Getting started
Who is Brighten?
Brighten is an Australian owned, based and regulated non-bank lender with offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Our loans are fully funded by a mix of Top Tier Banks and Multi-Institutional Capital. Brighten’s loans are serviced by Brighten Financial Pty Ltd Australian Credit Licence 512386 (“Servicer”).
How long does processing take after I have submitted the required documents?
Conditional Approval is normally given within 48 hours and formal approval within 14 days of all documents being submitted.
Can I make advance payments and is there any fees?
There is no penalties or fees for early repayment of variable rate loans. Break Fees may apply for early repayment of fixed rate loans.
Is there any restrictions on property size?
Yes, we do not accept apartments with an internal area of less than 40sqm.
Is there any restrictions on property type?
We accept completed apartments, town houses, and houses. Plus we also offer construction loans to build a home on vacant land under a fixed price building contract (house and land package). Only freehold property zoned residential is acceptable. Certain concentration limits may apply to certain high density inner city apartment developments.
When should I start applying for the loan?
As soon as possible, but in any event no later than 3 months before the settlement of your property.
Can you lend to self-employed individuals?
Yes we do, and we also have a simple alternative documentation (“Alt Doc”) approach to verifying self-employed income.
How do I make monthly loan repayments?
You can make monthly loan repayments via direct debit from an Australian bank account or from the Offset Facility. We also accept BPAY as a complementary repayment option.
How does a House & Land loan construction loan work?
Our home loan has been specifically designed to support house and land construction loans. Funds are advanced by progressive payments and are released on a “cost to complete” basis. The Lender pays these staged progress payments to the builder of the home as the construction of the house is completed. The Lender undertakes an inspection at each stage to ensure works are satisfactorily completed before releasing funds. Simple example excluding costs would be as follows: Land Cost $250,000, Cost to build the house $350,000. Total Value of house and land is therefore $600,000. Maximum LVR is 70%, and therefore the maximum loan amount is $420,000. We would ask the Borrower to first pay their 30% deposit ($180,000) towards the land price of $250,000. The Lender would then lend the remaining $70,000 required to settle the land and also 100% of the build cost of $350,000. This would usually be done in 5 progressive payments. The Lender will arrange inspection of the construction progress for the subject property and advance the progress payments on the borrower’s behalf at each stage.
Can I send funds to my Offset Facility from overseas?
No.
Do you offer interest only loans?
Yes we do, up to a maximum of 5 years. The loan must revert to principal and interest repayments for the remaining term.
Do you offer fixed interest loans?
Yes we do, for 1-3 years duration.
What is the minimum loan size?
$150,000
What is the maximum amount I can borrow?
$2,500,000
What is the maximum loan term?
Up to 30 years
Where can I find out the balance of the my loan?
Online through the Customer Portal
Will you look at my residency status?
Yes, however we accept both temporary (those with a visa) and non-residents of Australia.
Is there any age restrictions?
No, we do not discriminate as to an applicant’s age. However we must ensure the applicant is able to service and repay the loan.
Hardship & Financial Difficulty
What is financial hardship?
We understand that unexpected life events can happen, which may sometimes make it difficult to maintain your loan repayments.
It is important to remember that the sooner you talk to us, the sooner our team can work with you on a plan to help improve your situation.
You may be in financial hardship if you are having difficulty meeting your financial obligations (like paying bills or repayments on your loans). This can occur for a variety of reasons, including:
• unemployment or a reduction of income;
• injury or illness;
• natural disaster;
• a death in the family or other significant life event or
• an increase in other bills or expenditures.
Brighten’s approach to hardship
Brighten is committed to helping customers who are experiencing hardship or financial difficulty. We encourage customers to talk to us directly to discuss available options. We’ll also proactively contact our customers who may be experiencing financial difficulty.
During our discussions with you, we will review your request based on the reason for your hardship, along with asking you questions which are designed to assist us with our investigation. These may include:
• The reason for the change in your financial situation which caused the hardship?
• Your ability to make any loan repayments, and if so when will you commence these?
• Whether this situation will be long or short term?
We can then work together to explore payment options which are specifically designed to cater for your change in circumstances.
Our hardship team will work with you to offer a solution that is most suitable for your circumstances based on information you provide us.
How do I apply for hardship assistance?
You can reach our Financial Assistant Team, Mondays to Fridays, 8 am – 6 pm AEST.
Australia: +61 2 8880 6633 | Overseas +852 3727 0928
You will need to complete a Financial Assistance Application form and send this to us, or if you wish to nominate someone to speak on your behalf, please complete the Third Party Authority form and send this to us via one of the following methods:
Email: [email protected]
Post: BOX H338, Australia Square, NSW 1215, Australia
You can rest assured that your request will be treated with strictest confidence as we work together to find a solution.
Complaints
Internal Dispute Resolution
Brighten has an Internal Dispute Resolution (IDR) process to investigate and respond to all customer complaints within 30 days. Our IDR process is detailed below.
Referral
When we receive a complaint, the matter is referred to a manager with the appropriate knowledge and authority to undertake the investigation.
Investigation
The manager completes a thorough investigation of your complaint and sources any supporting documentation if required. Once their investigation is completed, full details and results are returned to the Customer Relations team for assessment.
Response
Once we receive the completed complaint investigation, we will then provide the outcome of the investigation and the reasons for reaching that decision to you in the same way you contacted us whether that’s by post, fax, email (if submitted via our website), or telephone.
If you aren’t satisfied with our response to your complaint, you have the option to contact the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) with your concerns.
Before you contact AFCA, you must give Brighten Home Loans the opportunity to investigate and respond to your complaint.
You can contact the Australian Financial Complaints Authority at www.afca.org.au or on 1800 931 678.