Haventree Bank Mortgage Review: Rates, Lending Guidelines and Who They Suit

Haventree Bank Mortgage Review: Programs & Lending Guidelines

How Haventree Bank's lending guidelines read from the broker side — the programs on the shelf, how income is qualified, credit floors, terms and where they lend. Consumer-facing policy only: broker submission mechanics and compensation are out of scope, and guidelines change, so confirm anything you are planning around with the lender or a licensed broker.

Haventree Bank's Mortgage Offering — Residential

Haventree is an alternative bank — every mortgage here is uninsured, and the whole offering is built for borrowers the insured market turns away.

First mortgages on purchases and refinances of one- to four-unit homes, owner-occupied or rented, plus condominiums in major centres. Loans from $100,000 to $2 million.

Second mortgages, as a published product rather than an exception: one- to four-unit properties, loans from $50,000 to $750,000, to 80% combined value, amortized as long as 35 years. Most alternative lenders in this directory take first position only, so a genuine second mortgage program at a bank matters.

A full rental program, to 80% of value, up to nine properties, in markets of 100,000 people or more.

Also available: purchase-plus-improvements with a generous renovation allowance, construction financing at near-completion, rent-to-own arrangements with a contract in place, secondary financing behind a Haventree first, spousal buyouts through a refinance, and a twelve-month convertible term.

No home equity line of credit, no insured lending, and no switch or transfer program — a borrower coming from another lender arrives as a refinance rather than a transfer.

Bridge financing is arranged outside the bank.

Haventree Bank Income and Qualification Requirements

Ratios. The standard shelf runs on debt service calculated from the bureau payment, and a Flex 60 program allows GDS and TDS up to 60% — among the widest published limits in the Canadian market. Rentals qualify at 50/50.

Qualifying rate. The greater of 5.25% or the contract rate plus two points.

How income is read — and this is where Haventree separates itself. The list of accepted income types is longer than almost anything else in this directory, and much of it is income other lenders discount or refuse:

• Salaried, hourly, contract, part-time, bonus and casual income are all accepted, without the two-year averaging gauntlet applied elsewhere.
• Commission on a two-year average, using the lower of the average or the weakest year where the trend is falling.
• Seasonal income accepted.
• Provincial disability support is accepted, including Ontario's and Alberta's programs — most lenders on this list decline it outright or count half.
• Foster income at full value, and child benefits at full value with no cap and no amount limit up to age eighteen. Elsewhere these are capped at 15% to 50% of qualifying income.
• Child support counted at half in the debt service calculation, and both child and spousal support counted at full value as income where received.
• Workers' compensation accepted.
• Maternity and parental leave at full value.
• Pension and employer retirement income at full value; investment income where the funds cover the term plus two years.
• Rideshare, delivery and short-term rental income accepted with a two-year filed history — including platforms most lenders name specifically to exclude.
• Non-taxable income grossed up on a sliding basis.

Self-employed borrowers are accommodated through a documented route with a broad list of permitted add-backs — home office, capital cost allowance, vehicle expenses, depreciation, meals and entertainment — plus corporate add-backs for shareholder loan repayments and retained earnings in a profitable company holding liquid assets.

New to Canada and non-permanent residents are financed on a visa or with a permanent residency application in progress.

Down payment may be saved, gifted or borrowed — the third of those is unusual outside insured programs.

Only Equifax is used.

Haventree Bank's Specialty Programs

Flex 60. Debt service to 60% GDS and TDS. For a borrower whose income is real but whose obligations are heavy, this is the widest door published by any bank in this directory.

Second mortgage program. One- to four-unit properties, minimum score 640, combined loan-to-value to 80%, loans from $50,000 to $750,000, amortization to 35 years. A real product with its own credit standard rather than a favour done for an existing client.

Rental program. To 80% of value, amortization to 35 years, ratios 50/50, up to nine properties, no net worth requirement, in markets of 100,000 or more. Rental income counts generously: 90% added on the subject property, 90% offset on other rentals, 90% added for a suite. Gifted down payments are not permitted on rentals.

Purchase plus improvements. Up to $100,000 in renovation costs, with 150 days to complete the work — a larger allowance and a longer window than the insured programs, which typically cap at $40,000 and six months.

Construction financing. Available at 97% completion, to 80% of value, with options where a purchase runs beyond a year.

Rent-to-own. Permitted where the contract runs more than a year, valued at current market. Genuinely uncommon.

Corporate lending. A mortgage in a holding or operating company with up to two directors or shareholders, a full personal guarantee, and up to a four-unit rental property. Structured holding companies are not accepted.

Twelve-month convertible term. A short open-style term for a borrower planning to move on quickly.

Bruised credit as a program rather than an exception. A double bankruptcy or consumer proposal is considered, and a bankruptcy needs only to be discharged — one day is enough where income is confirmable.

Minimum Credit Scores & Treatment of Liabilities

There is effectively no minimum score where income can be confirmed. That is the headline: a borrower with documented income and no usable credit score is still a file here.

Credit history. A double bankruptcy or consumer proposal is considered. A bankruptcy must be discharged, and the published requirement is one day past discharge — against the two years most lenders demand and the six months at the more flexible alternative shelves. There is no requirement for two years of re-established credit.

Tax arrears. Personal income tax and CRA arrears will be paid out through the transaction, and property tax arrears can be cleared on a refinance or renewal.

Liabilities. Debt service is calculated from the payment reported on the bureau. Child support the borrower pays counts at half. Heating is a flat monthly figure by size. A borrower not occupying the property carries a shelter cost, higher in the largest cities and lower elsewhere. Closing costs are shown at 1.5%.

Property taxes. Paid through the mortgage payment, or by the homeowner directly where credit supports it, with a three-month holdback where the bank collects.

Guarantors are permitted but are not put on title. Co-applicants are allowed.

Only Equifax is used, so a borrower whose two bureaus differ is read on that file alone.

Terms & Amortization Options

Terms. One-, two-, three- and five-year fixed, a twelve-month convertible, and open second mortgages. There is no variable or adjustable-rate product.

Amortization. Up to 35 years, on first mortgages, second mortgages and rentals alike.

Payments. Monthly, bi-monthly and biweekly.

Prepayment. Up to 20% of the principal each year, plus the ability to increase the payment by 20% — the full market-standard allowance, which alternative lenders frequently trim.

Penalties. Three months' interest or an interest rate differential, with no bona fide sale clause — the mortgage can be discharged at any time on payment of the penalty, without needing an arm's-length sale to justify it. Several alternative lenders restrict early payout to a genuine sale, and this does not.

Rate holds. 90 days on a purchase, 60 on a refinance. No rate drops — the rate agreed is the rate.

Porting is available subject to requalification, and blend-and-extend is offered.

Registration is a standard charge, which keeps the mortgage straightforward to move at maturity.

No switch or transfer program, so a borrower arriving from another lender comes in as a refinance.

Special Notes

• One day past a bankruptcy discharge. With confirmable income there is no minimum credit score and no re-established credit requirement. Nothing else in this directory opens that early.
• Flex 60. Ratios to 60/60 for borrowers carrying heavy debt against real income.
• A published second mortgage program at a bank, to 80% combined and 35 years, rather than first position only.
• Provincial disability income is accepted at full value. Most lenders here decline it or halve it, which quietly excludes a whole category of borrower.
• Child benefits count in full with no cap. Elsewhere they are limited to 15% to 50% of qualifying income and cut off at 13, 14 or 15 years of age.
• Short-term rental, rideshare and delivery income counts with a two-year filed history.
• Borrowed down payment is permitted on uninsured lending.
• Tax arrears are paid out rather than being a barrier — income tax on a purchase or refinance, property tax on a refinance or renewal.
• No bona fide sale clause on the penalty, so an early payout does not require a sale.
• Fixed rates only, and no home equity line of credit.
• Only Equifax is used.
• No insured lending at all, so the equity carries every file.
• Property standards. One to four residential units, owner-occupied or rented, with condominiums confined to major centres. Minimum sizes are 800 square feet for a detached home — lower in Winnipeg — and 650 for a condominium, dropping to 500 in the largest cities. No bachelor units. Leased land is limited to a single university location. Rural properties run to five acres of lending value, and to twenty acres by exception, with no livestock and agricultural reserve land considered.

Service Area

Lending is by approved area rather than by province, and the practical constraints appear in the property rules rather than in a provincial list.

Rentals require a market of at least 100,000 people, which is the clearest published geographic limit. Condominiums are confined to major metropolitan centres, with the minimum size falling from 650 square feet to 500 in the largest ones. Detached homes need 800 square feet, relaxed in Winnipeg — a reference that indicates real activity in the Prairie markets as well as central Canada.

Shelter cost assumptions name Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton at a higher figure, with the rest of the country lower, which maps the footprint from another direction.

Rural properties carry lending value on up to five acres, extending to twenty by exception, at up to 75% of value. No livestock. Agricultural reserve land is considered.

Because the lending map is maintained as a live list rather than published as a province-by-province statement, a specific address is worth confirming before a purchase agreement is firmed up.

Loan-to-Value Treatment

The sliding scale. 80% applies to the first $1.5 million of value, and 65% to the remainder up to $2 million. That treats the excess more generously than the 50% most lenders apply, though the overall ceiling is lower.

Loan sizes. First mortgages from $100,000 to $2 million; second mortgages from $50,000 to $750,000.

What moves the number in practice is not credit score — there is no score-based loan-to-value tiering here, which is unusual. It is the property: whether it is a condominium and in which market, whether it is rented, whether it is rural, and where it sits on the sliding scale. Credit affects pricing and which income route is used rather than how much can be borrowed.

Property taxes are administered by the bank on higher-ratio files, and lender fees can be added to the mortgage where the ratio leaves room.