Private lending
When the usual mortgage file is closed
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Why this page exists
A missed mortgage, a collection on a card, a story that a bank will not read past the first page. People in that spot still own houses, and they still deserve a straight answer. Private or equity lending is sometimes the bridge. It is not a reward and it is not a punishment. It is a tool with a clock on it.
The quiz sends 'behind now or in collections' here, as long as you still have a home and the mortgage is not already more than three quarters of the value. That rule keeps me from offering a bridge over a canyon.
I am still a mortgage broker at BRX Mortgage Inc. I am not a debt settlement company. A private loan does not mean I call your creditors and bargain. It means a different lender may consider the house when a bank will not.
The exit is the product
Every private file I am willing to work on has a written exit. What has to change, by when, for this to become a regular mortgage or a sale you choose. If we cannot name the exit, the loan is a guess and I should not dress it up.
The exit might be a year of clean payments, a finished job contract, a separation agreement, or a decision to sell on your timing instead of someone else's. The exit is allowed to be 'this was a bad idea, do not proceed.' That is a successful assessment.
Fees, when charged, are disclosed before you sign. They can be large enough to matter. You should see them beside the relief, not after the relief has made you grateful and careless.
What I will not say
I will not say private money is easy. I will not say it is cheap. I will not say it repairs a credit report. I will not say it is your only hope, because despair is a sales tactic. If a trustee is the better call, I will say trustee.
I will not ask you to come to an office to feel the seriousness. Phone or video is enough, even when the story is messy. Messy stories are most of this page.
I will not use your balances in an ad. The quiz keeps them off the address bar and off the pixel. The seriousness stays in the file.
A calmer first step
If you are behind, take the quiz and tick the true payment status. Do not pick 'on time' to see a prettier result. The prettier result will fall apart on the first statement, and you will have wasted the one-business-day call.
Then we talk about whether a bridge exists. If it does, the written plan names the exit and the fees in plain words. If it does not, you get the rehab program and a pointer to non-profit credit counselling. My free Credit Rehabilitation Program is a written habit plan, a plain walk-through of how to read your own credit reports, and a personal recheck with me when you ask for one. I show you how to file a dispute with a credit bureau yourself. I do not file it for you, and I do not promise what a bureau will do.
Either answer is a real answer. The One Payment Plan includes the no.
How to talk about being behind without shrinking the story
Tell me the date payments slipped, who has called, and whether a collection is on a card, the mortgage, or both. Those are different bridges. A card in collections with a current mortgage is not the same file as a mortgage already in arrears. The quiz has one button for 'behind or in collections' so I do not miss you. The call splits the facts.
Bring any letter that gave a deadline. Deadlines change what 'one business day' needs to focus on. I still will not promise a lender will move at that speed. I will tell you if the deadline is shorter than an honest file can meet, and I will tell you if a trustee should be called this week rather than next month. That is the promise working at its least comfortable.
Deadlines and honesty
If a letter gave you a date, bring the letter. I will not promise a lender will beat that date. I will tell you if the date is too soon for an honest file, and I will tell you if a Licensed Insolvency Trustee should be your next call this week. That conversation is uncomfortable and it is the job. A private loan that misses the point of the deadline is not a rescue. If there is no deadline and the pain is simply shame, we can go slower and still tell the truth about whether a bridge exists. Shame is not a reason to pick a pretty button in the quiz. The true button gets you a useful call. A prettier button gets you a plan we have to throw away, and you are still behind while we start over. Tell the truth on the first tap.
What this is not. I am a mortgage broker. I do not negotiate with your creditors. I am not a credit counsellor and BRX Mortgage Inc. is not a debt settlement company.
Questions on this page
Is private lending the same as a payday loan?
No. It is still a mortgage on a home, with an exit plan. It is not a small short loan against your paycheque.
Will you publish the fees?
No. Fees are disclosed in writing on your file before you sign. A public menu would be misleading.
Who is this for?
Owners who are behind or in collections, with enough equity that a bridge might exist. If equity is gone, the answer is not a private loan.
How long should I stay in a private loan?
As short a time as the exit allows. It is a bridge. Living there without a next step is how bridges become traps.
What if private lending is also wrong?
Then I say so. The rehab program and a Licensed Insolvency Trustee may be the honest path.