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Consolidating debts at the renewal of a Nord-du-Québec mortgage means refinancing, so requalifying. What the lender recalculates.
It all comes down to your ratios once the debts are paid off, not today’s. A tax debt weighs more than a credit card: Revenu Québec and the CRA can register a claim on the property, and most lenders require it to be paid out of the refinancing.
A list of your debts with exact balances and payments, your latest mortgage statements, your notices of assessment. If a tax debt is involved, ask for the official statement of account, the only figure the lender will work from.
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 Nord-du-Québec 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 Nord-du-Québec do compete for a client who already pays on time.
Switching lenders in Nord-du-Québec 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 Nord-du-Québec 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.