Mortgage lenders take closer look at postal codes after flooding

A mortgage broker says banks and other lenders have begun to flag postal codes in flood-prone areas of southern Alberta.

Scotiabank has sent a list of postal codes, mostly prefixes, to mortgage brokers that will require additional inspections or appraisals before any financing gets approved, meaning homeowners will face a bigger hurdle than most when selling their properties.

"A full appraisal will be required with the cost paid by the client," said Kim Bolger with Scotiabank.

The list includes neighbourhoods in Calgary and High River that were hard hit by last month's flooding, as well as other Alberta communities.

Mike Boyle, a broker with The Mortgage Group, says it will be hard on homeowners but insurers and lenders are just doing their due diligence.

"They're painting with a fairly-broad brush. They're saying in certain postal codes we won't allow our automated evaluation systems to work, we are going to require a full appraisal because even though every house wasn't impacted that is in that postal code, they're saying we are going to make sure these homes aren't affected," he said.

"I don’t know of any better way to do it. I mean you have to kind of draw a line in the sand."

It’s not clear if buyer financing is being rejected because a home is within a certain postal code, but Boyle says the additional paper work is delaying transactions.

Scotiabank also says any deals for homes in the flood-prone areas approved prior to June 21, 2013, are being resubmitted to insurers to see if they want to appraise or not. Conventional deals already completed will also now need an inspection report done, but all costs will be picked up by the bank.