Borrower FAQs

Flexibility

La Trobe Financial offers one of Australia’s broadest product ranges, financing every life cycle. We consider your situation and consider all of your personal circumstances fairly and compassionately. You can choose the length of your loan that best suits your needs, with our flexible repayment schedules from 1 to 30 years. We also can provide a redraw service with no applicable fees or charges so you can withdraw funds that have been received ahead of schedule (n/a for SMSF loans).

Approachable & Reasonable

We specialise in loans for any reasonable purpose and helping people with debt consolidation. So, if you need a mortgage loan from as little as $100,000 up to $25 million, or if you simply need to get your debts under control, we would like to help.

We may be able to help those who are/have:

• short term self-employed;
• self-employed without 2 years of completed taxation returns;
• listed defaults and/or court judgments on their credit file (at our discretion);
• recently discharged from bankruptcy;
• limited savings history;
• irregular employment history, including contract, seasonal, part time, casual or temporary work;
• recently arrived in Australia or a non-resident;
• large number of debts to consolidate;
• in need of cash out including refinancing ATO and business debt.

Simple Application Process

Call 13 80 10 now, complete our online application form or fill out a printable Application Form from our Forms Library, and supply the relevant information today – it’s that simple. If you need a hand completing the Application Form, just ask one of our friendly Sales Team members and they’ll be happy to help.

Fast Approval (On-The-Spot)

Our dedicated advisors can provide you with an initial loan approval within 24 hours, subject to our usual lending assessment criteria.

Personal Service

You won’t be talking to an answering machine at La Trobe Financial. With La Trobe Financial representatives located across Australia, and our 13 80 10 National Mortgage Hotline open 8:30am to 5:30pm Mon-Fri, you will receive personal attention during the loan application process, from start to finish.

We are not an Authorised Deposit-Taking Institution. La Trobe Financial is a licenced credit provider, and operates in each State and Territory of Australia. We lend money on flexible terms and have done so for over 68 years covering over 150,000 individual mortgage loans.

Simply complete our online application form and submit directly to our team, or alternatively, download an application form from our Forms Library, complete it and send a copy to us.

The maximum amount you can borrow is $25 million and the minimum is $100,000. We can lend you up to 95% of the value of the property in certain circumstances. If you’re self-employed, you can take up the Lite-Doc® option, which means we can lend you up to 80% of the value of the property you want to purchase with alternate documentation such as an accountant’s certificate or 12 months’ BAS.

La Trobe Financial welcomes pre-purchase applications to provide you with the confidence of knowing the maximum amount you can borrow before committing to a particular property. Talk to us about the conditions that may be applicable.

If everything goes to plan, these are the steps, plain and simple:

1. 1. Fill out our straight-forward Application Form,
   2. We’ll ring you back with a status update (which may include conditional approval),
   3. We’ll ask you to send us some documents relating to your income and the property you want to buy,
   4. We’ll do a valuation on the property,
   5. Formal approval time -you’ll be sent a settlement pack with all the forms you need to sign,
   6. You send everything back to our solicitor who ensures all the documentation is signed properly,
   7. A date is set for your settlement (our solicitor lets you or your solicitor know when that is),
   8. If all is in order, settlement is complete.

Yes, there are some properties which will need additional consideration, some of which are:

• Resort apartments;
• Hotel / motel rooms;
• Studio apartments that are under a certain size;
• Boarding houses;
• Nursing or retirement homes;
• Service stations; and
• Supermarkets.

After further consideration, we may decide not to accept the special purpose properties as security.

Making additional repayments beyond the minimum monthly repayment is one way to reduce the total interest paid and the term of your loan.

As a rule of thumb, every $1 in extra repayments made early in the life of your loan saves around $2 in interest over the term of the loan, depending on the level of interest rates.

Consider either one-off lump sum payments when you have spare cash or commit to increasing your regular repayment amount. However, we suggest you make sure that your loan allows you to make additional repayments without additional fees or charges. Fixed-rate loans often have restrictions on extra repayments or charge a break fee for the privilege.

When taking out a loan, make sure it offers the flexibility to meet the changing circumstances that you will undoubtedly experience over the 10 to 30 years of your loan. The ability to make extra repayments, redraw any extra repayments, fix the rate on a portion of the loan or refinance to another loan if need be, are all features to be considered.

If the amount of your monthly repayments decreases because interest rates have fallen, try to maintain the old repayment levels. If you take this step, you will pay off more of the principal with each repayment, reduce the term of your loan and the total amount of interest paid. Be mindful of restrictions on additional repayments. Contact us to find out more.

Dividing your minimum monthly repayment into two fortnightly or four weekly payments can reduce the term of your loan in two ways:

1. Since there are more than two fortnights or four weeks in every month, dividing your original monthly repayment into two or four means you actually pay more over the course of a calendar month; and,
2. When interest is calculated daily, the more frequent repayments result in less interest being charged to your loan over the course of a month.

If requesting fortnightly or weekly repayments, make sure you specifically ask your lender to halve or quarter the monthly repayment amount. Unless you ask them, many lenders will calculate the more frequent repayment on the basis of the minimum required fortnightly or weekly repayment, delivering very little extra repayment advantage.

If you’re worried you might have trouble making your repayments, give our Mortgage Help team a call on 1800 620 639 between 8:30am and 7:30pm AEST Monday to Friday. You can also complete our online form and we’ll reach out to you.

Yes. Our residential loans can include an ability to access extra repayments, whether the interest rate is fixed or variable, at no additional cost. Please take note that the redraw facility can be withdrawn at any time by us.

The minimum redraw amount is $1,000, up to your total additional repayments There is no limit on the number of redraws.

Financial hardship occurs when you’re having trouble meeting your payment obligations, this may be because of an unexpected event or a change to your situation. Examples of situations that can cause financial hardship:

• Unemployment or reduced income
• Loss of a loved one
• Downturn in business
• Natural disaster
• Illness or injury, including medical health conditions
• Pandemic (i.e. Coronavirus)
• Family and domestic violence

At La Trobe Financial we understand that unexpected events can happen in life and may cause financial strain and uncertainty. No matter what your situation, we are looking out for you®. Give our Mortgage Help team a call on 1800 620 639, between 8:30am and 5:30pm AEST Monday to Friday.

Or, complete this online form and we’ll reach out to you.

At La Trobe Financial we understand that unexpected events can happen in life and may cause financial strain and uncertainty.

No matter what your situation, we are looking out for you. You may be eligible for:

• Short term deferral of mortgage payments/ payment moratoriums
• Temporary reduced mortgage payment arrangements
• Temporary interest-only payment arrangements
• Time to sell or refinance
• Interest rate review

Give our Mortgage Help team a call on 1800 620 639 between 8:30am and 5:30pm AEST Monday to Friday. You can also complete our online enquiry form and we’ll reach out to you.

The sooner you make contact, the better we may be able to assist you. La Trobe Financial are here to help and we understand that unexpected events can happen in life and may cause financial strain and uncertainty.

Give our Mortgage Help team a call on 1800 620 639 between 8:30am and 5:30pm AEST Monday to Friday. You can also complete our online enquiry form and we’ll reach out to you.

You can apply for Financial Hardship assistance by completing our online enquiry form and providing any supporting documents. After we receive your form we will contact you to discuss your options.

Alternatively, you can contact one of our Mortgage Help team members who are available on 1800 620 639 between 8:30am and 5:30pm AEST Monday to Friday.

At La Trobe Financial we understand that unexpected events can happen in life and may cause financial strain and uncertainty. Our Mortgage Help team members based in our Melbourne office are available on 1800 620 639 between 8:30am and 5:30pm AEST Monday to Friday to discuss options that might help.

You can also complete our online enquiry form and we’ll reach out to you.

Latrobe Financial has a Home Loan Repayment Deferral Calculator on our Financial Hardship page which is free to use at any time.

If you are not happy with our response to your hardship application, you can lodge a complaint either with our Customer Resolution Team or the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.

The contact details for lodging a complaint are set out below:

Customer Resolution Team

La Trobe Financial

GPO Box 2289, Melbourne VIC 3001

email: [email protected]

Fax: (+61) 3 861O 2289

Or

Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA)

Phone (free call) 1800 931 678

AFCA

GPO Box 3

Melbourne VIC 3001 Email [email protected]

Website: www.afca.org.au

VOi stands for Verification of Identity. It is an umbrella term used to cover the Land Titles Office requirements in all States and Territories to identify the parties to a property transaction, including mortgagors. The term is also now used to cover lender’s obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism laws to identify all parties to a loan transaction.

ldYou is a mobile phone application used to verify your identity electronically.

The advantage of using ldYou is that it has a lower error rate because it guides you through the ID process. It protects the privacy of clients and avoids the paper shuffle involved with paper VOi. Watch this short video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCtgZgtYCzI) to see how ldYou works You can download ldYou here and register here. If you are having trouble with ldYou please contact them directly.

The same documents listed on the paper VOI form.

With paper VOI you must meet with all individuals face-to-face. With idYou, you may use the remote VOI option, provided there is a good reason that you are unable to meet them  face-to-face and there are no suspicious circumstances.

We cannot accept VOI from your referring broker unless they are accredited with La Trobe Financial. Please use the Australia Post VOI form or idYou.

You can use idYou remote to verify their identity or refer them to Australia Post. Australia Post offers VOI at over 1450 post offices across metropolitan, rural and remote communities.

Please see the categories of ID listed on the Australia Post VOI form.

There is no cost to use idYou. Australia Post charge a fee for VOI services.

idYou and Zip ID are our preferred VPI providers.

DigiDocs is a program which allows you to receive and execute documents electronically by using an electronic signature, making transactions easier, more efficient and more secure than ever before.

If you decide you do not wish to sign electronically at any stage after receiving your digital documents, please contact our panel solicitors directly by replying to the email you received from them, or by calling La Trobe Financial on 13 80 10.

When reviewing your DigiDocs, if you see information that is incorrect please contact your broker, our panel solicitors or La Trobe Financial on 13 80 10 before proceeding.

Your broker will receive a read-only copy of the documents at the same time the DigiDocs are sent to you. Your broker will also receive an executed read-only version after you have signed and executed the documents. To provide the loan documents to your solicitors, you can access the documents via the dual authentication process and download and/or print the documents.

Yes. You can arrange an appointment with your broker to sign the documents. However, you will need to open the documents from your email, via the dual authentication security process, in order to sign your digital home loan documents.

There is a dual authentication security process in place. The loan documents will be emailed by our panel solicitors to your email address. You will be prompted to request an access code which will be sent to your mobile phone via SMS.

In most instances, yes, however some States do not currently permit execution of documents electronically. In those circumstances, the documents will need to be ‘wet’ signed, and our panel solicitors will communicate which documents will be emailed out for printing, signing, scanning and returning via email.

Yes. Once all parties to the loan have been digitally signed, an email will be sent to each party with the option to view, download, print or save the executed document. Your broker will also receive a copy of the executed documents via email.