Leading lender provides tips to expedite deals

Slow turnaround times have been a major broker frustration recently, and one lender is providing some advice on getting deals done quickly

Brokers have dealt with longer than average turnaround times for deals this year and one lender has some advice for players.

“If we know what we’re facing at the beginning of the deal, we can get it done in a timely manner,” Andrew Moor, president and CEO of Equitable Bank, told MortgageBrokerNews.ca. “Certainly it’s complicated when you’ve got things like foreign funds involved, the anti-money laundering stuff is tricky and you realize it’s trickier than you originally understood it. Tolerance on both sides is really important.

“If the down payment is coming from overseas or it’s a gifted down payment, let us know up front so we can get ahead of it and know that that file is going to require more paperwork.”

When asked what he believes is leading to the increase in turnaround times among the channel lenders, Moor speculated it is due to increased regulation.

“Having to dot the I’s and cross the T’s on the regulatory side is probably driving that,” he said, noting that he hopes brokers aren’t experiencing longer than average wait times for deals sent to Equitable.

According to a recent MortgageBrokerNews.ca poll, 86 per cent of brokers have had to wait a week or longer for approvals this year.

Of those polled, 40 per cent say they’ve had to wait no longer than seven days, 21 per cent have had to wait two weeks, and 11 per cent have waited three weeks.

Be sure to check out the next issue of CMP, which features an in-depth profile on Moor.