Counselling Services

Home Purchase Overview

Now, more than ever, financial institutions are regularly launching new products and programs, making it easier to get into that new home sooner. Today, interest-only loans, self-employment programs, rental purchase programs, vacation property programs, and a host of other innovative financing alternatives are dotting the home purchase landscape, making homeownership a reality for more people than ever.

Refinance

Refinancing is the replacement of an existing debt obligation with another debt obligation under different terms. The terms and conditions of refinancing may vary widely by country, province, or state, based on several economic factors such as inherent risk, projected risk, political stability of a nation, currency stability, banking regulations, borrower's credit worthiness, and credit rating of a nation. In many industrialized nations, a common form of refinancing is for a place of primary residency mortgage.

If the replacement of debt occurs under financial distress, refinancing might be referred to as debt restructuring.

A loan (debt) might be refinanced for various reasons:

1. To take advantage of a better interest rate (a reduced monthly payment or a reduced term)
2. To consolidate other debt(s) into one loan (a potentially longer/shorter term contingent on interest rate differential and fees)
3. To reduce the monthly repayment amount (often for a longer term, contingent on interest rate differential and fees)
4. To reduce or alter risk (for example, switching from a variable-rate to a fixed-rate loan)
5. To free up cash (often for a longer term, contingent on interest rate differential and fees)

Refinancing for reasons 2, 3, and 5 are usually undertaken by borrowers who are in financial difficulty in order to reduce their monthly repayment obligations, with the penalty that they will take longer to pay off their debt.

In the context of personal (as opposed to corporate) finance, refinancing multiple debts makes management of the debt easier. If high-interest debt, such as credit card debt, is consolidated into the home mortgage, the borrower is able to pay off the remaining debt at mortgage rates over a longer period.

Bankruptcy & Consumer Proposals

Consumer bankruptcy in Canada is governed by the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act ("BIA").[1] The legislation is complemented by regulations, as well as directives from the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy that provide guidelines to trustees in bankruptcy on various aspects of the BIA.

For the purposes of the BIA, it is important to be able to distinguish between legal definition of "insolvent person" and one of "bankrupt". Generally, an insolvent person is one who cannot pay his or her debts and may subsequently become bankrupt, either by assigning himself into bankruptcy, being petitioned into bankruptcy by the creditors, or being deemed to assign himself into bankruptcy by defaulting on a Division I proposal.

The person who is unable to pay his obligation is considered to be an insolvent person under the BIA. Under s. 2 of the BIA, an "insolvent person" is a person who is not bankrupt and who resides, carries on business, or has property in Canada, whose liabilities to creditors provable as claims under this Act amount to $1,000, and

(a) who is for any reason unable to meet his obligations as they generally become due,(b) the aggregate of whose property is not, at a fair valuation, sufficient, or, if disposed of at a fairly conducted sale under legal process, would not be sufficient to enable payment of all his obligations, due and accruing due.

Insolvent consumers, according to the BIA, have three main options

• Declare bankruptcy;
• Submit a consumer proposal to creditors, Division II proposal;
• Submit a Division I proposal to creditors;

The four main players involved in consumer insolvency are Licensed Insolvency Trustee, Debtor/insolvent person, Creditors, Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy.

Under s. 2 of the BIA, an "insolvent person" can become "bankrupt" for the purposes of the BIA in three ways:

• by a voluntary assignment in bankruptcy [2]
• an application for a bankruptcy order [3]
• by defaulting on a Division I Proposal [4]

Although this is our Federal Process its to your advantage to gather information about alternatives. The Matthew Foundation has many professionals that will offer calculated information that don't warrant filing bankruptcy. You owe it t your yourself and or family to explore all avenues.

Counselling

Individual counselling is for anyone, regardless of age, who may be hurting, confused, frustrated, or feeling overwhelmed by personal problems. Counsellors can help with a variety of issues including anxiety, depression, grief, loss, addictions, trauma, stress, eating disorders, and relational issues.

Marital through counselling, we refer couples that have areas of conflict within marriage relationships. These counsellors help couples to identify problem areas and help individuals take responsibility for his or her personal contribution to the presenting issue. This referral service also educate couples on communication styles and healthy conflict resolution.

Family counselling brings various members of the family together with a counsellor in a confidential session, helping each member to understand the problem and how he or she can best contribute to the solution. Counselling the whole family or smaller units within the family can help bring healing in difficult family situations.

After Suicide: Postvention Support A postvention is an intervention conducted after a suicide, largely taking the form of support for the bereaved family and friends of the suicide victim.

Anger management teaches individuals how to identify the root causes of their anger and provides strategies that work toward resolving these issues. Techniques to control and cope with anger are taught so that individuals might be freed from the control that anger holds over their lives.