MCAP Mortgage Services review: MCAP Mortgage Services

Our mortgage broker initially recommended the MCAP mortgage, saying it is cheap and well-serviced. MCAP had the lowest rate going, so we signed up. In our case, we wanted my wife’s name and my name on the title of the property, although she is in the midst of immigrating to Canada. Our broker made that clear to MCAP from the beginning, and everything seemed fine. Until a few days before closing, that is. Then, we were suddenly informed that my wife could not be on the title deed of the property, and that the mortgage could only be in my name. My lawyer was unable to resolve the situation, so I called my mortgage broker. She spent a full day and a half devoted to our case. The owner of the brokerage firm had to get involved. Then, MCAP said they wanted my wife’s American ID. Then they changed their mind. They also wanted a letter from a professional verifying my wife’s identityThen they wanted a second letter from another professional. The demands kept coming, although neither my lawyer nor the mortgage broker, who has been in the business for over 20 years could see the rationale behind these requests to verify my wife’s identity, since I as co-borrower, would be accountable to pay the mortgage regardless. Finally, after three days of uncertainty, stress, and repeatedly changing requests from MCAP, we closed. What a royal pain. Our credit is superb, the job secure, and our down payment over 20%. The broker told me we are the best kind of customer, the kind they want to deal with because securing a mortgage and closing the deal with the bank is v. easy. I should emphasize that we disclosed my wife’s immigration status BEFORE signing up with MCAP and only after having signed up, a few days before closing when it was too late to switch mortgage lenders, did MCAP say that the title deed of the property and the mortgage could not bear her name. My mortgage broker told me she had never seen her boss, the owner of the brokerage firm, so upset. Not ever.

I would GLADLY have paid the additional few hundred dollars it would have cost over the life of the mortgage to have gone with MCAP’s competitor in order to have avoided the ridiculous stress caused by the way MCAP handled our closing. I would not recommend going with this lender. The minimal savings is not worth the enormous stress caused by the way they do business.

Two further caveats:
1) the “discharge fee, ” a required fee that you pay at the end of the term of your mortgage, is $330. My broker informed me this is higher by about $200 than the other banks are charging.

2) I found that by default, MCAP withdraws from your bank account not only your mortgage payment, but also your property taxes. So, even though you never instructed or expected them to do so, they dip into your account and take out your property taxes. They advertise this as a ‘free’ service. It might work for some people, but I would rather they do not take my money, earn interest on it to their profit until my tax bill comes due.