First Tech Federal Credit Union Home Equity Loans

I was very stressed when I called because I could not get into the online site, but Representative Cheyenne was able to guide me through the setup process for my accounts and assured me the new accounts did exist. I appreciate her calm, patient attitude while working with me. Thanks, Cheyenne!

Myah Jackson was wonderful to work with! She understood what I needed and answered all my questions. So very glad I got to work with her, and I am keeping her number for when I have further questions. THANK YOU, Myah! I'd give you more stars if possible.

HELOC to build an ADU went extremely well! Carrie Fowles and Rosa Agustin were awesome to work with throughout the whole process. They made it easy to tap into my equity.

We worked with Richard Lucas and Lexi Mitchell during the home equity loan approval, closing, and funding process, which came together on schedule and without a hitch. Both communicated regularly and clearly and responded to our questions with lingo-free directness. First Tech's loan process is mainly online, and we closed the loan at our dining room table with a notary who came to us with the paperwork that required wet signatures. Simple, straightforward, and timely—we couldn't have asked for a better experience!

Service was great. Just one quick call and I was matched with specialist Angie Zuniga. She guided me through the process and was available for all my questions. The actual loan process was beautifully handled by Grace Chueng who was so patient with my husband and me. Always got back to us quickly and gave us assurance and answers thoroughly. She eased my concerns and got us through to success. We love our team at First Tech and trust each person and agent we've ever encountered. Thanks.

Really love working with First Tech. I've been a member for 23 years and during that time, I've bought 8 properties with loans from First Tech about 5 of those times. Each time I purchase through First Tech, I get the best rates and customer service. In other cases, my experience is not as personal, and my loans are sold somewhere else multiple times, which is annoying. In this most recent purchase, Dior Johnston helped me with a HELOC. Once again, First Tech exceeded my expectations by having a special product that offers flexibility and, once I'm ready, the ability to lock in a better lower rate (HELOC Flexity). I didn't even know this existed, and Dior was great in explaining and quickly supporting changes to my requests. Rosa Agustin supported me in getting all the paperwork through underwriting. Thanks so much for the great teamwork and customer experience.

We recently worked with Jeff Sines and Cookie Laun to secure a Home Equity Loan for our upcoming home remodel, and the experience was outstanding from start to finish. The entire process was incredibly smooth and easy—something we truly appreciated given how busy we are.

Jeff and Cookie were always quick to respond, clear about each step in the process, and transparent about what was needed from us. Their communication made everything feel seamless, and we always felt informed and supported.

The rates we received were extremely fair, and we couldn't have asked for a better experience with such a professional and efficient team. We're so grateful to have worked with a company that made this process stress-free and straightforward.

Highly recommend!

Really horrible experience with the loan officer here, completely robotic and unwilling/unable to take a moment and pretend to care about what our needs actually were and how he could help offer a solution. Really glad we decided not to go with them, especially after reading the reviews here.

We've been members of First Tech for 35+ years, going back to when it was originally the HP Employees Federal Credit Union. In 2011, we decided to open a line of credit and corresponding online account.

Over the next nine years, we had always paid our monthly payments on time. There was one occasion where a clerk had mistakenly deposited our mortgage check into a savings account, generating a late fee, but this was successfully corrected by First Tech during a phone call.

In 2020, we decided to close the line of credit. The sequence of events was as follows:

Oct 5, 2020: We paid off our balance ahead of schedule and requested to close the line of credit.
Dec 7: First Tech mailed us a letter indicating we would need to pay a reconveyance fee plus $14.74 interest to close the loan.
Dec 8: I phoned in the next day, and a “Josh” helped us process the payment (a $216 fee & $14+ interest), and verbally confirmed that the line of credit was now closed.
Dec 12: Another letter was sent to us confirming “full payment of our real estate loan”, with instructions to destroy remaining checks, remove payroll deduction, etc.

In any reasonable interpretation of the situation, it would appear that all our debts to First Tech had been paid and cleared, and there would be no issues moving forward.

July 2021: We applied for a new loan through Schwab. After a few days. Schwab responded that our application had been denied due to a “late mortgage payment”. Confused, we reached out to First Tech, which confirmed that they had reported us to the credit bureaus due to the $14+ interest that had accrued after we paid off the loan.

Never mind the amount due, this was perplexing because we had zero communication from First Tech from October until December. We subscribe to USPS informed delivery and were at home 24/7 due to Covid restrictions, so there was zero possibility of us missing the letter.

Subsequent calls into First Tech resulted a “Deletion Investigation” that went nowhere, followed by attacks on our character that since we have an online account, we were irresponsible by not logging into their nonintuitive web interface to check for notifications. Keep in mind we had zero mailed and emailed notices, and it was difficult to find the electronic notices on their website even with the CSR’s guidance.

As a result of this $14+ interest charge, we are no longer able to open new loans through other lenders. It constitutes a “late mortgage payment”, which is a severe penalty in the eyes of lenders. First Tech is unwilling to work with us (35+ years of banking relationship, zero late mortgage payment besides this anomaly), to remove the penalty from our credit report. Suffice to say we are extremely disappointed in the outcome, and in First Tech’s quality of communication and treatment of long-standing customers.

Careful of this credit union. You have to keep heloc open for two years in order to not accrue fees for closing early. $100 a year to keep open. They won’t send you a bill for the account. They will charge your heloc to accrue the fees, and then it’s extremely difficult to see how much you pay to get it down to 0 (can’t overpay to have negative balance). Customer service will give you runaround to close account. Charge a ‘state fee’ of roughly $145 for my 235k heloc to close... so much for no fees. Interest rates for 800+ credit at 6.75%, compared to 3.5 or less elsewhere.