Firstmac lending policy determines whether your refinance fits its credit rules, while your commission agreement determines the payment attached to it. Match the outgoing lender, funds drawn and account structure before forecasting upfront or trail. A different distribution brand can still involve the same funding group.
Use the lender policy directory to compare other placements. For access and contact routes, use the Firstmac broker portal guide.
Settlement and Ongoing Broker Pay
Firstmac upfront is tied to the funds the borrower actually draws, with offset money affecting the eligible amount. YBR Aggregation’s published 2024 Firstmac schedule calculates upfront on drawings within five calendar days of settlement, net of offset funds. It lists 0.66% upfront and 0.165% annual trail, both including GST. These are that aggregator’s published figures, before your own agreement determines the share you receive.
For a hypothetical settlement drawing of $500,000 with $50,000 in offset, the schedule’s upfront basis is $450,000. At 0.66%, that produces $2,970 including GST at the aggregator schedule level. A $500,000 approved limit alone would produce the wrong forecast.
Trail follows the remaining eligible loan balance. Repayments reduce principal, while an offset balance can reduce the amount used under the applicable commission agreement. Reconcile the loan balance and offset separately against the statement’s commission basis. The drawdown-minus-offset rule above is an upfront rule, so it does not establish a daily or monthly trail formula.
The YBR Aggregation commission policy states that Firstmac stops trail while an account is more than 30 days in arrears. Trail resumes when the account is in order. A stopped payment therefore needs an arrears check before you classify the loan as discharged.
Record the original upfront and settlement against the loan. Track My Trail’s Clawback Risk uses your commission reports to list loans inside their clawback period, with days remaining and estimated upfront exposure.
Discharge, Refinance and Additional Lending
A full discharge ends the old loan and needs separate treatment from a principal reduction on an account that stays open. The YBR schedule requires repayment of 100% of Firstmac upfront when the loan is repaid in the first 12 months. It specifies 50% after 12 months but within 18 months. Apply that schedule only to the agreement it describes.
A partial reduction leaves an outstanding loan and changes its balance. Establish whether your commission agreement applies a reduction trigger before entering a clawback. The full-repayment bands do not, by themselves, define a proportional charge for every extra repayment. A fixed loan can also attract borrower break costs on partial repayment, which are separate from broker clawback.
An inbound refinance from another lender pays out that lender’s debt and creates the Firstmac loan. An internal replacement changes an existing Firstmac-funded facility. Compare the outgoing contract’s lender and funding details with the proposed contract, including when a mortgage manager uses another brand. Firstmac’s property policy applies across its group entities, but that does not establish identical commission treatment across distribution channels.
For a replacement through another brand, retain both contracts and the old account reference. Obtain a written transaction classification that addresses existing-broker attribution, any clawback and the commission on additional funds. A changed brand name alone cannot establish eligibility for a second full upfront payment.
Firstmac requires a new application and standard supporting documents for top-ups and further advances. Current credit criteria apply. Separate the retained debt from additional funds in your submission and commission forecast. For later drawings, the YBR schedule describes a further upfront payment in month 13 when the net balance exceeds settlement balance. The minimum payment is $100 and the total cannot exceed the fully drawn settlement calculation.
A fixed-variable split can create sub-accounts within the existing loan. Record whether the parent facility continues and whether any new money is advanced. Dividing the same debt between two rate types is not evidence of two new commissionable settlements. Firstmac excludes construction and self-managed super fund loans from its ordinary split options.
Income Verification
Firstmac verifies wages through consecutive payslips and adds evidence when the application relies on irregular earnings. Its Property Lending Policy requires the two most recent consecutive payslips. The latest must be no more than four weeks old. They must identify the employer and show current pay and year-to-date earnings.
For a loan-to-value ratio (LVR) above 80%, Firstmac also requires one month’s bank statement showing salary credits. When servicing relies on overtime, allowances, bonus or commission, provide the latest financial year’s Tax Ready Australian Taxation Office income statement or payment summary.
Overtime and allowances must be regular over at least 12 months or a condition of employment to support the policy’s full inclusion. Firstmac can reduce the percentage for earnings that are irregular or atypical. Bonus and commission require payslip and annual income evidence and must be a permanent part of income.
Explain differences between payslip annualisation and prior earnings. For casual or second-job income, Firstmac seeks at least six months of year-to-date evidence. Where that period is shorter, the prior year’s income statement or final payslip can support the assessment. Record the actual employment start and any change in hours.
Self-employed applicants normally need two years of trading evidence and two years of personal tax returns with assessment notices. They also need business financial statements or business tax returns. Loans requiring lenders mortgage insurance (LMI) require the business tax returns. The latest financials must be no more than 18 months old.
For the standard self-employed assessment, Firstmac uses the lower of the latest year’s taxable income and 120% of the preceding year’s income. Explain a variation of 20% or more between years. Obtain the accountant’s clarification of anomalies and retain the verified explanation. A director’s individual application cannot simply use the company’s undistributed profit as personal income.
Borrower and Residency Eligibility
Firstmac assesses the borrower structure and residency alongside servicing. Each joint borrower must receive a benefit from the transaction. Adding someone solely for income support or extra security does not satisfy its borrower-of-convenience rule.
For company borrowers, Firstmac requires unlimited joint and several personal guarantees from every current director. Its ordinary trust policy accepts family, discretionary and unit trusts with an Australian corporate trustee. Individual trustees and hybrid trusts are excluded. Unit trusts also require guarantees from all unit holders. Retain the trust deed and the evidence of authority to borrow.
Third-party security for individual borrowers is considered where borrower and mortgagor are common law spouses. Identify the ownership of every security and the applicable legal-advice requirement. A spouse-supported structure is not a general parent-guarantor policy.
The non-resident branch considers Australian or New Zealand citizens living and working overseas. It excludes non-resident self-employed borrowers and non-resident guarantors, and prohibits cash out. Citizenship evidence includes a certified passport.
For mixed-residency couples in Australia, the partner’s visa and relationship determine which branch applies. Retain the passport, permanent-residency evidence and Visa Entitlement Verification Online result where required. For a couple living and working in Australia with one Australian or New Zealand citizen, the non-citizen must be their common law spouse. An appropriate partner visa is also required for standard-policy treatment.
Property and Purpose Restrictions
Firstmac security acceptance depends on living area, title and postcode as well as the intended use. Its policy excludes metropolitan strata units below 40 square metres of living area and non-metropolitan strata units below 50 square metres. Balconies and car spaces do not count. Studios without a separate bedroom are excluded.
Company title, Purple Title and Moiety Title appear among unacceptable securities. Separate parking titles attached to an apartment also need a first mortgage. Retain title details and identify any usage restriction or adverse valuation comment before presenting the property as ordinary residential security.
For high-density apartments, the building and postcode classification both matter. Assess development concentration and comparable resales alongside the relevant product’s LVR limit. Apply the policy’s security and loan-amount tables to the particular property instead of transferring a headline maximum from another category.
Investment property needs a supported rental assessment and the correct repayment structure. Construction requires a fixed-price contract and a licensed builder. Owner-builders are excluded. Firstmac uses progress valuations and retains enough funds to complete the work. Investment construction needs a turnkey contract, and ordinary split and redraw options are unavailable during construction.
Refinance Submission Evidence
Firstmac expects satisfactory conduct on the outgoing loan, with comprehensive credit reporting supporting that assessment. Its policy allows refinance statements to be omitted where all borrowers meet its Equifax score and credit-history conditions. That concession does not remove the need to identify the outgoing debt or explain adverse conduct.
Keep a submission record with the following evidence:
- The outgoing lender, account reference, balance and limit, with the payout or statement evidence used to establish the debt.
- Repayment conduct from comprehensive credit reporting, plus statements and explanations where the statement concession does not apply.
- The proposed loan amount, fees and additional funds, with a specific purpose for every cash-out component.
- The valuation pathway and security details, with confirmation that conditions affecting approval have been satisfied.
- The borrower’s income evidence and any explanation needed to reconcile inconsistent periods.
Firstmac treats funds released directly to the borrower as cash out regardless of their intended use. Generic purposes such as future investment are insufficient. Above $100,000, the policy requires supporting documents such as a contract, quote or invoice. Retaining existing redraw in a refinance also needs evidence when that amount exceeds $100,000.
A construction or LMI application cannot use the ordinary automated or desktop valuation shortcut. For a full valuation, Firstmac generally uses a report no more than 90 days old at final assessment. Its settlement limit is 180 days from inspection. Retain valuation status and lender instructions without sharing a lender-confidential report with the borrower.
Exceptions and File Completion
Present a Firstmac exception as a request against a specific policy clause, supported by the facts that address its risk. Firstmac Credit considers exceptions individually, with mortgage-insurer acceptance where applicable. A business development manager’s preliminary discussion does not replace credit approval.
For a hypothetical income variation, identify the two-year income rule and calculate the outcome under that rule first. Explain the cause of the movement and attach the supporting financials. Show how the proposed repayment works using the income Firstmac accepts, then state the exception requested.
Keep the written credit response with its conditions and the documents that satisfy them. Record remuneration separately if the transaction is an internal replacement or involves another distribution brand. Before lodging, your file must show who funds the loan, which debt is repaid and which additional funds support the expected upfront.
