Merix Financial

I just had a terrible experience with Merix financial through my broker.
Stay away from this financial ‘institution’ They are more like they a bunch of second-​rate used car salesman who bully and victimize their customers because of their situation.
Here’s my advice when looking at getting a mortgage as I just had a very poor experience.
Go with the big banks first, even if it’s through a mortgage broker. In my case Merix was giving us a better rate then TD so my mortgage broker pushed this company on me. I should’ve gone with TD. Went with the other.
Turned out to be a complete disaster. They went back and forth continually putting the squeeze on what I needed to do. I had to qualify or re-​qualify three times. And they came up with ever bizarre reasoning. My mother was co-​signing on my loan so they came back with ‘what if she dies?’ and then they cut her contributions in half even though she’s quite young.
I ended up having to borrow money to keep balancing their numbers which was very stressful. When we were already ‘qualified’ customers. Eventually they gave me a commitment and so I removed the conditions on the property.
Three days before possession date they found something they had missed and pulled the commitment and all the money. I almost lost my house and my $ 5000 deposit. They were also punitive saying that I could no longer use any of the money that my parents were giving me for the down payment, even though previously they had agreed to it.
So three days before closing they wanted me to come up with $ 10,000 that I had in my bank account for 90 days. Which they knew it would be impossible to do. In a sense that was there unscrupulous way of pulling the financing.
It was impossible. Almost lost my deposit and my new home. Fortunately ATB was just brilliant and my father stepped in to save the day as a cosigner. I was lucky you probably won’t be.
New Rules When Looking for Mortgage and especially with taking care of your tenant buyers.
1. Approach the big banks first, it is the most straightforward. They’ll either say yes or no. Don’t worry about small differences in the interest rates. Rates are low don’t be cheap.
2. When using a mortgage broker have him or her use the big banks first. They are more ethical and follow more rules based on their brand and their reputation.
My experiences with the B institutions was the staff would just go on vacation and leave your file sitting there. In others words that don’t particularly care about you. You’re just a number. The big banks want your loyalty. And so will treat you much better long-​term. Remember that.
3. If you need to go with a B bank because you’re getting a really low rate or don’t want to deal with collateral charges. Talk to your mortgage broker first around who has the best customer service and who screws over their customers least. In other words go to the best used car dealership not the worst. She or he will know who has the best reputation. That’s the only one you want to work with.
4. Never rush the deal. Extend your possession date when dealing with B money lenders in case something happens. If you feel like you are being humiliated or need to meet unreasonable conditions just walk away and find something better.
When we are exposed, we give up our power and this is how victimization occurs.
Your choices are powerful. Always be in control of your own financial path.

The issue with Merix Financial as a lender is their inability to provide home equity lines of credit to their clients. We have $ 200,000 in equity and are unable to use any of it. The option we are being given is to break our mortgage and pay a $ 6,000 penalty to switch lenders and be given the option to have a home equity line of credit. No large financial institutions recognize Merix as a lender and will therefore not give us the line. We will never work with Merix again!