11 May 2016 Australian Broker News.
Editor: What an outrage of hypocrisy from the Australian Banking Cartel suggesting that foreign borrowers these banks have been lending to are fraudulently handing in dodgy incomes on mortgage applications!!! Is this for real? These Banksters systemically invented and engineered the most dodgy lending products in the nation's history of banking. For 21 years, ALL INCOMES were skewed without the knowledge or authority of Australian borrowers. If you are a foreign investor I suggest from experience, that you demand a copy of your Loan Application Form from your lender. Its a crime scene of some $300 billion worth of dodgy mortgages. It is simply a fact that the banks are now facing their own crisis and looking for scapegoats to blame for their criminal activities.
More Australian lenders have taken a hard-line approach to foreign lending, stopping lending to foreign borrowers or excluding foreign-sourced income from mortgage applications amid growing concerns about fraud.
Citigroup wrote to mortgage brokers yesterday with a blacklist of foreign currencies it will no longer accept as payment for Australian real estate from overseas borrowers, theAustralian Financial Review (AFR) reported.
The letter, sent by Citi’s head of mortgage distribution, Matt Wood, contained a list of 12 currencies that it will accept and warned that all others are “not negotiable”.
In a statement provided to Australian Broker, a spokesperson for Citi confirmed at least five currencies have been excluded from mortgage applications.
“We want to continue to ensure we have a robust and healthy residential loan book catering to foreign buyers. In light of recent industry concerns regarding foreign residential loan applications relying on offshore income we have excluded certain currencies to ensure we don’t attract any increases in unwanted loan applications.
“These currencies include the Chinese RMB, Indian Rupee (INR), Indonesian Rupiah (IDR), Malaysian Ringit (MYR) and Taiwan Dollar (TWD).”
Citi’s decision comes after Westpac and ANZ announced they will be investigating mortgages that have been backed by questionable foreign-income documentation, which forced them to stop approving such loans last month.
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has also since warned its network of brokers to halt lending to foreign borrowers and exclude foreign-sourced income. In a statement provided to Australian Broker, a spokesperson said the non-major has received a “marked increase” in foreign applications.
“Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has always had a policy which allowed funding of expat Australian borrowers and, in certain circumstances foreigners to purchase property in Australia.
“This financial year, in the eight months to end of February 2016, this amounted to new lending advanced of less than $60m.
“In March and April following policy adjustments at other banks, we have seen a marked increase in enquiry and applications, exceeding our risk appetite. As a result we are reviewing our current position in the market.”
The chief executive of Mortgage Choice, John Flavell, told Australian Broker he expects more lenders to announce similar bans or restrictions.
“Given the recent developments, I am not surprised to see many of Australia's lenders taking a hard line approach to foreign income lending.
“These policy changes will make it harder for foreign investors to purchase property in Australia using foreign income. Over the coming days and weeks, I expect to see more lenders tightening their policy in this area.”
