in older Tucson, Casa Grande, and west Valley homes where a $180,000 appraisal is still common.

See our head-to-head Nada vs. Splitero comparison.

The 10-year term is the trade. Nada’s agreement runs 10 years, the shortest of the three. You can buy it back any time before that with no prepayment penalty. If you reach the end without settling, you can sell, refinance, or apply for a new 10-year agreement. A shorter clock has a real upside on cost, because it limits how many years of appreciation build up against you. It is also a firm deadline, so do not sign one without a realistic exit.

Other eligibility details. There are no income or asset minimums, though Nada does ask for proof of employment. The application uses a soft credit pull, so checking your number does not affect your score. Nada also holds a real estate brokerage license and a mortgage lender license. That means it can help with the sale or refinance when you exit, which is handy if your plan is to refinance once your score recovers.

Where it falls short. Nada does not fund co-ops, mobile or manufactured homes, timeshares, commercial or agricultural property, or parcels over 20 acres. Its footprint is about 14 states including Arizona, and its published closing timeline of as little as three weeks reflects average timelines under standard conditions and is not guaranteed.*

See current terms and get a free estimate directly from Nada.

Which Low Credit Score Home Equity Sharing Provider Should You Choose?

Choose based on your exit plan and how much equity you have rather than your FICO, because a shared 500 floor means your score does not separate these three. All of them will consider you at 540. Here is the framework.

Find out how much equity you can access with a pre-qualification.

Choose Point if:

• You have no clear plan to sell or refinance and want the longest possible runway
• You want a published ceiling on what you can owe at settlement
• You have strong equity and want the largest possible dollar amount
• You want the widest state footprint of the three

Choose Splitero if:

• You want the agreement’s end date tied to your existing mortgage rather than a fresh 30-year clock
• Your income is self-employed, seasonal, or hard to document, and you want zero income verification
• You live in the home full time and have at least 30% equity
• You want a company that caps its own return, giving you a modeled worst case

Choose Nada if:

• Your equity is thin and the other two came back with a small number or a decline
• Your home sits at the lower end of the value range, starting around $175,000
• You have a concrete exit inside 10 years, such as a planned sale or a refinance once your score recovers
• You want the shortest clock, which limits how many years of appreciation build up against you

Apply to more than one if: you are unsure. None of the three requires a hard credit pull to produce an estimate, offers vary meaningfully on the same property, and the only way to compare real dollar figures is to collect them side by side.

What Does an HEI Actually Cost If My Arizona Home Keeps Appreciating?

Unlike a fixed-rate loan, the total cost of an HEI depends on your home’s future appreciation.

The Cost Breakdown

1. Upfront Fee: 3.9% to 4.99% deducted from proceeds.
2. Third-Party Fees: Appraisal, escrow, and title recording costs.
3. Appreciation Share: A pre-agreed percentage of your home’s future value or appreciation delivered to the investor upon settlement.

Check your baseline eligibility with no credit impact.

Run the arithmetic before you sign, using a realistic Arizona appreciation assumption rather than the last three years. Ask each company for a written payoff illustration at year 5, year 10, and the end of the term, at a flat market, a 3% annual gain, and a 6% annual gain. If they will not put those three scenarios on paper, that tells you something.

The protective features matter here. Point’s Homeowner Protection Cap and Splitero’s cap on its own effective annual return both limit your worst case. Ask what the equivalent is at any provider you are considering, and get the number, not the concept.

Lowest Credit Score HEI Provider FAQ

See if an HEI is right for you and check your estimate today.