How are fixed home equity loan rates determined?

Pablo1709 asked: I’ve noticed on historic charts that there doesn’t seem to be any correlation between home equity loans and HELOCS or mortgage rates. I know HELOCs are usually based off of the prime rate, but what determines how fixed home equity loan rates fluctuate?

Can a fixed home equity loan drop my credit score?

happydawg asked: I requested $10,000 dollar home equity loan to roof my house.
My FICO score was 780 until approx March when I applied for a home equity loan at a fixed rate. Now my FICO score is 740. What happened? I am never late on any payments. I pay over the [...]