# Mortgages and pregnancy



## SuperGrover (Oct 24, 2011)

Hi everyone, 
My wife is newly pregnant and we are looking to get a new place. We are in the process of selling our current house in Calgary. I can't find a solid answer online. Are you required to disclose this to the bank when getting approval for a mortgage or does this violate a privacy act?
Cheers


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## Ag Driver (Dec 13, 2012)

First of all, congrats!

Legalities aside; I would also be very surprised if it made a difference in the outcome if you were to disclose, unless you were buying at you upper limit or above your means. I have been dealing with my "bank lady" for at least a decade, so I have a great relationship with her. She is a lending specialist and gave great conservative advice when preparing for my mortgage. I think pregnancy is something that should be discussed when looking for a new place. I am assuming you are "upgrading" and/or will have a larger mortgage, thus it is even more important to ensure that your have all of your T's crossed, and I's dotted with these "new" up and coming expenses.

My vote is to discuss it with your lender. If you can afford it, most banks will lend you the money. If you can't afford it, but yet the bank is still willing to lend you the money, a good specialist will advise you otherwise.... I know I was approved for WAY more than I was comfortable with and would quickly become "house poor" had I shopped around at my upper limit of my mortgage. My bank lady and I were both on the same page and opted to shop for a more modest priced home.


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## nobleea (Oct 11, 2013)

We were in the same position. We were applying for a mortgage while my wife was on maternity leave. The bank said that doesn't matter at all and that will certainly not affect things. They take her income before the leave as long as you say she will be returning to work.


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## SuperGrover (Oct 24, 2011)

Thanks, its exciting times!

The main thing is, my wife is half the family income +-. We are upgrading and will have a substantial downpayment. We could have gotten approval for a ridiculous amount. The question of affordability is interesting. We are very good with living below our means, which leads us to being able to afford to allocate a greater percentage to our mortgage. We want to be able to "afford" our place on my one salary. But that would be at a tight margin. And this would be just for the year she is on mat leave. Due to my career path as well, I can accurately forecast a decent amount of wage increase in the next five years. Calgary's housing market is quite ridiculous, but correcting as we speak. There are very good deals to be had at the higher range prices, to get into areas that are quite hard to. I may be looking to get into my forever home. We are also both not concerned about losing our jobs due to the companies we work for.


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## dougboswell (Oct 25, 2010)

As the lender will make a call to her employer to verify her employment, they don't want to hear she is going on mat leave and they did not know it. This happened recently with a client. Disclose it up from and then the lender will want a letter stating her salary, that she will be returning to her job and the exact date.
Congrats!


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## valuemortgage (Mar 4, 2015)

Just to add a little bit more.. make sure the lender does not have any other restrictions, regarding using your wife's income. For instance, some lenders will require your wife to be returning to the job within 6 months, others will allow 1 year. But generally speaking, you are allowed to use her income, and you should always disclose it upfront.


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