Heartland Seniors Finance recognises the trust customers places in us when it comes to taking out a reverse mortgage and we take this duty of care seriously. We have developed a thorough application process, and provide a number of protections as part of our loan, so that you can feel confident in taking out a reverse mortgage with us

Heartland Promises

Heartland Seniors Finance makes the following promises to help you make the most out of your retirement.

Lifetime Occupancy Your home will remain the place you live in for as long as you choose. You retain ownership of your home at all times, benefiting from any increase in property value. No Negative Equity Guarantee The amount required to repay the loan will never exceed the net sale proceeds of the property. Loan Repayments There is no requirement to make any loan repayments until the end of the loan. However, you are free to make repayments at any time, with no penalty (discharge fee applies).

Subject to complying with the terms and conditions of the Heartland Reverse Mortgage, you will not owe more than the net sale proceeds of your home and you can keep your home for as long as you choose.

Equity Protection Option

Under the Equity Protection Option you may choose to protect a percentage of the eventual net sale proceeds of your home (up to 50%). When your loan is repaid, you or your estate are guaranteed to receive any chosen Equity Protection percentage.

For example: You choose to protect 20% of your home and the net sale proceeds when you sell are $500,000. As long as you meet your obligations under the loan, the maximum that you or your estate would be required to pay us would be $400,000, even if the loan balance on your loan was higher than this amount.

Loan approval, terms and conditions, fees and charges apply. Please be aware that choosing the Equity Protection Option will reduce the loan amount available by the percentage selected.

Independent legal advice

It is important that you are completely happy with all aspects of your Heartland Reverse Mortgage. To ensure this, the legal advice on your loan agreement must be carried out by a solicitor of your choice, who will represent your interests and work with you to explain and discuss your loan.

Independent financial advice

We recommend customers discuss their requirements and objectives with a financial adviser and in some cases make this mandatory. In addition, customers are encouraged to speak with Centrelink to ensure there is no impact on government entitlements.

Family Involvement

Family discussion is a key part of the process in taking out a reverse mortgage. Whether to involve family is up to our individual customers’, however Heartland actively encourages it and requires customers to confirm that they have considered this as part of the application process.

Loan Projection

To assist you in making an informed decision, ASIC have developed a calculator which assists to illustrate the amount of equity that will remain under different scenarios. Heartland provides this projection to all customers and anyone can go on to ASIC’s Money Smart Reverse Mortgage Calculator to complete a calculation, or one of our team can complete a tailored one for you.

Future Need Consideration

Another important aspect when deciding to take out a reverse mortgage is thinking about future needs. This includes ongoing living expenses, aged care costs, medical expenses and plans to leave funds in beneficiaries. A big factor in these considerations is longevity risk – the risk of outliving financial resources.

30 Day Cooling Off Period

If you take out a loan with us and have a change of heart, Heartland’s 30 day cooling off period allows you to cancel your reverse mortgage within 30 days of settlement and repay your loan at no additional cost.

Heartland will refund the Settlement Fee, interest and the standard cost of a valuation. The only costs you may incur are any government charges, and your independent legal advice on the loan agreement.

Heartland is also 100% committed to the Banking and Finance Oath, and a supporter of Dementia Australia. Find out more on our awards and partnerships page.