All Mortgage Penalties Are NOT Equal

Patricia McKean Blogs

This is a story about Tom and Mary. Two different people with similar mortgages, but very different prepayment penalties.

Tom and Mary each buy a house at the exact same time for the exact same price and get a mortgage for the exact same amount. The only difference is Tom uses a Big Bank, and Mary uses a monoline lender for their mortgages. Let’s assume they both received a rate of 2.99% for a 5 year fixed term.

Three years into their mortgages, Tom and Mary are both going to be paying off their respective mortgages which are both at $250,000 at the time of the payoff. Now to keep the comparison fair, we will pretend that interest rates have not changed at all for any of the terms, whether it is the posted rates or the discounted rates. The rates are based on the actual interest rates at the time of writing.
Now because they have ended their 5 year contract early, they will have to pay a penalty. Both agreed at the time they took out their mortgage they would pay the greater of 3 months interest or the Interest Rate Differential (IRD). The IRD is in place so that the lender will be reimbursed for any income they would lose because you broke the contract early. In theory it should only apply when rates have gone down from the rate you agreed to pay. In this example, they each agreed to pay 2.99% for 5 years, so if rates had dropped to 1.99% the lenders would be entitled to the 1% difference for the remaining two years. Which is fair. If you invested $1000, and were told at maturity your investment would be worth $1200, you would not want to get $50 and be told, “sorry, someone else changed their mind.” You, like everyone else, would want the full $200 you were promised. Same idea. Only the Banks are using the IRD to punish you for leaving, or to force you to stay with them. Which is not fair, nor the idea behind an IRD.

In our example, Tom and Mary each have to pay a penalty. But how much they have to pay is a shocking difference!

Mary’s Monoline Penalty: $1,868
Tom’s Big Bank Penalty: $8,750
That’s a difference of $6,882 !!!

Let me explain. With a Monoline lender, like Mary used, that mortgage brokers usually use, they offer their best rates upfront. So they generally only have one rate for each term length. Where as the banks have Two rates for each term. The posted rate, and the discounted, or special offer rate. Almost everyone actually pays the discounted rate, but the banks use the posted rates when calculating the Interest Rate Differential. That is how they come up with huge IRD penalties.

The math behind it can be a bit confusing when you read it, so pretend you’re back in high school math class…but pay attention this time.

So the banks take the rate you are paying (2.99% in our example) subtract the difference between what is the current posted rate for a similar term for the time remaining (2 years at 3.04%) less the DISCOUNT GIVEN. So the posted rate in our example is 4.79% minus the real rate of 2.99% which is a discount of 1.80% That is what is going to cause the pain. So they take the similar posted term rate then minus the discount (3.04% – 1.80%). Then they multiple that number by the balance owing and the time remaining.

Big Bank IRD calculation

Compared to a true IRD calculation

The Numbers being used, based on rates at time of writing
Posted Rate for 5 year term 4.79%
Rate Clients are paying for 5 year term 2.99%
Posted Rate for 2 year term 3.04%
Discounted Rate for a 2 year term 2.79%

To make up for such a monstrous penalty from his bank, Tom would have needed a rate of 1/2 of a percent (0.5% or 0.005) which is 2.49% lower than best rate at the time from the banks. There is more to consider with a mortgage than just rates. Know your other risks.


Call me to explain what the long term effects could have with your mortgage if you choose to break it early.