Pet Hates: What Home Loan Lenders Don't Want To See

It can be tough getting a mortgage these days, so take the knife to those living expenses

Responsible lending or just plain annoying? In a recent home loan application, the lender identified a $59 purchase the applicant had made at a pet store. The lender went back to the broker and questioned why the applicant had made a purchase at a pet store but in their loan application did not reveal they had a pet.

What the lender did not know is that the applicant had purchased a gift at the pet store and did not actually own any pets. The lender then requested a further 60 days’ history of that applicant’s accounts before approving their home loan.

It’s hard to believe but, according to Australia’s largest mortgage broker, Mortgage Choice, this is just one of many examples of how hard it is to get a home loan now.

If there is one thing that we have learnt from the royal commission into misconduct in the banking, superannuation and financial services industry it is that banks haven’t been too good at assessing our expenses and, if we’re to be honest, some of us haven’t been that good either.

Now the brutal consequences of poor lending practices are being felt, as more and more households are either at risk of having their home loan application rejected or being held prisoner in their own mortgage as tighter lending restrictions are preventing them from refinancing to a better deal.