Yard’s Credit Guide

  1. Introduction
    1. This document is the Credit Guide of:
      1. Yard Financial Pty Ltd ACN 623 357 513, Australian Credit Licence 509481 where we act as a Credit Provider; and
      2. Yard Home Loans Pty Ltd ACN 634 101 901, holding an Australian Credit Representative Number 517113 as an authorised representative for Yard Financial Pty Ltd ACN 623 357 513, Australian Credit Licence 509481 where we act as a Mortgage Manger,
      to be referred to as (“Yard”) and "we", "us" and "our" refers to Yard.
    2. This document provides you with key information about our responsible lending obligations to you when we are providing credit services as a Credit Provider and credit assistance services when we are acting as a Mortgage Manager.
    3. Our responsible lending obligations are regulated under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth) (“Act”).
    4. This document contains a summary of our obligations under the Act when we are providing our credit services and credit assistance services to you, and what you should do if you have a complaint or dispute about the services that we provide.
    5. This Credit Guide will be provided to you by Yard and a credit guide may also be provided to you by the named lender/credit provider.
  2. Services We Provide
    1. We provide two types of services, Credit Services as a Credit Provider and Credit Assistance Services as a Mortgage Manager.
    2. As a Credit Provider we provide loans to you as the lender.
  3. Mortgage Manager Services
    1. As a Mortgage Manager, we are considered a credit assistance provider. If you apply for a loan through our services, and are successful, you will enter a contract with a credit provider that we will recommend and manage for your situation.
    2. As a Mortgage Manager we market the following credit loans: Home Loans, Investment Loans, Construction Loans, Bridging Loans and SMSF Loans.
    3. These loans are structured and managed by us as a Mortgage Manager on behalf of the lender.
    4. The lender of record on these loans may be: Perpetual Trustee Company Limited, Perpetual Corporate Trust Limited, Well Nigh Capital Fundng No 1 Pty Ltd or Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Pty Ltd.
    5. Our role as a Mortgage Manager is to assist in the distribution of a credit product rather than act as a finance broker for a specified credit product.
    4. The below information about our services relates to both Credit Provider Services and Mortgage Management Services.

  4. Information we require
    1. Credit Assessment
      1. Before we enter into a credit contract or recommend a credit contract to you, or increase or recommend an increase to a credit limit under an existing credit contract, we must assess if the credit contract or credit limit increase will be unsuitable for you.
      2. To complete the credit assessment, we will make reasonable inquiries about your requirements and objectives for the credit contract or credit limit increase. We must also make reasonable inquiries about your financial situation and take reasonable steps to verify your financial information.
      3. We will assess as to whether the credit contract or credit limit increase will be unsuitable if at the time it is being provided to you it is likely that:
        1. you will be unable to meet your financial obligations (e.g. repayments) under the credit contract;
        2. you are unable to comply with your obligations under the credit contract without substantial hardship; or
        3. the credit contract does not meet your stated objectives and requirements.
      4. If we assess that a proposed credit contract or credit limit increase is unsuitable for you, we cannot provide it or recommend it to you.
      5. It is important that the information that you provide for our credit assessment regarding your financial situation, objectives and requirements is complete and accurate and includes any likely future changes that will impact your ability to repay the credit contract.
    2. Obtaining a copy of the credit assessment
      1. You may request a copy of the credit assessment from us (at no cost to you) if we proceed to provide you with or recommend to you the credit contract or credit limit increase.
      2. You can request from us a copy of the credit assessment before entering into the credit contract or obtaining the credit limit increase or at any time up to 7 years after you enter into the credit contract or your credit limit is increased. If you have requested it before you enter into the credit contract, we will not enter into the credit contract or recommend entering into the credit contract the until after we provide you with the credit assessment.
      3. If you request a copy of the credit assessment within 2 years of the credit contract being entered into, we must provide it to you within 7 business days. If you request the credit assessment beyond 2 years but less than 7 years, we must provide it to you within 21 business days. We will not charge you for the supply of the credit assessment.
      4. Please note that we are not required to provide you with a copy of the credit assessment where the credit contract or credit limit increase does not proceed.
      5. You should notify us immediately if the information in the credit assessment is not correct or has changed.
  5. Things you should know
    1. If we arrange a loan for you to purchase or refinance real estate, you should make your own enquiries about the value of the real estate and its potential for future growth. Although we may obtain a valuation, that is for our own use and you should not rely on it.
    2. You should ensure that you have approved finance before entering a binding contract to purchase.
    3. We don’t provide legal or financial advice and it is important that you understand your legal obligations under the loan and the financial consequences.
    4. Before you accept your loan offer, make sure you read the credit contract/loan agreement carefully to understand full details of the loan. If you have any doubts, you should obtain independent legal and financial advice before you enter any loan contract.
  6. Fees
    1. We may charge an application fee for our services as a Mortgage Manager. Also, the lender may charge an application fee, valuation fees, and other fees. All fees payable will be disclosed in the Proposal Disclosure Document.
    2. In most circumstances these fees can be deducted from the finance proceeds.
  7. Commissions
    1. Commissions received by us – we may receive management fees (a form of commission) from the credit provider and other lenders who fund our products. These are not fees payable by you and are not ascertainable until a loan is funded. These details are provided for your information only.
    2. Commissions payable by us – we source referrals from a broad range of sources. For example, we may pay fees to call centre companies, real estate agents, accountants, or lawyers for referring you to us. These referral fees are generally small amounts and accord with usual business practice. These are not fees payable by you. You may, on request, obtain a reasonable estimate of those commissions and how the commission is worked out.
    3. Non-monetary benefits – we do not accept entertainment or hospitality benefits above $350 per person, per event and any such benefits we do receive are not based on loan volume. We maintain a register of entertainment or hospitality benefits that we receive which are valued above $100. If you have any queries regarding this, please contact us on the details below.
  8. Financial hardship
    1. We understand there may be times when your personal circumstances change unexpectedly (for e.g. you have lost your job, suffered an illness, been affected by a natural disaster or are experiencing a reduction in your income) and are having trouble in meeting your payment obligations under your credit contract, we encourage you to contact us as soon as possible.
    2. We will work with you to understand your circumstances, and to identify how we may be able to best assist you.
    3. We may require you to provide us with evidence of your financial hardship and completion of a statement of financial position to assist us in considering your circumstances.
    4. If you would like to apply for financial hardship, including a request for postponement of any enforcement proceedings, please contact our Customer Service team:
      1. Telephoning our Customer Service Team on 02 9159 9444 between 8.30 am to 5 pm during NSW business days;
      2. Emailing us at help@yard.com.au; or
      3. Writing to our Customer Service Team at Level 17, 300 Barangaroo Avenue, Sydney NSW 2000.
    5. If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your financial hardship application, you may choose to contact our external dispute resolution provider, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (refer to section 9 below ‘Resolving complaints’ for details).
  9. Resolving complaints
    1. If you are not satisfied with our services, we welcome your feedback so it can help us understand and address issues we otherwise might not know about.
    2. If you have any concerns, please let us know immediately so we can fix it for you. You can raise your concern or complaint with us by:
      1. Telephoning our Customer Service Team on 02 9159 9444 between 8.30 am to 5 pm during NSW business days;
      2. Emailing us at help@yard.com.au or
      3. Writing to our Customer Service Team at Level 17, 300 Barangaroo Avenue, Sydney NSW 2000.
    3. If you raise any concerns with us, we’ll address it as quickly as possible. In most cases, you can expect that your issue will be resolved within 5 business days. In the event that it takes us longer to resolve or investigate, we’ll ensure that you’re regularly updated.

    4. If you are not satisfied with how we have dealt with your concern or complaint, you have the option of referring the matter to our external dispute resolution scheme – the Australian Financial Complaints Authority. You can lodge your complaint with:

      Australian Financial Complaints Authority
      Online:
      www.afca.org.au
      Email:
      info@afca.org.au
      Phone:
      1800 931 678 (free call)
      Mail:
      Australian Financial Complaints Authority
      GPO Box 3
      Melbourne VIC 3001
  10. Our details
    1. This Credit Guide is provided by Yard and we are incorporated under the laws of New South Wales, Australia.
    2. You can contact us by email: Attention to the Complaints Officer, help@yard.com.au or call us on 02 9159 9444.
    3. This Credit Guide is Version 2 dated 22 December 2022.
    4. If you have any questions about this Credit Guide or anything else about our services, just ask at any time. We’re here to help you.
  11. Amendments
    1. We may update this Credit Guide from time to time by publishing a new version on our website.