Mortgage lender · Philadelphia, PA · LEI 549300XOOL3OJTITCV30

Citadel Federal Credit Union review: approval odds, rates and grade (2025)

Citadel Federal Credit Union earns a C, in line with the typical performance of home-equity (HELOC) lenders. It turned down 29.0% of the applications it decided on in 2025, which ranks in the 37th percentile for approval odds. Its median loan was priced 0.60 points above the average prime offer rate, ranking in the 19th percentile on pricing. Compared against 412 home-equity (HELOC) lenders using 2025 HMDA filings.

4.6kApplications2025
53.6%Originatedof applications
29.0%Decision denial ratenational 22.6%
4.49%Median ratenational 6.63%
$416MLoan volume17 states

Citadel Federal Credit Union at a glance, 2025

Every figure is from the lender's own HMDA filing. "vs national" compares with all lenders combined.

22.5%Denial rate (all applications)+4.47 pts vs national
29.0%Denial rate (decided applications)+6.40 pts vs national
53.6%Origination rate-4.42 pts vs national
15.9%Withdrawn by applicant
6.7%Closed for incompleteness
4.49%Median interest rate-2.14 pts vs national
0.60Median rate spread (pts over APOR)+0.35 pts vs national
$105,000Median loan amount
$86Median total loan costs
$130kMedian applicant income
68%Median loan-to-value
0High-cost (HOEPA) loans

How the C grade breaks down

Each component is a percentile rank among 412 home-equity (HELOC) lenders. Higher is better. Components the lender does not report are left out and the weights redistributed.

Approval oddsdecision denial rate, weight 45%

37th29.0% denied

Pricingmedian rate spread over APOR, weight 30%

19th0.60 pts

Processwithdrawn + incomplete share, weight 15%

9th22.6%

Closing coststotal loan costs ÷ loan amount, weight 10%

99th0.08% of loan

Trend, 2023–2025

YearApplicationsOriginatedDenial rateDecision denialMedian rateVolume
20234,2532,20829.8%36.0%4.49%$310M
20244,2762,26628.9%34.9%4.99%$347M
20254,5532,44122.5%29.0%4.49%$416M

What Citadel Federal Credit Union lends

Applications by purpose and loan type in 2025, with the denial rate for each. A lender's mix explains a lot of its headline rate: HELOCs and FHA loans are denied far more often than conventional purchase loans.

By loan purpose

Home purchase 406 9% · 8.1% denied
Refinance 189 4% · 19.1% denied
Cash-out refinance 1,134 25% · 15.5% denied
Home improvement 709 16% · 12.6% denied
Other / HELOC 2,115 46% · 32.5% denied

By loan type

Conventional 4,475 98% · 22.6% denied
FHA 72 2% · 12.5% denied
VA 5 0% · 0.0% denied
USDA / RHS 1 0% · 0.0% denied

Also: 2,793 home-equity lines, 0 reverse mortgages, 19 manufactured homes, 110 investment properties.

Why Citadel Federal Credit Union denies applications

Primary reason reported for each of the 1,022 denials in 2025. Lenders can cite up to four reasons; this is the first one listed.

Credit history 485 47%
Collateral 232 23%
Debt-to-income ratio 182 18%
Other 69 7%
Incomplete application 25 2%
Employment history 19 2%
Unverifiable information 9 1%
Insufficient cash 1 0%

How these reasons compare nationally →

Who gets approved at Citadel Federal Credit Union

Decision denial rate by applicant profile. Groups with fewer than 20 applications are omitted.

Applicant incomeApplicationsOriginatedDecision denial rate
Under $50k36010460.5%
$50k – $100k1,16557033.0%
$100k – $150k1,06564522.6%
$150k – $250k1,13170520.3%
Over $250k73537728.4%
Applicant ageApplicationsOriginatedDecision denial rate
Under 2524568.8%
25–3444320434.3%
35–441,06757430.4%
45–541,22968128.4%
55–6496952927.9%
65–7461233425.4%
Over 7419810427.2%

Where Citadel Federal Credit Union lends

17 states and 106 counties in 2025. Click a state for the lender's full record there.

StateApplicationsOriginatedDenial rateMedian rateRank in state
Pennsylvania4,1022,25521.6%3.99%#26
New Jersey1899323.8%4.49%#204
Delaware1776530.5%6.63%#57
Maryland361138.9%5.50%#352
Florida251516.0%5.63%#725
North Carolina5140.0%6.38%#727

Frequently asked questions

Citadel Federal Credit Union denied 29.0% of the applications it decided on in 2025. The national figure across all lenders was 22.6%. On approval odds it ranks in the 37th percentile of home-equity (HELOC) lenders.

The most common reason Citadel Federal Credit Union gave in 2025 was "credit history", cited on 47.5% of its denials. Lenders report up to four reasons per denial to the CFPB; the full breakdown is on this page.

The median interest rate on loans Citadel Federal Credit Union originated in 2025 was 4.49%, and its median rate spread over the average prime offer rate was 0.60 points. Rates on this page are what borrowers actually got, not advertised rates.

In 2025, 9% of its applications were for home purchases, 29% for refinancing (including cash-out), and 62% for home improvement or other purposes. By loan type: 98% conventional, 2% FHA, 0% VA.

Every figure on this page comes from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Loan/Application Register published by the CFPB, which lenders are required by federal law to file. We add the grade and the comparisons; we do not add facts.

About this data. HMDA data is published once a year by the CFPB. The current release covers applications acted on in calendar year 2025. Figures describe applications the lender acted on, including loans it later sold. Interest rates and costs are medians on originated loans only; some depository institutions are exempt from reporting pricing fields, which is why a few cells read "—". MortgageGrades is not affiliated with Citadel Federal Credit Union. Data sources · Methodology