Unlock

At a Glance

Product type: Home equity agreement (HEA) / home equity investment, not a loan or line of credit.

How it works: Unlock gives you cash today in exchange for a contractual right to a percentage of your home’s future value. You repay them when you sell, refinance, or buy back their share (with optional partial buyouts along the way).

Key features

• No monthly payments or traditional interest; there’s no APR in the way you’d see with a HELOC or home equity loan.
• 10-year term to settle the agreement.
• Funding up to $500,000 depending on your home value and equity.
• Minimum credit score around 500, which is more lenient than many home-equity lenders.
• Available in 24 states + D.C., including Arizona, California, Florida, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and others.

Costs

• Origination fee up to 4.9% of the investment amount.
• Additional third-party closing costs (appraisal, title, settlement, government fees), which Unlock itself estimates can push total upfront costs to around 7% on a $100,000 investment - higher than typical home-equity closing costs.
• At settlement, you owe back the original amount plus Unlock’s agreed-upon percentage of your home’s value, subject to a maximum annualized cost cap around 19.9%.

Reputation & ratings

• Bankrate score: 3.0/5 overall (3.2/5 affordability, 2.9/5 availability, 3.1/5 borrower experience).
• Trustpilot: ~4.7/5 from several hundred+ reviews, highlighted by Unlock’s own marketing and independent reviewers.
• BBB: A+ rating, accredited since September 2025; product listed as “Home Equity Agreement.”

Bottom-line verdict: Unlock’s HEA can be useful for homeowners with significant equity who can’t or don’t want to take on a loan, but it’s complex, can become very expensive over time, and sits in a regulatory gray area where HEIs are increasingly being treated as high-cost mortgage loans.

How Unlock’s Home Equity Agreement Works

Unlock is part of a broader category of home equity investments (HEIs) that let investors buy a minority economic interest in your home for a fixed period, typically a decade or more. You get a lump sum with no monthly payment, and in return, the investor receives a share of your home’s future value or appreciation.

For Unlock specifically:

1. You apply online and get a soft-pull pre-qualification in about two minutes, with no impact on your credit score.
2. Unlock orders a third-party appraisal and title work and makes you a formal offer, outlining the cash amount, “exchange rate,” and the percentage of your home’s future value that they’ll own.
3. At closing, you receive the investment payment (net of fees) and Unlock records a lien against your property.
4. Over up to 10 years, there are no required monthly payments, but you may make optional partial buyouts to reduce what you’ll owe at the end.
5. The agreement ends when:
   • You sell your home and pay Unlock its percentage of the sale price, or
   • You refinance / buy out Unlock at the then-current home value, or
   • You reach year 10 and must settle via sale or buyout.

The pricing mechanics (simplified)

LendEDU’s review lays out an example based on Unlock’s own materials:

• Home value at signing: $600,000
• Unlock gives you $60,000 → that’s 10% of the initial value.
• They use an “exchange rate” (often around 2.0 for owner-occupied homes) to determine their final share. In this example, 10% × 2.0 = 20% Unlock share.

At settlement, Unlock’s share is roughly:

Ending home value × Unlock percentage

So if the home later sells for $806,000 (a modest 3% annual appreciation), a 20% share would be about $161,200, to settle $60,000 of the net cash you received at the beginning.

If the home declines in value, you still share downside; Unlock gets 20% of a lower price. But because they cap the “annualized cost” at roughly 19.9%, and because of how the exchange rate can be adjusted, the effective price of the money is often closer to a high-cost loan than to a cheap HELOC.

Eligibility, Property Types & Availability

Who can qualify?

According to LendEDU and Bankrate, typical Unlock HEA requirements include:

• Credit score: At least 500 FICO.
• Loan-to-value (LTV): Your total mortgage(s) plus Unlock’s investment generally can’t exceed 80% of your home value.
• Debt-to-income (DTI): Usually capped around 45%.
• Home type: Most standard residential properties (single-family, some condos/2–4 unit homes), but typically no mobile homes or tenancy-in-common setups.
• Use of funds: Very flexible - debt consolidation, home improvements, business funding, or covering living expenses - as long as you keep taxes, insurance, and any first mortgage current.

Unlock also screens for recent major derogatories; recent bankruptcies, foreclosures, or significant mortgage delinquencies can be disqualifying.

Where is Unlock available?

Bankrate reports that Unlock is currently available in 24 states plus Washington, D.C. including: Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wyoming and D.C.

Availability is expanding, so you should always check Unlock’s own site for the latest state list.

How Much Does Unlock Cost?

Unlock markets itself as having “no interest” and “no monthly payments,” but that does not mean it’s cheap.

Upfront fees

From Unlock’s own disclosures and third-party reviews:

• Origination fee: Up to 4.9% of the investment.
• Third-party costs: Appraisal, title, settlement, recording, and other fees.
• On a $100,000 investment, Unlock literature cited by Bankrate estimates around $7,100 in total closing costs (~7%), substantially higher than the ~2–5% typical for many home-equity loans.

Those fees are often netted out of your proceeds, so if you’re “approved for $60,000,” you may receive noticeably less in your bank account.

Total payoff cost

The true cost comes at the end, when you:

• Repay the original amount you received
• Plus Unlock’s percentage of your home’s future value, adjusted for any improvement or maintenance adjustments and constrained by an annualized cost cap (around 19.9%).

Customer complaints on review sites like BirdEye and the BBB illustrate how the math can surprise homeowners. Several reviewers describe situations where an initial $25,000–$50,000 payout ballooned to a payback tens of thousands higher within just a few years, especially when they tried to refinance or sell.

Key takeaway: Even though there’s no APR, the effective cost can rival or exceed high-rate personal loans or subprime credit over the life of the agreement, especially if your home appreciates meaningfully.

Unlock vs. HELOCs, Home Equity Loans & Reverse Mortgages

Unlock vs. HELOC / home equity loan

HELOCs and home equity loans:

• Require monthly payments and charge interest.
• Typically have lower all-in borrowing costs if you qualify.
• Are well-understood, heavily regulated, and widely available.

Unlock HEA:

• No monthly payments or stated APR; repayment is at sale or buyout, based on home value.
• May accept lower credit scores or more complex profiles than many banks.
• Can be significantly more expensive in dollar terms, especially if your property appreciates.

If you can qualify for a competitively priced HELOC or home equity loan, those will usually be more cost-effective and straightforward than a home equity agreement like Unlock.

Unlock vs. reverse mortgage

Reverse mortgages also allow you to tap home equity without monthly payments, but:

• They’re generally limited to homeowners 62+, heavily regulated, and have their own cost/complexity tradeoffs.

Unlock doesn’t have age restrictions and targets a broader demographic, but without the same long-standing regulatory framework or standardization.

Is Unlock Right for You?

Unlock could make sense if:

• You have substantial equity but can’t qualify for a traditional loan.
  For example, you’ve had a recent income disruption, you’re self-employed with irregular income, or your credit is in the 500s, but you own a lot of home equity.
• You need flexibility and truly can’t handle another monthly payment right now.
  Maybe you’re in a short-to-medium-term financial crunch, but expect your situation to improve enough to refinance or buy out the HEA within several years.
• You’re comfortable selling or refinancing within 10 years.
  Unlock is generally more logical if you know you’ll move or refinance on that kind of timeframe, rather than holding the property indefinitely.

You’ll likely want to avoid Unlock if:

• You qualify for a reasonably priced HELOC, home equity loan, or cash-out refinance.
  Those products are usually cheaper, simpler, and more predictable.
• You plan to keep the home long term as your primary nest egg.
  Sharing a big slice of your future equity can undermine retirement security or inheritance plans.
• You’re risk-averse or hate complexity.
  If you’re uncomfortable with legal fine print and variable, scenario-dependent payoff amounts, HEAs are not a great fit, especially in a regulatory environment where courts and regulators are actively reconsidering how these contracts should be treated.

How to Use Unlock

If you’re seriously considering Unlock or any HEI:

1. Stress-test the numbers.
   Ask Unlock to show, in writing, your total payoff under multiple scenarios:
   • Home value down 10%, flat, +10%, +30%
   • Payoff at years 3, 5, 7, 10
2. Understand the exact “Unlock percentage” and exchange rate.
   Small changes in the exchange rate can dramatically change what you’ll owe.
3. Clarify treatment of improvements and neglect.
   Unlock has provisions for improvement credits (reducing what’s shared) and maintenance adjustments (increasing the “assumed” ending value if the house is neglected). Make sure you understand how those would apply in your case.
4. Ask about refinancing, second liens, and early payoff.
   Some reviewers ran into issues when trying to refinance or access additional equity while an HEA lien was in place. Get specifics on fees and logistics for early buyouts.
5. Speak with a housing counselor and/or attorney.
   Given the evolving legal landscape and CFPB/NCLC warnings about these contracts, consider talking to: They can help you assess whether the agreement is fair, what your alternatives are, and how it fits with your broader financial plan.
   • A HUD-approved housing counselor, and
   • A consumer-finance or real-estate attorney in your state

Who Is Unlock Best For?

Unlock is best for:

• Equity-rich but cash-poor homeowners who can’t qualify for traditional home-equity products
• People who absolutely cannot handle new monthly payments right now
• Borrowers who understand and accept the long-term cost and legal complexity of a shared-equity contract

You’re usually better off with another option if:

• You can qualify for a HELOC, home equity loan, or cash-out refi at a sane rate
• You want to keep your house long-term and preserve as much equity as possible
• You dislike complex products and evolving legal gray areas

If you do move forward with Unlock, go in with eyes wide open, run detailed scenario math, and consider getting independent legal and financial guidance before signing anything.