Poll results: Banks vs. Monolines in the porting debate

When it comes to porting a mortgage one type of lender reigns supreme, according to a recent poll.

When it comes to porting a mortgage one type of lender reigns supreme, according to a recent poll.

MortgageBrokerNews.ca recently asked readers whether banks or monolines offer more flexibility when it comes to porting mortgages and the results skew heavily in favour of monolines.

MCAP and CMLS all have good porting options … it is sometimes a deciding factor when I place mortgages,” reader Christina Horvath commented. “At MCAP and CMLS you can blend and qualify at the contract rate of the five year fixed. Extend is not the same with these three lenders. But the real advantage is the qualifying at the five year rate.”

And many brokers agree.

72 per cent of those polled say monolines offer more favourable conditions when porting a mortgage, compared to 28 per cent who prefer the banks. The poll was inspired by one reader who believes the bank offerings are superior.

“My experience is that the big banks are far superior to the monolines when it comes to porting the mortgage. Try getting a bridge loan with some monolines and their silly restrictions. Their porting restrictions are there to force the client to break the mortgage,” one anonymous commenter wrote in response to a mortgagebrokernew.ca news story. “The big banks give you up to six months in some cases to port. Good luck getting this with monolines. Further, some of the big banks allow for multiple tiers within a mortgage so that the client does not need to blend and extend like the monolines require you to do.”

However, one broker believes a third option is the best way to go.

“I use my local credit unions extensively and having been both a bank and a credit union lender/manager/underwriter before becoming a mortgage broker, nobody can match up with what my CU partners can do and allow,” one BC-based broker wrote on MBN. “I have tried ports/blends/extends and switches with various lenders/monolines and I always end up back with my CUs.”

Related:

Brokers discuss client disclosure and credit unions