A bad credit mortgage is a normal mortgage from a lender whose rules allow for a credit history a bank will not accept. In Canada that usually means a B lender, a trust company or alternative lender that prices for the added risk and asks for more down payment, rather than anything exotic.
The brokers listed here place files with alternative and B lenders across Canada, including after a consumer proposal, a bankruptcy, or a stretch of missed payments. These are almost always temporary arrangements with a route back to prime lending.
The brokers below have told us they take on bruised credit files. Narrow by city to see who works in your market, most lending decisions still turn on where the property sits.
3 of these brokers have a mapped office. Tap a pin to open that profile.
I am a Mortgage Broker specializing in mortgage refinancing, focusing on solving mortgage problems by providing lending solutions for complex financial situations. Kristi specializes in a v…
I work with homebuyers, business owners looking to buy commercial properties or businesses homeowners looking to refinance, consolidate debt and clients who may not fit perfectly with the tr…
I work with borrowers that need help refinancing, debt consolidation, and purchase mortgages across Ontario. Most of my work is in the alternative and private mortgage space. I also work wit…
Licensed in British Columbia, Nova Scotia and Ontario, I believe honest advice and education should come first. You deserve to understand your mortgage options and the why behind my recomme…
I’m a licensed mortgage broker serving clients across British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario, with a large part of my business coming from the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island, the Okanagan,…
A lenders are the banks and prime lenders. They want a clean credit history, provable income and a property they consider straightforward. Their rates are the lowest available and their rules bend for nobody.
B lenders occupy the middle. They accept lower credit scores, more recent credit events and less conventional income, in exchange for a higher rate, a larger down payment and usually a lender fee. Most bruised-credit files belong here, not in private lending.
Private lenders are the last resort, priced accordingly. Going there when a B lender would have said yes is a costly mistake, and it is a common one when a borrower approaches lenders directly rather than through someone who knows the B lender rulebooks.
Both are recoverable, and the timeline is more predictable than most people expect. Lenders look for the proposal or bankruptcy to be formally discharged, then for a period of clean history afterwards, evidenced by re-established credit, typically a secured card and one other active account, used lightly and paid in full.
The waiting period is shorter for B lenders than for prime lenders, and shorter again where you have a substantial down payment. The single most useful thing you can do while waiting is to rebuild deliberately rather than avoid credit altogether, a discharged borrower with no active accounts is harder to place than one with two small, well-managed ones.
A bruised-credit mortgage should be written with the next mortgage in mind. Term length is the lever: too short and you face renewal before your credit has recovered; too long and you are paying the higher rate past the point you needed to.
Ask the broker what the file looks like at renewal and what has to be true for you to qualify at a prime lender by then. If that conversation does not happen, the arrangement is not being set up to end.
Prime lenders generally look for a score in the high 600s or above. B and alternative lenders will consider considerably lower, offsetting the risk with a larger down payment, a higher rate and usually a lender fee. There is no universal cut-off, the score sits alongside income, equity and the reason for the damage.
Yes. Lenders want the proposal formally discharged and then a period of clean, re-established credit afterwards. B lenders will look sooner than prime lenders, and sooner again with a larger down payment. Actively rebuilding with a secured card and one other account matters more than simply waiting.
It depends on the lender tier and your down payment rather than a single rule. Prime lenders want more time since discharge and evidence of re-established credit; alternative lenders will look earlier at a higher rate. Discharge is the starting point for the clock, not the filing date.
A mortgage from an alternative lender that accepts lower credit scores, recent credit events or non-standard income, in exchange for a higher rate, more down payment and typically a lender fee of around one percent. It is the normal home for a bruised-credit file, private lending is a step beyond it.
A broker should pull your credit once and use that single report across lenders, which is the main advantage of applying through one rather than approaching several lenders yourself. Multiple hard inquiries in a short window depress a score at the moment you most need it intact.
