HELOC, but no credit score

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Some friends are trying to buy more properties since money is cheap (but not always easy, as they are finding out). They have great assets, but no credit history (it's all in the past). They asked me, but I'm stuck.

They were aware that this could be a problem, so they were monitoring their credit on Credit Karma. Surprisingly, merely applying for a card raised the score from 660 to 730. This happened even before the cards were received in the mail. At this point, they felt they were ok to start looking at getting a HELOC to get more properties. But during the application, the lender told them they use a different model, and their lack of actual credit card activity for 5 plus years meant they were a no go for about 6 months as they establish credit.

Is anyone aware of manual underwriting options for HELOCs? The net worth of these people (both in terms of liquid and total net worth) is considerably more than the proposed line of credit.

Thanks.