Understanding the formal approval to settlement process - principal increase applications

When your customer’s principal increase application is formally approved, we’ll keep you and your customer updated. These communications will include: 

• A message from our team to confirm the formal approval status: 
  • to you and your team, via a back channel message (BCM) and through the Broker Portal application status tracker
  • to your customer, via an email from us. 
• You’ll both also receive an email, generally within 4 hours of the above message, containing the: 
  • formal approval
  • loan summary. 

To ensure a smooth process, once you’ve received formal approval, we’ll send the loan documents to each applicant’s email address. Once approved, check each applicant’s email address and mobile number to ensure they receive the loan documentation and SMS verification to open the DocuSign. 

Generally, within an hour of receiving the formal approval email, you and your customer will receive the loan documents in DocuSign.

They’ll need to review and electronically execute the loan documents in DocuSign. Where there are multiple borrowers, any borrower can sign the documents first.

If a document requires a wet-ink signature (e.g. original signed documents like guarantor documents or independent legal/financial advice), it’ll be specified in the loan documentation pack. This pack will also contain the address (GPO box) for these documents to be sent to. 

When your customer has signed all loan documents in DocuSign for their principal increase application, a confirmation email will be sent to both you and your customer with instructions to download the completed loan pack. A download of the completed loan document pack is only available for 90 days post signing. 

Our Settlements team will receive a notification of the completed DocuSign envelope and review the completed loan pack. They’ll also: 

• verify the completed loan documents to ensure any supporting documents required (including wet ink signed) have been returned
• check all pre-settlement conditions have been satisfied.  

Post review, our Settlements team will advise you via email if there are any outstanding requirements. The application won’t be able to progress to settlement until all requirements are met. 

As part of the formal approval notification, we’ll inform you of any settlement conditions that need to be met prior to a settlement date being set.  

Supporting documents for settlement conditions must be emailed to our Settlements team at mmsettlements@macquarie.com. When emailing, include the reference number in the subject line (e.g. PIA-1234). 

Your customer needs to provide their Certificate of Currency (COC) for their general insurance policy, noting Macquarie Bank Limited as the first interested party. Their policy must be current at the date of settlement. This is not applicable to strata properties.  

A debt consolidation settlement condition requires another debt facility (e.g. credit card, HECS, personal or home loan) to be paid out as part of the settlement.

• You’ll need to provide a final payout figure that is valid on the settlement day, and includes the banking/payment details to be paid out for the facility, to our Settlements team prior to settlement 
• At settlement, we’ll allocate part of the settlement funds to pay out the facility 
• For credit cards or other facilities that aren’t automatically closed, your customer will need to close the facility post settlement.

To alter or waive a settlement condition for your customer’s principal increase application, you’ll need to contact our Settlements team at mmsettlements@macquarie.com. They’ll organise for this request to be reviewed by our Credit team.   

When all settlement requirements have been met, our Settlements team will process the home loan increase. They’ll also: 

• attend to repayments of any personal loans that need to be paid out as per settlement conditions
• disburse the funds as per your customer’s instructions on the loan documents
• send confirmation of settlement.

Once settlement has been successfully completed, it’s important to ensure your customer is aware of the changes to their repayments. The Variation Confirmation will outline all changes to the repayment amounts and when they become effective. 

 Your customer will need to be aware of the following: 

• The repayment date will continue to be on the same day of the month when the home loan facility originally settled (e.g. the 15^th each month)
• This means, if a principal increase application settled on the 10^th and the repayment day is the 15^th, the new repayment stated in the Variation Confirmation will be due in 5 days after settlement.
• The repayment amount after settlement will incorporate the changes of the principal increase application.

If your customer manually pays their home loan repayments, it’s important to remind them to update their scheduled repayments to reflect the increased repayment amount. Our Personal Help Centre provides guidance for your customer on managing repayments, including changing frequency of repayments using other repayment methods.