About

Everybody has a story.

Underwriters see a file. I read the story behind it — and then make the case a lender can actually say yes to.

“You just have to be able to sell the lender the story. Sometimes it’s hardship. Sometimes it’s redemption. You have to give them a reason.”

I hold a Bachelor of Laws, LL.B. from the University of London. Though I am presently non-practicing, I read mortgage files the way I was trained to read a case. Where it’s strong. Where it needs shoring up. What an underwriter will object to, and what answers that objection before it’s raised.

Most brokers submit applications. The files that get declined need someone to make an argument.

I work refinances and purchases — the two places approvals get genuinely difficult — and I take on the situations other people would rather not: self-employed income, credit that needs explaining, CRA arrears, collections and judgements, estates to settle.

Everybody has a story. Mine included. That’s not a slogan — it’s why I don’t flinch at a file that looks difficult on paper.

Why I do this

I have been on the other side of this.

My own words, unedited.

Flashback to 2019, my husband and I were building our first home and were referred to a mortgage agent by the builder. From the beginning this agent told us, “you will not get approved with any A or even B lender, we need to take this straight to a private lender”. I said to her, “but we plan to clean up our financial health so that we can get into the best mortgage possible”, she disagreed.

In the span of 6 months, I paid off old collections that I was not even aware of and had them removed in addition to negative items that were either aged or not mine (I have since signed up for weekly credit monitoring) and increased my credit score from the low 500’s to 720 and she still did not believe.

So, in April 2020 when we were within 3 months of closing, I made the bold decision to find another mortgage agent who did believe in us. I reached out to a different agent from a reputable brokerage who advocated for us and within days she was able to secure us a conditional mortgage approval with a Big 5 bank.

This was an awakening experience for me because it demonstrated that who you choose to align with and entrust during the mortgage process can make a huge difference in the results.

This motivation is what inspired me to become a mortgage agent because I have been on the other side and experienced the stress, uncertainty, rejection, fear and anxiety and because of that have vowed to be the difference maker for my clients.

The same file, read twice

A system sees a risk. I see potential.

Hasn’t been in the job long.

Steady income, and a reason the timeline looks the way it does.

Changes jobs too often.

Same industry every time — someone still finding the right fit, not someone unreliable.

Debt load is too high.

The cost of living moved and the salary didn’t. That’s a story a lender can be shown.

Collections on file.

All of them paid off. The question worth answering is how — and what changed since.

When a lender says no

A decline is a starting position.

Ask exactly why

A decline is rarely one thing. I ask the lender for the specific reason before anything else, because you can’t argue a file you don’t understand.

Ask for the exception

Underwriters can make exceptions, and most people never ask. I always ask — and I come with the reason already built.

Move the file, not the goalposts

One lender’s no is not the market’s no. The same file, presented properly, often finds a yes somewhere the borrower would never have thought to look.

Structure it so it holds

Getting approved isn’t the finish line. Amortization, payment schedule and penalty terms decide what the mortgage actually costs you over its life.

A word about rates

The lowest rate and the cheapest mortgage aren’t the same thing.

It’s the most common misconception in the business: that the advertised rate is where the money is won or lost. Usually it isn’t.

What the mortgage actually costs you depends on how the file is structured — the amortization, whether you pay monthly or accelerated bi-weekly, and above all the penalty terms. Some lenders let you move after six months. Others make breaking your term expensive enough to erase every dollar the better rate saved you.

So this site doesn’t advertise a rate. It isn’t the number that decides whether you come out ahead.

Tell me the whole situation.

I can only build the argument if I have all of it — including the parts you’d rather not put in writing. Nothing you send is shared with anyone else.

Start my approval plan