Markham Senior Clients Approved Under A-Lender Low-LTV Equity Program

1. Executive Summary

Senior clients in Markham were selling their current apartment and buying a bigger bungalow. The husband was not working. The wife worked two jobs as a PSW. Both clients received CPP and OAS income. They also owned another fully paid condo that they intended to use as a rental property. We used the rental worksheet of an A lender to calculate the rental surplus and added the eligible surplus to their income. The ratios were still high, but because the clients were making a large down payment, the LTV was below 65%. The lender had an equity program under which extended ratios were allowed when LTV was below 65%. The file was approved under that program.

2. Borrower Profile

The borrowers were senior clients in Markham, Ontario. The husband was not working. The wife worked two jobs as a personal support worker. Both borrowers received CPP and OAS income. They were selling their current apartment and buying a larger bungalow. They also owned another fully paid condo that they intended to rent out. Borrower identities, income figures, pension amounts, property values, rent amount, and lender name are not disclosed.

3. Property Profile

The subject property was a larger bungalow being purchased as the clients’ new primary residence in Markham, Ontario. The clients were selling their current apartment and had another fully paid condo intended as a rental property. Exact addresses, purchase price, sale price, down payment, mortgage amount, loan-to-value, rent amount, rate, and lender name are not disclosed.

4. The Challenge

The clients had a strong equity position but a stretched income-ratio profile. The husband was not working, and although the wife had two PSW jobs, the qualifying income from employment, CPP, OAS, and rental surplus still produced high ratios. A standard approval could have failed if the file was reviewed only through ordinary debt-service limits. The key was finding an A lender whose low-LTV equity program allowed extended ratios.

5. Why Conventional Solutions Failed

A standard income-only approval was difficult because the husband was not working and the qualifying income relied on the wife’s PSW income, CPP, OAS, and rental surplus. Even after applying the rental worksheet and adding the eligible surplus, the debt-service ratios were still high. Under ordinary ratio limits, the file could have been declined. The approval required an A lender with a low-LTV equity program that allowed extended ratios.

6. HopeWell’s Analysis

Our analysis focused on whether the file was weak or simply needed the right lender policy. The borrowers had limited traditional employment income, but they also had strong equity. They were making a large down payment, and the resulting LTV was below 65%. The fully paid condo also created rental surplus under the lender’s worksheet. We presented the file to a major A lender under its low-LTV equity program rather than treating the high ratios as an automatic decline.

7. Financing Structure

The file was structured as an A-lender purchase mortgage under a low-LTV equity program. The lender considered the wife’s PSW employment income, CPP, OAS, and rental surplus from the fully paid condo. Because the LTV was below 65%, the lender allowed extended ratios under its equity program. Public details do not disclose the lender name, mortgage amount, rate, term, amortization, purchase price, down payment, property values, rental income, or final ratio calculation.

8. Why the Solution Worked

The solution worked because the lender’s program matched the file. The clients did not fit standard ratio limits, but they had a large down payment and low LTV. The fully paid condo helped through rental surplus, and the wife’s PSW income plus CPP and OAS created a base income profile. The underwriting principle is that low LTV can materially change lender risk, and some A lenders will allow extended ratios when the borrower has enough equity in the transaction.

10. Related HopeWell Resources