How to get secured loans for bad credit
A poor credit file does not prevent a property-secured business loan in Australia, because the security and the exit carry the risk rather than the credit score. HomeSec considers credit history but never treats it as disqualifying on its own. Defaults, arrears, judgments and an outstanding ATO debt do not automatically rule out an application.
A default on your file does not stop you borrowing against property in Australia. It stops you borrowing from a bank. Those are different problems with different answers.
Why the security changes the question
A bank lends against your capacity to service from trading income. Your credit file is a proxy for how reliably you have met obligations, so an adverse listing goes directly to the thing being assessed.
A property-secured lender is underwriting the property and the exit. The credit file is information — useful context about how the last few years have gone — but it is not what carries the risk. That is the whole reason this kind of lending exists.
At HomeSec, credit history is considered and is never disqualifying on its own. Defaults, arrears, judgments and an outstanding ATO debt do not automatically rule out an application.
What we look at instead
- The property. Residential, commercial, industrial, rural residential or vacant land, anywhere in Australia. Combined lending to 80% of value on residential security or 70% on commercial.
- The purpose. A genuine business or investment purpose. We do not write personal, domestic or household purposes.
- The exit. How the loan gets repaid. Dated and documented beats intended.
- An active ABN. No minimum trading period — we fund start-ups.
Not required: financial statements, tax returns, BAS lodgement, cash flow records, a trading history, or a clean file.
Is there a credit check?
Not to get an indicative answer. We can tell you on the phone whether the deal works based on the property, the equity and the exit. A credit file is accessed later in the process, with your consent, as part of formal approval — so a phone call costs you nothing and leaves no enquiry.
That matters more than people realise. Multiple applications in a short window leave multiple enquiries, and each one makes the next lender more cautious. Get an indicative answer before you formally apply anywhere.
The thing to be careful about
Adverse credit attracts predatory offers. Be very cautious about large upfront fees payable before any documentation, “assessment” charges that are non-refundable if you are declined, and rates quoted without any mention of establishment fees, minimum interest periods or default rates.
Ask every lender for the total cost in dollars over the period you need the money, in writing, before you pay anything. A lender who will not put it in writing has told you something.
What we would want you to understand
If the credit problems are the symptom of a business that is losing money, a secured loan against the family home is not the answer, and we will say so. This product solves a timing problem. It is very good at that and no good at all at the other thing.
Reviewed by Catriona Anderson, General Manager