“Totally shocked” woman refused home loan due to maternity leave plans
A New Zealand woman has been told by ANZ that she would only be considered for a mortgage if she returned to work within 90 days of giving birth.
The woman is one of several people who spoke to the Otago Daily Times following the introduction of changes to New Zealand’s Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act (CCCFA).
Changes to the act were intended to protect borrowers from loan sharks, but have prompted banks to vet mortgage applicants’ spending habits and personal finances more closely instead.
The woman, who the publication agreed not to name, said she felt “totally shocked and completely discriminated against” by ANZ, after she was informed through her mortgage broker that the bank had changed its policy on maternity leave for borrowers.
An ANZ spokeswoman acknowledged that the bank was enforcing stricter rules for customers taking more than 90 days of maternity leave as a result of changes to the CCCFA.
She said there had been no change to the bank’s policy.
However the woman, who was in the later stages of pregnancy when she and her partner attempted to refinance their home, found that her plans for maternity leave affected their chances of securing their loan.
After a family member who had helped the couple finance their home to start with passed away, the couple were looking to get a mortgage through a bank with the help of a mortgage broker.
The woman planned to take 12 months off of work from early December, including nine months of paid leave - three by her employer and six by the government’s paid parental leave scheme.
She said she wanted to take a full year of leave after taking just seven months off following the birth of her last child, giving her more time to spend with the newborn.
“It’s a really special time and I wanted to be there for it,” she said.
When they applied for a mortgage through ANZ, they received a series of questions about their financial situation, as well as questions about her plans to return to work.
Though she expected questions about their finances, “which I totally understood”, the woman said asking about her plans after her maternity leave was “deeply personal”.
“The decisions I choose to make after that time should be mine and not dependent on the bank,” she said.
On January 7, the mortgage broker forwarded an email from ANZ saying the bank had changed its maternity leave policy - now refusing to give mortgages to customers who took more than three months off work.
The woman said she believed the couple could still afford the mortgage whether she was working or not.
“I mean, we knew we could afford it - and if we didn’t, we wouldn’t have applied,” she said.
Though she was confident she would return to work, she didn’t believe the bank had the right to tell new mothers when they go back.
“It’s completely discriminatory and just not needed,” she said.
The couple, who now have a three-week-old baby, are now looking to other banks for a loan.
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