IA to withdraw 2.99 rate today

The debate about the 2.99 per cent rate is expected to shift Friday, with MortgageBrokerNews.ca learning the lender behind that rate will ditch it by 5 p.m.

The debate about the 2.99 per cent rate is expected to shift Friday, with MortgageBrokerNews.ca learning the lender behind that rate will ditch it by 5 p.m.

“Last chance to take advantage of our week long buydown promotional rate of 2.99% (PF01) which ends tomorrow February 7 at 5 p.m. EST,” states an email obtained by MortgageBrokerNews.ca and sent to all of IA's broker partners.

MortgageBrokerNews.ca broke the story Monday of the lender's push into the market with that controversial rate and the online mortgage brokers hawking it. That report was subsequently picked up by a number of major news sources – including the National Post.

The national attention had spurred media speculation that Finance Finister Jim Flaherty -- who has taken great measures to reign in the housing market -- would be displeased with IA's offering and perhaps move to contact the lender as he did last year with another player in an attempt to encourage it to abandon the rate.

There's no indication Flaherty has done that here, say analysts.

Still, a great debate about the quality of the product and whether it could spark another rate war has ensued in the comments section of MortgageBrokerNews.ca, drawing much attention and criticism to the lender.

The email correspondance, sent Thursday afternoon, says brokers have until the end of the business day to take advantage of the promotional rate.

“If you submit an application with this rate, note that your application must be complete and accurate,” the email states. “If incomplete / incorrect, we will have to decline it and the rate will be lost.  A few minutes to review your application before submitting can save this rate!”