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Consolidating debts at the renewal of a Grand Montréal mortgage means refinancing, so requalifying. What the lender recalculates.
Lenders look at your ratios once the debts are cleared, not the current ones. A tax debt is worse than a credit card balance. Revenu Québec and the CRA can put a claim on the property, so most lenders insist it be paid from the refinance.
Every debt listed with its exact balance and payment, the latest mortgage statements, the notices of assessment. For tax debt, ask for the official statement of account. Nothing else counts with a lender.
Start comparing four to six months before maturity. Most lenders will hold a rate that long, and switching at maturity carries no penalty. Once you sign the renewal notice that landed in your Grand Montréal mailbox, the leverage is gone.
The renewal notice your bank mails out is a starting point, not its best rate. One competing quote gives you something to negotiate with, and lenders active in Grand Montréal do compete for a client who already pays on time.
Switching lenders in Grand Montréal means making the whole case again: current proof of income, a mortgage statement, the tax bill and, most of the time, a new appraisal. Staying put spares you all that, at the price of a rate you did not negotiate.
A sale, renovations or a lump-sum payment in the next few years should guide the term you pick, not the other way around. Maturity is also the one time you can prepay with no penalty, whatever your plans in Grand Montréal look like.
To prepare
Yes. It all runs by phone, email or video call, and documents go through online. We can meet in person, but most files get settled without anyone having to travel.
Often yes, but not always with your cash. Paying down a card improves your ratios. Emptying your account to do it weakens the down payment. You have to run both numbers at the same time.
Pick the situation closest to yours.
Contact
Buying, renewing, refinancing, or something a bit out of the ordinary: tell us where you’re at, even if it’s still fuzzy. Mathieu gets back to you with next steps and the documents to pull together.