How HEAs Work

Don't miss out. Learn about HEAs below so you can use your home to pay off debt – not incur it – and leave a legacy.

How it Works

Don't miss out. Learn about HEAs below so you can use your home to pay off debt – not incur it – and leave a legacy.

If Knowledge Is Power...

Then sharing knowledge is power multiplied. As home ownership is one of the surest paths to generational wealth, we seek to empower homeowners and close the wealth gap by providing real estate education and financial literacy for all. We provide homeowners, especially those underserved, with financial information, real estate terminology, housing news, mortgage regulatory changes, thought leadership, and Home Equity Agreements (HEAs), so homeowners can make more informed decisions and access the capital in their homes to pay down debt. We want homeowners to improve their financial standing and credit score, so they no longer have to move out of their communities because of looming gentrification. In fact, we have designed Leap’s HEAs so homeowners can stay in their communities and participate in the often dramatic economic improvements that accompany gentrification.

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We Use Technology to Eliminate Bias, So You Can Level Up!

We aim to reverse the effects of decades of redlining and other discriminatory practices. We remove racial bias from the lending process by using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to analyze and underwrite loans and HEA applications. Objective technology eliminates the discriminatory underwriting methods that have long plagued the mortgage industry and consumer finance by cancelling human subjectivity and its implicit bias.

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Leap's Purpose-Built HEAs Are Another Distinguishing Client Benefit

Leap Home Equity Agreements (HEAs) are not loans. They are shared agreements between a homeowner and Leap. Also known as Home Equity Investments (HEIs), these agreements provide homeowners with a cash payment, with no interest rate and no monthly payments, in exchange for a portion of their home's future appreciation. Importantly, Leap HEAs are purpose-built: There are specific HEAs for seniors, underserved homeowners, small businesses and homeowners with short-term financial needs.

Leap HEAs provides a lump sum payment in exchange for 6% to 18% equity in a home. The homeowner must have at least 30% in equity to qualify for Leap’s HEA program.  As the home appreciates in value, both the homeowners and Leap win. If the home devalues, the homeowner may actually owe less. Leap HEA terms can be as short as 1 year, but typically are 10- and 30-year term agreements. At the end of the HEA term, the homeowner can either buy back the equity, extend the agreement term or sell the home, so the equity stake can be recouped by the investor. Homeowners typically buy themselves out of the HEA before the term expires.

Leap wants the homeowner to use the cash payment to set off a personally transformative chain reaction: Leap HEAs provide cash for homeowners to pay down existing debts, such as credit card or medical debt. This, in turn, lowers the homeowners’ debt-to-income ratio while raising the homeowner’s credit score, ultimately improving the homeowner’s financial wellness, relevancy and power.

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