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By Dan Fumano

Their ads trumpet the ease of using the equity in your home to get cash.

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Alpine Credits helps customers get loans approved “regardless of your credit, age, or income,” the company’s commercials say. In a Capital Direct radio spot, veteran B.C. broadcaster Bill Good encourages listeners to call one of the company’s “friendly” advisers “if you could use any amount up to $300,000 or more,” telling them “it’s your money.”

While federally regulated banks dominate Canada’s residential mortgage lending market, accounting for more than 80 per cent, business appears to be growing for many “alternative” lenders, including two of the most visible B.C. companies, Capital Direct and Alpine Credits, who say they have provided more than $1 billion of loans each.

Representatives of home equity lending companies say they provide a valuable service, filling a need for Canadians unable to get loans from conventional, regulated financial institutions. Both defenders and critics of alternative mortgage lenders say more Canadians are turning to these less-regulated lenders as Ottawa has tightened lending requirements at federally regulated financial institutions. A Bank of Canada report from late last year said: “Tightening bank regulation … can lead to migration of activity from the traditional banking sector” to alternatives.