The real issue is the occupancy certification you sign, and whether your intent is honest when you sign it. A HELOC on a primary residence is underwritten as owner-occupied. At closing you certify that you intend to live in the home as your principal residence, and occupancy is a material fact on the loan. Nobody checks your address day to day, but certifying you'll occupy while actually planning to rent the home out from day one is occupancy misrepresentation. That's mortgage fraud, and we won't tell you to cross that line. Plans do change legitimately. If you genuinely move in and life shifts later (a job relocation, a growing family), converting to a rental down the road is a normal thing that happens. What matters is that your intent at closing was honest. Know the risk, though: if the lender later discovers the home was converted, they can freeze or call the line. If your real plan is to buy or borrow and rent the place out right away, tell us that up front. There are loan products built for exactly that, and using the right one keeps you on the right side of the paperwork instead of relying on the fact that nobody's watching.