Mortgage Relief Loan
A Mortgage Relief Loan provides short-term help to people who are having difficulties with their home loan repayments due to unemployment, accident, illness, or some other unexpected or unforeseen crisis.
The loan is interest free with no application fees or ongoing charges.
You can borrow a maximum of $20,000, which is repayable over 10 years (in addition to your home loan repayments). Repayments start 12 months after you get the loan.
We secure the loan by taking a registered mortgage over your home. This is a legal document that gives a lender enforcement rights against a property to recover a loan.
Note: A mortgage relief loan gives only short-term help. If you’re experiencing long-term financial problems, you should get help from a financial counsellor.
Eligibility for the loan
To be eligible for the loan, you must:
- be in financial hardship and in danger of losing your home
- be able to demonstrate that you’ve exhausted other avenues of help, including deferring or restructuring loan payments with your current lender
- be a permanent Queensland resident
- have enough equity in your home to provide security for the loan
- have a mortgage of less than $500,000
- be an owner-occupier wanting to maintain ownership
- not own or part-own any other real estate
- be able to demonstrate that the unforeseen change in circumstances must have caused the level of your home loan repayments to exceed 30% of your gross household income
- have taken all reasonable steps to meet your liabilities, and be able to demonstrate that you’ve been making home loan repayments of more than 30% of your gross household income
- provide written authorisation for your home lender and other creditors to disclose information about your financial affairs to us. This authority continues until the Mortgage Relief Loan is repaid.
How we provide assistance
We pay the loan directly to your home lender or local council (if applicable).
The loan can be used to clear home loan arrears and council rate arrears, and subsidise home loan repayments for up to 6 months. It is paid directly into your home loan account or to the local council if applicable.
We contact you 12 months after you receive the loan to arrange for repayments to start.
While receiving mortgage relief, you need to meet a portion of your home loan repayments or, in some cases, the full repayment. When you receive the loan, you need to contact your home loan lender who’ll tell you how much you must pay.
If you sell your home, or refinance or renegotiate your loan, you must repay the Mortgage Relief Loan in full at that time.
More information
For more information, contact our loan hotline:
- phone: 1300 654 322, Monday–Friday, 8.30am–5.00pm
- email: loaninformation@chde.qld.gov.au