Cosignor Required.. What to do?

[igeorgex]

So I went in to TD on Monday and spoke with the medical student rep and she practically assured me based on my good credit rating, I would not need a cosignor and that they would try really hard to make sure this wasn't the case. I've heard the same spiel from all the other banks, and knowing that I have good credit rating, I did not think I would need a cosignor anywhere I went. I signed some forms for the bank to do a full credit check, and for insurance on the loan. Now, a day later, they contacted me saying I need a cosignor because I "do not have enough current income to guarantee the minimum repayment on my loan".

So now I'm in a bit of a hard place because I do NOT want a cosignor.

1) Is there any way to try and ask her to resubmit my application and get rid of the cosignor if I threaten to go to another bank?
2) If I do go to another bank, can I somehow have them do a credit check and guarantee I don't need a cosignor before I sign on with them?
3) What are the effects of having a cosignor, like say on the cosignor's mortgage renegotiation or if they ever want to take out a loan?

Thanks for the help guys.

[HBP]

Walk away, go to RBC/Scotia.

TD is effing around. They're giving you the loan based on your FUTURE income, not your current. I said I have absolutely no income.

[Mithril]

Not only should you go to another bank, you don't need loan protection if you don't have a co-signer. That rep was trying to hustle you because if you die then the bank has to pay off your debt.

[RiceWine]

Walk away, go to RBC/Scotia.

TD is always bad at giving loans for some strange reason, even if you are a long time client

[psychoswim]

Not only should you go to another bank, you don't need loan protection if you don't have a co-signer. That rep was trying to hustle you because if you die then the bank has to pay off your debt.

I was asked at first by the RBC advisor if I wanted life insurance... thought about it for 2 seconds and came to that conclusion. If there's no cosigner then if you die the bank pays just the same so they want your money!

[igeorgex]

I was asked at first by the RBC advisor if I wanted life insurance... thought about it for 2 seconds and came to that conclusion. If there's no cosigner then if you die the bank pays just the same so they want your money!

really? so if you don't have a cosignor, and you don't get the life insurance, then there's no way for them to hassle your next of kin to pay back the LOC? how about the critical illness/disability insurance?

and I'm currently trying to set up an appointment with RBC. thanks for the help everyone.

[mm88]

CIBC said I may not need a cosigner either. I currently have a job (and some savings), so the lady told me to bring in my pay statements, because sometimes that will be enough to waive the cosigner requirement.

TD is always bad at giving loans for some strange reason, even if you are a long time client

Oh tell me about it. The lady I saw said I'd only get 60k at prime+0.5% for a professional LOC AND would need a cosigner. She asked me if I wanted to start the paperwork that very day and I just left. SCREW YOU, STUPID WOMAN... I'm not a retard.

[dokta]

really? so if you don't have a cosignor, and you don't get the life insurance, then there's no way for them to hassle your next of kin to pay back the LOC? how about the critical illness/disability insurance?

and I'm currently trying to set up an appointment with RBC. thanks for the help everyone.


Scotia in Hamilton (downtown) has been really helpful and easy to deal with

[astrogirl]

You really shouldn't ever need a cosigner for a med school line of credit unless you have a history of bankruptcy or something like that. I got an LOC with Scotiabank with no cosigner, and I don't have any savings and I already had a significant amount of debt.

[leviathan]

That's ridiculous. Leave TD and never go back. Scotiabank will offer a professional LOC at prime interest rate with no cosigner needed. RBC does as well, and probably other banks. If you have no spouse or dependents you don't have to get life insurance on the loan, but I would consider disability insurance in case for some reason you weren't able to finish med school / work / pay back the loans due to illness/injury.

[Mithril]

If you're worried about disability or life insurance, usually your provincial medical association should give you coverage for free.

[Lactic Folly]

If you're worried about disability or life insurance, usually your provincial medical association should give you coverage for free.

We never got any insurance free in medical school :( Residency, yes.

[Mithril]

That sucks. We get free life insurance for $100k from the BCMA for the entirety of med school and free disability insurance for 1st year.

[igeorgex]

thanks for all the help everyone.

I went to RBC yesterday and the advisor looked at my credit rating and said it was at the highest possible level (R1 or something) and that the advisor at TD was way off-base to make me find a cosignor. She guaranteed I would not have one! Super-friendly, down-to-earth and I knew she was looking out for my best interests. She even pointed out the stuff about the insurance that others have told me in this thread and left it for me to decide when I come back, rather than forcing it down my throat like at TD.

great experience, I'm definitely signing on with them.

[jexen]

TD has the same deal as every other major bank--they just don't know it yet.

I'm with TD, so here's the deal. TD only recently started competing with the other banks for professional students. This means that you can get exactly the same everything (200k, no cosigner) as the other banks, but that the people working at the bank might not know yet. I went to two branches, and neither of them was aware of it.

If you want the same deal with TD as with all other banks, just tell them that you know you can get it, and eventually they'll ask someone to confirm (in my case, he called the loans centre or something).

[PhoenixFlare500]

TD has the same deal as every other major bank--they just don't know it yet.

I'm with TD, so here's the deal. TD only recently started competing with the other banks for professional students. This means that you can get exactly the same everything (200k, no cosigner) as the other banks, but that the people working at the bank might not know yet. I went to two branches, and neither of them was aware of it.

If you want the same deal with TD as with all other banks, just tell them that you know you can get it, and eventually they'll ask someone to confirm (in my case, he called the loans centre or something).

The easiest way is actually to talk to their med student contact if you can find their info. Most other bank workers don't know that we get special deals so they'll just try to give you a normal student line of credit.

[Satsuma]

really? so if you don't have a cosignor, and you don't get the life insurance, then there's no way for them to hassle your next of kin to pay back the LOC? how about the critical illness/disability insurance?

and I'm currently trying to set up an appointment with RBC. thanks for the help everyone.

If you are single and you don't have life insurance then no they can't hassle your mom or dad etc. If you have other investments that you have left to your next of kin they might not get it. The bank would take as much as they could from your "estate" first.

When I was a med student though the OMA (or CMA ... or both I can't remember) gave med students free life insurance up the 100k. So that would cover your LOC. It is not automatic though, you did need to seek out and send in the appropriate forms, so look into that and see if they are still doing that.

For critical illness/disability that is another story. When you are dead you don't need to worry about paying off your debt and rent and food etc. If you end up disabled and unable to work for the rest of your life, that is different. Critical illness is similar but more temporary than a permanent disability. Eventually you will want these. As a med student, you have to decide on the likelihood you would be disabled to the point of not being able to work in any field in medicine - you'd have to be pretty disabled to not be able to do psych or even family med since family med is so varied etc. and your disability insurance at this point wont' be for a specific specialty - since you aren't in a specialty. (eg if you were a surgeon and you mangled your arm then your insurance company wouldn't expect you to go back and retrain in something else, but as a med student they would expect you to find something). Only you can decide if you think such insurance is worth it at this point in your life.