- Fees and payments associated with the mortgage
- The nature of the relationship between the brokerage and lender under the proposed mortgage
- The role of the brokerage
- The number of lenders the brokerage represented during the previous year
- Any potential conflicts of interest
- The risks associated with the proposed mortgage
- The terms and conditions of the proposed mortgage
- Estimated costs
- The cost of borrowing
- Disclosure must be provided to the borrower at least two business days before the borrower is required to make any payment or enter into the mortgage agreement; however, the two business days may be waived if the borrower consents in writing and the disclosure is still made before the borrower is required to make any payment or enter into the mortgage agreement
- Administrative charges including charges for services, transactions or any other activity in relation to the mortgage
- Lawyer’s fees, including disbursements, for a lawyer hired by the lender and paid by the borrower (the majority of cases)
- Insurance charges, excluding default insurance premiums for high-ratio mortgages
- Appraisal, inspection or survey costs payable by the borrower, when required by the lender
- As both a percentage and in dollars and cents
- The cost of borrowing must be disclosed as an annual percentage rate, section 8.1 of Regulation 191/08 states that it must also be disclosed in dollars and cents over the course of the term for all fixed and variable rate mortgages.
- A potential conflict of interest is present when a brokerage, broker or agent has a direct or indirect interest in the mortgage being arranged resulting in a situation where the broker/agent must choose between his or her best interests and the interests of his or her borrower, investor or lender, as the case may be.
Section 19.3 of Regulation 188/08 states that upon request, “a brokerage shall disclose the following information in writing to a borrower:
- Whether the brokerage itself was the lender for more than 50 per cent of the total number of mortgages and mortgage renewals completed by the brokerage during the previous fiscal year.
- The name of the lender, if any, with whom the brokerage arranged mortgages during the previous fiscal year if the mortgages constituted more than 50 per cent of the total number of mortgages and mortgage renewals completed by the brokerage during the previous fiscal year. O. Reg. 188/08, s. 19 (3).”
- Acting for the lender
- Acting for the borrower
- Acting for both the borrower and the lender
- They are not regulated by the MBLAA
- The Criminal Code of Canada. Section 347 of the Criminal Code makes it a criminal offense to charge in excess of 60%, which for a mortgage includes the fees and costs payable by the borrower in addition to the interest charged by the lender. This figure is represented in the borrower disclosure as the cost of borrowing.
