Region served
Revenu Québec and the CRA can register a claim on the property. Most lenders require the debt to be paid at funding, in Grand Montréal as anywhere.
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.
A bankruptcy, a proposal, a judgment or a collection account does not close the door for good. The lender wants to know how long ago it was settled and what you have rebuilt since, in Grand Montréal as anywhere in Quebec.
The lender keeps what it can verify on its own: payments made on time for several months, balances going down, credit used without going over the limit. An explanation that leaves no trace on your report does not carry much weight.
An alternative lender costs more than a bank. The real question is what that buys you: time to rebuild, or a bridge to a conventional rate. The exit plan matters more than the rate, in Grand Montréal as anywhere.
A stopgap is only a stopgap if the way out is written down: what has to change, by when, and what the move back to ordinary financing costs. Otherwise the temporary arrangement becomes permanent.
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.