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FREE ADULT (21+ COURSES TEACHER FACILITATED OR FULLY INDEPENDENT Oakville Beaver | Thursday, November 10, 2022 | 46 REGISTER NOW COMPLETE YOUR DIPLOMA OR UPGRADE YOUR SKILLS! Visit us at Halton AB www.garyallan.ca caer 905-632-2944 | 4 LOCATIONS IN HALTON e, Board agorysllansctionl Ove insidehalton.com TB MONEY MATTERS | Metro Creative photo If you miss a mortgage payment, considering approaching your lender and drawing up new financial arrangements, suggests Jason Heath, certified financial planner. | MISSED A MORTGAGE PAYMENT. WHAT HAPPENS NOW? SRIVINDHYA KOLLURU As interest rate hikes push up monthly payments for variable-rate mortgag- es, Canadians are takin; on more household debt. On Sept. 12, Statistics Canada reported household debt, in proportion to dis- posable income, grew in the second quarter of 2022. Sta- tistics Canada also found that households added $56.3 billion of debt in the second quarter, including $48.7 bil- lion in mortgages. Some homeowners may skip one or more monthly trigger fees from your lend- er or ding your credit score. Suppose you think you need to skip a payment in the future. In that case, Jason Heath, certified fi- nancial planner at Objec- tive Financial Partners, recommends _informi your lender ahead of time to avoid any consequences. il ortgage contract and lender is differ- ent, Heath says many mort- gage lenders offer a skip-a- payment option that lets you miss or defer a monthly pay- ment without a penalty. You could also increase your amortization period by one month. He says if you skip one month's mortgage pay- ment, then resume sched- payments for six months, all six of those pay- ments may be considered late ie. "It's because you're al- ways a month behind catching up on the previ- ous month," says Heath. “You could end up in a situ- ation where even though you only i one monthly payment in your mind, it might actually be six months of late pay- ments as a result." This is known as a rolling late pay- ment, and you can only catch up by making a dou- ble payment. If missing your pay- ments becomes more than a one-off situation, and you've tapped into all your other options — includi a line of credit and tax-free savings account — you could end up in a position where you need to sell your louse. But before you get to that point, consider ap- proaching your lender and drawing up new financial clude giving you access to some of your home equity gage payment. there's a solution if it's the first time, but if you get re- ally behind, there may not be a solution," says Heath. The more proactive you serious repercussions.