@diesel HELOC can usually be issued very quickly (couple of weeks) where as a refi you're closer to 90 days, depending on how backed up your bank is. The last HELOC I did, the bank didn't even want tax returns. HELOC will quite a bit higher on the interest but usually interest only payments. They need to be disciplined about paying it off if they go that route.
If they have the time to go the refi route, especially with long term rates as low as they are, they should just do that.
I'm working a few long cashout refis now and my loans are only a couple years old. I'm taking out $250k in cash and my monthly payment will still be lower than it is now. Insane.