This document sets out the basis on which we will provide the services to you, your obligations to us and the facts on which we both rely upon to enter into this agreement.
By applying for a loan through us you agree that you have read and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions listed below.
Services Offered
We act as finance brokers on behalf of lenders, predominantly for home loan or mortgage products. We will provide you with information regarding the type and availability of credit contracts, finance products and loans.
We will also assist you in the application for finance by arranging offers to be made to you by lenders.
We do not advise you on the legal or financial implications of entering into credit arrangements or particular finance products.
Our Panel Of Lenders
We have entered into arrangements with the lenders which allow us to obtain credit for you from these lenders subject to you meeting the lenders credit criteria. The lenders with which we have arrangements do not necessarily represent all the lenders who offer credit of the nature that you seek.
We can consider entering into agreements with lenders that are not part of our standard panel providing they deal with brokers and consent to our accreditation.
Fees Payable By You
No fees are payable by you to us for most loan types. We are paid by the lender for doing the work that would otherwise be completed by a mobile lender or bank manager.
For some types of loans such as commercial loans, short term loans or loans where we will not earn industry standard commissions or have our commissions clawed back by the lender then we may charge you a brokerage fee.
In all cases, any fees charged by us will be disclosed to you up front.
In some situations, we may charge a processing fee for work completed if you have dealt with us in an unethical manner. Please refer to our mortgage broking fees for more information.
Refund Policy
Brokerage fees will be refunded to your bank account if we are unable to obtain loan approval for you.
Prepare to buy program fees will be refunded if you buy a property within the next five years and use us as your mortgage broker. When your loan is advanced we will credit the $300 to your bank account.
The prepare to buy program fee is not refundable if you decide not to buy. However, if a friend or family member of yours decides to buy a home and you refer them to us, then you can request for us to refund your prepare to buy fee when their loan is advanced.
Compliments & Complaints
Please address all feedback to our:
Broker Team Manager
Home Loan Experts
Suite 207, 3 Rider Boulevard, Rhodes NSW 2138
Alternatively, you can email feedback or complaints to complaints@homeloanexperts.com.au.
We endeavour to handle your feedback in house via our Director or Complaints Manager.
In the event that a complaint you lodge with us is unable to be resolved you may refer your complaint to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority, who are our appointed External Dispute Resolution scheme.
You may contact them only after you have been unsuccessful in coming to an agreement to us regarding your complaint. Their contact details are:
Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA)
GPO Box 3
Melbourne, VIC 3001
Tel: 1300 56 55 62
Fax: (03) 9613 6399
How Will My Complaint Be Handled?
One of our Broker Team Managers will record the complaint on our register, investigate the complaint by discussing the matter with our staff, and then call the customer to further clarify their complaint.
Once sufficient information has been gathered, a decision is made on what action to take and, if necessary, compensation may be paid to the customer.
Once action has been taken, our Broker Team Managers will analyse the cause of the complaint and discuss any required changes to our systems / procedures with the Director and/or Operations Manager.
The register is then updated with the outcome and the complaint file is closed.
Benefits To Be Received By Us From People Other Than You
We may receive an upfront commission of between 0% and 2.25% of the amount borrowed by you and ongoing commissions of between 0% and 0.55% of the balance owing by you from time to time.
We may pay a referral fee to the person or company that referred you to us, if applicable. These percentages include GST.
We confirm that:
- We do not determine or recommend the conditions of the credit contract (such as interest rates, fees or the term of the loan);
- We and nobody else will receive any financial or other benefit or have any other interest or relationship which could reasonably be expected to influence our recommendation other than as disclosed in the brokerage agreement; and
- We undertake to inform you if, after recommending a particular product prior to you entering into a contract for that product, the commission payment differ for those described in the brokerage agreement.
You acknowledge and agree that:
- You agree to engage us to arrange the loan described above on your behalf.
- The information you have provided to us is true and correct and that we will rely upon such information in arranging for the loan on your behalf.
- You understand that we are not qualified to give legal or financial advice and any information we give you is of a general nature only and is not specific for your situation. We recommend you obtain your own legal and financial advice regarding the suitability of the loan to your needs or purposes. In entering into this agreement you expressly agree and represent to us that you have relied upon your own independent inquiries and advice in relation to the financial and legal implications of entering into this agreement or a loan contract.
- You will release us, indemnify us and hold us harmless from all and any loss, damage, cost or injury suffered by you, and with respect to any claim, proceeding, or action which does or might arise out or in relation to this agreement or the services provided to you by us.
- The terms of the loan you are seeking are indicative only and may be subject to change. Please refer to the loan contract given to you by the lender for the full terms and conditions of the loan.
- You are able to make the quoted repayments over the quoted term without undue hardship.
- If your loan is a “Low Doc” loan then the income being declared is true and correct.
Privacy Disclosure Statement And Consent
We are collecting personal information about you to provide you with our brokering services. The information is required to allow us to assist you in preparing the loan application and locating an appropriate lender.
If the information is not provided we may not be able to find an appropriate loan for you.
We may use your information to provide you with offers or information of other goods or services we or a third party may be able to provide you with, unless you tell us not to use your personal information for this purpose in writing.
We may disclose your information to other organizations to fulfill the purposes identified (or purposes related to those purposes) in this agreement. The types of organizations we may disclose your information to include:
- Lenders;
- Mortgage insurers;
- Valuers;
- Our Aggregator;
- Credit reporting agencies (such as Baycorp Advantage);
- Other mortgage intermediaries;
- Government organizations as required by law;
- Other organizations which assist us (such as printers, mailing houses, lawyers, debt collectors and accountants);
- Your appointed advisors (such as your solicitor, conveyancer, accountant, real estate agent or any persons acting on your behalf).
Unless you tell us otherwise, we may disclose your information to any person who is acting on your behalf, with your legal authority or who is purporting to act with your legal authority.
In addition we may disclose your personal information to any other organisation that you may wish to, or has acquired, an interest in your loan or in our business.
We may also contact various organizations that have information about you & your associated companies so as to obtain the information we need to provide our services.
The types of organisations we may collect your information from include:
- Employers;
- Accountants;
- Solicitors or Conveyancers;
- Credit reporting agencies (such as Equifax);
- Or any other organisation that has information about you which we require to provide our services.
You authorise these organizations to release to us any information we may request. You appoint Home Loan Experts as your agent in obtaining a copy of your consumer & commercial credit information for both yourself as individuals and any companies, trusts, trading names, registered names or related entities of which you are either an owner, trustee or director. This authority only applies to enquiries made by Home Loan Experts in connection with your application, or proposed application, for credit or you having sought advice relating to your existing credit.
This authority only applies to enquiries made by Home Loan Experts in connection with your application, or proposed application for credit, or you having sought advice relating to your existing credit.
We may also lodge a default or update the details of a default if you have not paid our brokerage fees within 60 days, they are over $100 and debt collection action has been started (Section 18(E)(1) Privacy Act 1988).
You can gain access to the information we hold about you by contacting us at the above mentioned address.
We will hold the information securely and may destroy our records in accordance with established industry document retention practices or as permitted by law.
You agree that we may collect and use your personal information as specified above.
Information On This Website
By accessing the Home Loan Experts website you agree to be bound by these terms. If you do not agree, then you must not access our site.
The Home Loan Experts accepts no liability and takes no responsibility for any person or organisation that has relied on the information in this website.
We make no guarantees that you are eligible for a mortgage, we must submit an application to a lender to confirm your eligibility.
Even then a lender can decline a loan that has been pre-approved and can withdraw an unconditional approval that has been issued, so there is always an element of risk to any loan application.
Comparison Rate Warning
Comparison rates are based on a secured loan of $150,000 over a term of 25 years.
WARNING: This comparison rate applies only to the example or examples given. Different amounts and terms will result in different comparison rates. Costs such as redraw fees or early repayment fees, and cost savings such as fee waivers, are not included in the comparison rate but may influence the cost of the loan.
Accuracy Of Our Information
We regularly update the information on this website and try to keep it up to date with policy, product, template and pricing changes.
However, we give no assurance or warranty that the information is current and take no responsibility for any loss or inconvenience caused by a person or organisation relying on this information.
Copyright
Copyright for this website rests with the Home Loan Experts unless otherwise stated.
This website is protected using copyscape. All attempts to rewrite or copy our content that is not in accordance with the below requirements will be met with immediate legal action and an injunction to have your website taken down until the copied content has been removed.
Republishing Our Content
You may republish or quote from our content if you credit the source with a clearly visible link (with no ‘no follow’ tag) to the page that you have taken this information from.
Home Loan Experts reserves the right to request that you remove content of ours that you have republished or rewritten.
We regularly write guest articles for other websites, if you would like our assistance then please call our office and ask to speak to the marketing department.
No Legal Or Financial Advice
The information on our website should not be considered legal or financial advice. Please consult with a professional such as an accountant or lawyer for specific advice for your situation.
Your Conduct On Our Website
Visitors agree to use our website for lawful purposes and are prohibited from posting any harassing, defamatory, obscene, harmful or unlawful material.
In particular, our home loan forum and Disqus comments’ section is monitored closely and all offending visitors will be banned.
Content From Other Sources
From time to time we may publish content from other sources if that source has agreed to allow us to do so. In addition to this, people who are not employees of the Home Loan Experts regularly use our forums.
Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers and other information made available by other people are those of the respective author and we are not responsible for this material.
Governing Law
These terms and conditions will be constructed according to and are governed by the laws of New South Wales Australia.
Competition Terms And Conditions
The interest rate for your loan is set by the lender, not by us. Due to the large number of lenders and loan products that we offer it is not possible for us to list every interest rate on our website.
Please call us on 1300 889 743 and we can provide you with an interest rate quote for your situation.
Our Mortgage Calculators
Our mortgage calculators use some of the same methods of calculation that are used by some of Australia’s major lenders.
We update the calculators regularly and do our best to ensure their accuracy to reflect current the policies, products and pricing of our lenders.
However, a mortgage application is complicated and the results of our calculators are only as accurate as the data entered by you. There are often grey areas that must be assessed by a lender before we can confirm that you are eligible for a loan, the interest rate or the fees that you will pay.
We give no assurance or warranty that the results of our calculators are current and take no responsibility for any loss or inconvenience caused by someone relying on the information or results provided. Lenders may change policies without notifying us or our calculators may contain errors.
No calculator on our website is an approval or indication that you can obtain a home loan approval. All applications are subject to the lender’s approval criteria.
Annual Percentage Rate (APR)
The interest rate for your loan is set by the lender, not by us. Due to the large number of lenders and loan products that we offer it is not possible for us to list every interest rate on our website.
Please call us on 1300 889 743 and we can provide you with an interest rate quote for your situation.
What Happens If You Cannot Pay Your Mortgage?
Each lender has their own policies and procedures applicable for customers that are unable to make their repayments. However, as a general rule they will follow the below principals:
- You may be charged a default rate of interest which is 2% to 4% p.a. higher than the normal interest rate.
- You may be charged enforcement costs such as the lender’s legal fees.
- Different lenders may take action to recover their money such as selling the property which they have as security or seeking a court judgement against you.
- The lender may demand immediate repayment of the debt.
- The lender may list a default or judgement (if successful) on your credit file which will significantly damage your credit score.
This is as a guide only. We are not involved in the collection of debt, this is the responsibility of the lender. Each lender has their own policies and procedures.
Fixed Rate Renewal Policy
If you have chosen a fixed rate home loan, then when the fixed rate period expires you have a choice of refixing your loan or switching to a variable interest rate.
If you take no action, then most lenders will automatically switch you to the standard variable interest rate.
As an existing client of ours, you can call us to discuss your fixed or variable rate options at this time.
Please be advised that each lender has their own fixed rate renewal policy and you should refer to your bank for the specific policy for your circumstances.