Nov. 4, 2025

More Things You Need to Know About a HELOC

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If you listened to Tom's last episode about using a HELOC to prevent a fraudulent transfer of the title to your home, this follow-up episode is for you.
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Well, good afternoon, Michiganders, and welcome back to Tuesday with

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Tom Michigan's Only podcast, where we talk about estate planning,

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a state settlement, and everything in between. As always, I'm

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your host, Tom Doyle, a state planning attorney, lifelong Michigander,

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and your guide to planning for your future. Well, in

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the last episode, I talked about protecting your home from

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fraudulent deed transfer with a helock. Basically the concept being

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that I talked a little bit about the problem with

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fraudulent ded transfers, what a helock is, and how that

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might be of assistance to you. While following that theme

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today though, I wanted to share a few things basically

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more things that you need to know about a helock.

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But remember what I'm about to discuss is meant to

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be educational and informative. It is not legal advice. Certainly,

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every person's situation is different, so to be sure to

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talk to your own attorney, your financial advisor, your banker,

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whoever it is that you're working with to figure out

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what makes the most sense for you and your planning.

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So more things you know to be about a helock.

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Before we talk about that, let's just go back revisit

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the last episode, and I talked about the protective role

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of a heelock. And first, what's a helock. Well, if

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you listen to last episode or perhaps you already know,

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helock is a home equity.

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Line of credit.

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Now, what I talked about in last week's episode was

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using a heelock to basically put a lien against your home. Essentially,

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that's so important in order to try and prevent title

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fraud if your home is owned free and clear. So

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if your home's owned free and clear, but you take.

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Out a heelock, that will put a.

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Lien on the property, and in order for someone to

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fraudulently transfer your title, they have to deal with that

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lean that's on the property. So because of that, it

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basically adds a layer of scrutiny and verification before anybody

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could transfer your home or put a lien on it,

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all from your end with the goal of making sure

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that you have done what you can do to protect

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your home from the fraudsters. So you've listened to last

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week's episode, you're thinking about having a helock. I just

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wanted to follow up today with a few considerations for

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you when you're out looking at your heelock, and you're

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likely going to find a helock. I mean, I started

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trying to put together a list of all the various

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credit unions and banks in the state of Michigan that

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offer helocks, and because so many of them did, I

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decided that it really wasn't appropriate or time appropriate for

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me to put that list together. You're probably going to

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contact your credit union that you're dealing with, or your

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bank that you're already dealing with, or some financial institution

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in your community in looking for a helock. So if

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you're going to do that, some of the considerations that

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you have in looking for helock are one. I talked

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about having the helock in particular to put a lean

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against your home, but you're not going to draw any

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funds from it. It's simply going to be there as

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a lean against the home, just in case someone works

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to try and transfer your title.

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Well, question for.

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Your credit union or bank, are there any requirements relative

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to the helock that you're considering even if you don't draw?

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For example, are there going to be any annual maintenance fees?

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Maybe you're not going to draw on the helo, but

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it might the bank credit union might charge annual maintenance

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fees on the heelock, even if you don't draw on

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it maintenance costs. There might be maintenance costs, there might

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be appraisal fees, there might be title search fees, or

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insurance fees. So there's a number of costs that might

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be incurred upfront in taking out the heelock. Your credit

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union might want to have a title search done, or

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they might want to have appraisals done on your property,

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or they might have certain concerns about what insurance you're

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carrying on your home. So a number of costs might

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be something that's going to be curred upfront, and you

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need to know what those are. And some of those

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fees will still apply even if there is a zero

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balance on the account, particularly annual maintenance fees or maintenance

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fees in general, to keep the account with your financial institution.

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Another consideration, what is the lean status and what do

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I mean by that? Well, you want to be sure

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that once the lian is approved, the bank does in

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fact record a lien in the county records. If you

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go and you get the heelock intending to have a

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lien placed on your property, the purpose of which is

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to discourage anyone from trying to fraudulently transfer your property.

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You want to be sure that the lien has been recorded,

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so you can ask your financial institution to provide your

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documentation that it's been recorded, or if they haven't done that,

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you might want to reach out, probably get up online.

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Most of the registered deeds offices are now online, just

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to double check to make sure that that lean has

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been recorded. Second, what you also want to confirm with

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your credit union or finance institution is what exact documentation

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is going to be filed.

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Is it the helock itself?

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Is it merely a memorandum excuse me reflecting the terms

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of the helock, so that you understand and you are

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sured that whatever it is that was recorded by your

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credit union or bank, you still return all rights of

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ownership to the property except for the lean.

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And that's pretty standard stuff.

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So unless you've got a real problem with your credit

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in your bank, that's not likely going to be a problem.

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But you need to know.

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So you need to know it's been recorded, and you

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need to know what has been recorded.

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Another consideration, so if you've.

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Taken out this helock, and again the purpose of it

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was not to draw any funds, but was to simply

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have the lean against your property. Well, you need to

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know because normally when a helock is set up, there

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is a draw period, a period of time in which

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you can withdraw funds on the helock. Well, what you

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need to know is what happens when that draw period ends,

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and if you've taken any funds, what are the when

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does the repayment period begin? So, once you have this

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helock in place, there's going to period of time again

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in which you can draw funds on it, and then

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there's going to be a time at which you have

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to start paying it back. Well, what if you'd never

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draw any fund which is what I was talking about

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using the heelock for, Well, you might still well, obviously

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you still have to satisfy whatever terms the repayment phase has,

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which in some cases might include closing or somehow converting

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the line into perhaps a more traditional type mortgage on

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your home, or perhaps a personal line whatever it is

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that the banker credit union has in place. But the

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problem is is if you've taken out this helock again

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the purpose of which to was to put a lien

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on your property, and you've never drawn any funds on it.

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If that helock is going to go away after a

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period of time because you've never used it, you need

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to know that because if it's let's say it's going

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to go away after I don't know, pick time ten years,

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and if you don't draw any funds on it ten

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years up, that helock's going away. And in that case,

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all likelihood your credit in your bank is going to

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file a discharge of the helock.

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Well you need to know that because when that.

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Happens, now you're right back to having the problem which

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you were trying to fix, which.

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Was you don't have a lean on your property.

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So need to know how long this protection, if you will,

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that you've created by that helock is going to work.

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Another consideration in looking for a heluck is can the

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bank or credit union reduce or cancel the lean or

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the line of credit if you will, if it's on you.

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So for example, what do I mean, Well, some lenders

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will include clauses that allow them to reduce credit limits

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or freeze or terminate unused line of credit depending upon

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changes in property value, changes in your credit or your

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financial condition, etc. So you need to know that because

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if you create this lean against your property. And if

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you are thinking, hey, another consideration for having this helux

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set up is what if I need money? What if

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I didn't? I don't need it now? And not only though,

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am I going to put a lean against my property?

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But one of the considerations I discussed last time was

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that you then have access to funds, perhaps in an

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emergency against your home. Well, you need to know if

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that amount, which is the line of credit that's been

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provided to you, somehow ends up getting reduced or changed

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or even terminated based upon changes in your property value,

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your credit, financial condition, et cetera. So you need to

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understand can your bank or credit union reduce or cancel

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the line of credit.

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If it's not used. Another consideration, so what are some risks?

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What are the risk?

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Well, because the lean helock is a lean on your

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home in some legal scenarios or default, if you violate terms,

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you might be exposing the home to foreclosure action.

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What do I mean by that?

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Well, many times if you have a mortgage against your

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home or a helock, which is a type of mortgage

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against your home, there might be provisions in it.

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That say something like, hey, if you.

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Go bankrupt, just use the most common scenario, we then

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might be able to declare the entire mound. Do why

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because you're no longer a credit worthy candidate. So you

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need to understand that when you put this lien on

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your home, there may be things that happen outside of

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the helock that could be considered a violation of the

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terms of the helock, and in that case you might be.

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Exposing the home to some risk.

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In summary, then yes, considering a helock, I think is

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still an important consideration, particularly as I discussed last time,

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when you've got your home paid off. And again, if

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you don't remember what I'm talking about, please go back

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and listen to last week's episode where I explain that

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more in detail. But some considerations are there going to

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be requirements or cost even if you don't draw on

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the line, what is the lean status? Make sure that

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as in fact has been recorded, what's the draw period

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and what happens after that? Can the bank reduce or

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cancel a line or perhaps cancel a lean if it's unused?

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And then understand are you exposing your home to any

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risks outside of the helock? So in summary, if you've

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paid off your mortgage, you might want to consider helock

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as a tool to protect your home from fraudulent deed transfers.

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If you intend to use the helock though in this way,

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you'll need to request basically full disclosures from your financial institution.

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So that you know what exactly.

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You are siding onto when you have that helock, so

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understand how it works. In particular, understand how it's going

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to work if you draw. Don't draw any funds. So

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I encourage listeners, I encourage you to review your own situation,

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speak with a trusted lender, consult with a legal professional

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for appropriate advice. As you are in search of using

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a helock as a way to secure that title to

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your home. Well, obviously Amanda and I were not bankers.

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We don't provide helocks, but with respect to other needs

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that you have concerning your estate plan, whether it means

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creating a new estate plan for you, updating and existing one,

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guiding you through the estate settlement process in a difficult time,

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or any further discussion about how you might utilize a

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helock as a.

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Tool for securing your home.

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We try to make it easy for you. We offer

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in person appointments available both in Grand Rapids location and

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our Lansing location. We offer virtual consultations that will be

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by zoom or phone wherever you are in this great

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state of Michigan. We have our Legal Store. Just all

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you need is one document. Maybe you're simply looking for

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a certificate of trust because you're selling real estate, or

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you need a new healthcare power of attorney, whatever happens

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to be browse and order legal documents anytime twenty four

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to seven through our Legal Store. And all of this

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and more information on how to schedule appointments, how to

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access the Legal Store virtual consultation, all of that is

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available at our website, Doyle LAWPC dot com. So visit

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Doyle LAWPC dot com today to get your consultation scheduled

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and we look forward to the opportunity to work with you.

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Sorry, push the wrong button.

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Well, I think that's going to be a wrap for

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today's show. As always, Oh, if you have a comment,

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a question you're like answered, or a topic that you'd

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like me to cover in future episode, head over to

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Tuesday with Time dot com. You can leave me a

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voice message by clicking on the microphone or just send

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me an email. That would be Tom at Tuesday with

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Tom dot com. Be sure to follow us on Facebook,

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invite your family and friends to do so as well,

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and that again would be Tuesday with Tom. We would

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invite you to follow the office on Facebook and Joyle

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Law PC, and don't forget subscribe to our email list

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at Tuesday with Tom dot com to stay up to

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date with new episodes and important estate planning tips. And

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remember too, you can listen to the show wherever you

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enjoy your podcast. We're on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music,

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Google podcast, iHeartRadio and Speaker and many many other channels

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where podcasts are available, and you can always ask your

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smart speaker to play Tuesday with Tom. Well, thanks again

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for spending part of your day with us, and as always,

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have an awesome day and an awesome week in Michigan.

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Stay safe.

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Tuesday with Tom has been brought to you by the

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estate planning attorneys at Doyle Law PC. To learn how

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we can help you with your estate plan or with

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settling a loved one's estate, please call us today at

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five one seven three two three seven three sixty six.

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That's five one seven three two three seven three sixty

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six