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About Natalia Henriques – MortgageDepot


With a strong foundation as a former Mortgage Loan Processor, Natalia Henriques brings a detailed, behind-the-scenes understanding of the loan process to her role as a Mortgage Loan Originator. Her hands-on experience reviewing financial documents, preparing loan packages, and navigating underwriting requirements gives her a unique edge when guiding clients through the mortgage journey.

Natalia is skilled in identifying potential issues early, streamlining the loan process, and ensuring all documentation meets regulatory standards. Her ability to communicate clearly with clients, underwriters, and closing partners stems from her processor background, where she managed files from submission to final clear-to-close with precision and professionalism.

Known for her attention to detail, confidentiality, and commitment to client success, Natalia applies these strengths to help borrowers secure financing with confidence. Her transition from processor to MLO makes her an invaluable resource for homebuyers seeking both guidance and efficiency throughout their mortgage experience.

These 6 Money Mistakes Will Cost You $517,000 by Age 65


ViDI Studio / Shutterstock.com

Advertising Disclosure: When you buy something by clicking links within this article, we may earn a small commission, but it never affects the products or services we recommend. Right now, you’re hemorrhaging money through six specific holes in your financial life. Not pennies—we’re talking about $517,000 by retirement, according to recent studies. That’s the difference between retiring…

Book authors hail ‘historic settlement’ as Anthropic dodges trial on how it actually acquired millions of copyrighted works to ingest



A group of book authors has reached a settlement agreement with artificial intelligence company Anthropic after suing the chatbot maker for copyright infringement.

Both sides of the case have “negotiated a proposed class settlement,” according to a federal appeals court filing Tuesday that said the terms will be finalized next week.

Anthropic declined comment Tuesday. A lawyer for the authors, Justin Nelson, said the “historic settlement will benefit all class members.”

In a major test case for the AI industry, a federal judge ruled in June that Anthropic didn’t break the law by training its chatbot Claude on millions of copyrighted books.

But the company was still on the hook and was scheduled go to trial over how it acquired those books by downloading them from online “shadow libraries” of pirated copies.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup of San Francisco said in his June ruling that the AI system’s distilling from thousands of written works to be able to produce its own passages of text qualified as “fair use” under U.S. copyright law because it was “quintessentially transformative.”

“Like any reader aspiring to be a writer, Anthropic’s (AI large language models) trained upon works not to race ahead and replicate or supplant them — but to turn a hard corner and create something different,” Alsup wrote.

A trio of writers — Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber and Kirk Wallace Johnson — alleged in their lawsuit last year that Anthropic’s practices amounted to “large-scale theft,” and that the San Francisco-based company “seeks to profit from strip-mining the human expression and ingenuity behind each one of those works.”

Introducing the 2025 Fortune Global 500, the definitive ranking of the biggest companies in the world. Explore this year’s list.

1 Green Flag for Walmart Stock Right Now


The market isn’t looking at the retail giant in the right way.

The market wasn’t impressed with the fiscal second-quarter results that Walmart (WMT -0.23%) reported last week. Despite management’s previously upbeat view that tariffs would not much impact the retailer, it turns out that tariffs are indeed taking a toll on its bottom line.

But even though that was the piece of the report that the market zeroed in on, there was a lot of pleasant news for shareholders as well, and the story as a whole demonstrates Walmart’s strengths as a retailer. Walmart has my confidence, and there’s one specific metric that tells the story best.

Keeping the customers coming

Walmart is the largest company in the world by sales, with $693 billion in trailing 12-month revenue. It operates 10,500 stores globally, including 4,600 in the U.S. Its massiveness gives it a lot of leverage. That itself is an edge over smaller retailers, which can’t match its prices and assortment.

Despite its size, Walmart still reliably grows its sales. In its fiscal second quarter, which ended Aug. 1, revenue increased 5.6% year over year on a currency-neutral basis. It enjoys a number of growth drivers, including new store openings, new and curated merchandising efforts, store expansions and redesigns, and, what’s most relevant for this discussion, comparable sales (comps).

Image source: Walmart.

Comparable sales growth is a crucial metric for companies like Walmart. Many companies can achieve revenue growth by opening new locations, but a strict focus on the top line can obscure the performance of Walmart’s established stores.

That’s why shareholders look at comps growth — to get a more nuanced take on how stores are doing. High comps growth implies that customers are loyal, that they’re buying more products more often, and that stores are attracting new customers. Companies often break down the comps figure into traffic growth, transaction growth, and ticket growth. Each of those metrics can add detail to the picture of what’s happening. Walmart’s comps increased 4.6% in the fiscal quarter, although management didn’t provide a more detailed breakdown.

For Walmart to keep its top spot in retail, it will have to keep customers coming through its doors and spending money, and that’s where it’s focusing its efforts.

Tariffs, profits, and what matters most

When President Donald Trump announced his broad tariffs on imports, Walmart said that it didn’t expect to be highly impacted by the new taxes. Much of the merchandise it sells in the U.S. is made domestically, and its size gives it unusual leverage with its suppliers, allowing it to push back against their moves to raise wholesale prices or to ask them to cut costs through methods like cheaper packaging. However, in the August update, management said that tariffs are taking a toll on Walmart’s profits.

Wall Street analysts had been predicting the company would report $0.74 in adjusted earnings per share (EPS), and Walmart reported only $0.68 per share. That more than 9% miss is a big deal. Management blamed it on several factors, including general liability and workers’ compensation claims, but also pointed to higher costs due to tariffs. It also said that it expects those tariff-driven costs to keep climbing through the rest of the year.

Walmart is highly focused on giving customers the greatest value to keep them shopping in its stores, and it watches the competition carefully to ensure there’s a price gap between them. It absorbs some costs when necessary to make that happen. That affects the bottom line, but its top line is thriving.

CFO John David Rainey also pointed out that despite the miss on earnings and its expected increases in costs ahead, management isn’t changing its full-year outlook for operating income. It did raise its full-year guidance for revenue growth to a range of 3.75% to 4.75%.

The market is getting it wrong

If Walmart is feeling pressure from tariffs, it can be understood that all retailers are. Other retailers don’t necessarily have Walmart’s domestic producers or its leverage with suppliers. Smaller companies also won’t have the capacity to absorb as much of those higher costs as Walmart, so higher prices elsewhere are likely to drive customers to do more of their shopping at Walmart.

Walmart is in a very different operation than it was a few years ago. It has developed a robust e-commerce and omnichannel ordering system, and since it uses its stores as distribution centers, it can get orders out to customers more quickly than most competitors. Its e-commerce sales growth accelerated to 25% year-over-year in fiscal Q2, and orders delivered from stores increased by 50%. Orders delivered from stores within three hours made up a third of that total. That’s hard to beat.

It has also expanded its product assortment to cater to a more upscale clientele, and higher-income shoppers had the highest comps growth in the quarter. So even though it’s still the discount king, it has a wider consumer base. As it gets more customers into its stores, it has the real chance to make them lifetime loyalists.

Walmart’s main category is groceries, which everyone has to buy. Higher costs won’t prevent people from buying food, but it may cause them to shift where they shop. By keeping its prices low, it’s generating higher comparable sales and widening its advantage. That’s a great green flag for its future.

A Day in The Life of A Trader #memecoins #crypto #trading



A Day in The Life of A Crypto Trader #memecoins #crypto #trading

source

Chase Business Total Checking $750 Bonus (No Direct Deposit Required)


Update 8/26/25: New live $750 link, valid through 10/16/25. (ht nycdpj)

Update 4/8/25: We don’t have a link currently for the $750 offer. There is a $500 offer (details here) which some may prefer.

Update 3/18/25: Deal is back until 04/17/2025. Hat tip to reader clow

Update 11/21/24: New link shows 01/16/2025 end date. Hat tip to Mike

Update 7/15/24: New link shows extended expiration of 10/17/24 (ht Eric)

Offer at a glance

  • Maximum bonus amount: $300 – $750
  • Availability: Nationwide – online or in branch
  • Direct deposit required: No
  • Additional requirements: Deposit $2,000 – $30,000 & maintain it for 60 days + 5 transactions
  • Hard/soft pull: Soft
  • ChexSystems: No
  • Credit card funding: $500, but codes as cash advance
  • Monthly fees: $15, avoidable
  • Early account termination fee: Six months, bonus forfeit None
  • Household limit: None
  • Expiration date: August 3 October 19, 2023 January 18, 2024 October 17, 2024

The Offer

$750 | $400 link | New link $750 New Link

  • Chase is offering a bonus of up to $750 when you open a new Chase Complete Business checking account and complete the following requirements:
    • Deposit $30,000 in new money within 30 days of coupon enrollment & maintain that balance for 60 days from offer enrollment.
    • Complete 5 qualifying transactions within 90 days of account opening. Qualifying transactions are:
      • Debit card purchases
      • Chase QuickDeposit and QuickAccept
      • ACH (Credits)
      • Wires (Credits or debits)

There are also lower versions of the bonus with a lower deposit requirement (all other details the same):

  • Deposit $2,000 and get a $300 bonus.
  • Deposit $15,000 and get $500 bonus.

 

The Fine Print

  • Eligibility: Open a Chase Business Complete CheckingSM, Chase Performance Business Checking® (or Chase Performance Business Checking® with Interest), or Chase Platinum Business CheckingSM account.
  • Offer code is good for one-time use.
  • Account Opening: Enter offer code in the E-Coupon Application after account opening. Bonus will be deposited within 15 days after all conditions are met.
  • E-Coupon Receipt: Print and give to the customer.
  • Bonus/Account Information: Checking offer is not available to existing Chase business checking customers, local, state or federal government entities or agencies, Not for Profit organizations, Political Action Committees, or those with campaign accounts or whose accounts have been closed within 90 days or closed with a negative balance within the last 3 years.
  • You can receive only one new business checking account opening related bonus every two years from the last enrollment date and only one bonus per account.
  • To receive the business checking bonus: 1) Open a new Chase Business Complete CheckingSM, Chase Performance Business Checking® (or Chase Performance Business Checking® with Interest) account or Chase Platinum Business Checking accountSM, which is subject to approval; 2) Deposit a total of $10,000 or more in new money into your new checking account within 30 days of coupon enrollment; and 3) Maintain at least a $10,000 balance for 60 days from the coupon enrollment. The new money cannot be funds held by your business at Chase or its affiliates. 4) Complete 5 qualifying transactions within 90 days of coupon enrollment. Qualifying transactions are: debit card purchases, Chase QuickAcceptSMdeposits, Chase QuickDepositSM, ACH (Credits), wires (Credits and Debits). After you have completed all the above checking requirements, we’ll deposit the bonus in your new account within 15 days. Coupon is good for one-time use. Employees of JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. and our affiliates are not eligible. Chase reserves the right to withdraw this offer at any time without notice.
  • Account Closing: If the checking account is closed by the customer or Chase within six months after coupon enrollment, we will deduct the bonus amount for that account at closing.
  • Chase Business Complete CheckingSM has a $15 Monthly Service Fee unless you fulfill at least one of the following qualifying activities: 1) Maintain a minimum daily balance of $2,000 in your account as of the beginning of each day of the statement period, 2) Spend at least $2,000 in purchases (minus returns or refunds) using your Chase Ink® Business Card(s) that shares a business legal name with the Chase Business Complete Checking account, using each of their most recently completed monthly card billing period(s), 3) Deposit $2,000 into your Chase Business Complete Checking account from your QuickAcceptSM and/or other eligible Chase Merchant Services transactions at least one business day prior to the last day of your bank account statement period, or 4) Maintain a linked Chase Private Client CheckingSM account. Product terms are subject to change. Eligible Chase Merchant Services products include only those where the transaction history can be viewed through Chase Business Online, Chase Connect®, or J.P. Morgan Access.
  • Bonuses are considered interest and may be reported on IRS Form 1099-INT (or Form 1042-S, if applicable).

Avoiding Fees

Monthly Fees

Chase Total Business Checking com no monthly fee when you maintain a daily minimum balance of $2,000 or more. Otherwise a $15 Monthly Service Fee will apply.

Other ways to waive the fee:

  • $2,000 minimum daily balance
  • $2,000 in net purchases on your Chase Ink® Business Card(s)
  • $2,000 in deposits from Chase QuickAccept℠ or other eligible Chase Payment Solutions transactions
  • Link a Chase Private Client Checking℠ account
  • Provide qualifying proof of military status

Reports indicate that Chase usually waives the fee for the first couple months.

Early Account Termination Fee

Accounts need to be kept open for a minimum of six months; otherwise, the bonus will be forfeited. None

Our Verdict

We saw the $750 offer before with a lower $20,000 deposit requirement. The high interest environment we’re in makes the deal less enticing since the money won’t be earning any interest while in the Chase account.

The funds might only need to sit in the Chase business checking account for 31 days (day 31 – day 60) or possibly  it needs a full 60 days. In the end, you’re likely to end up losing $100-$250 in interest (assuming a 4-5% interest rate in high yield savings account). Some people might prefer doing the lower $300 tier with just $2,000 required.

When I tried doing this some months ago, there was something about my business type not being eligible for online opening and I decided against going in branch. The offer now is worse with the higher deposit requirement so I’m going to give this one a miss. Still could be a decent deal for someone interested.

Unfortunately you’re not eligible for this bonus if you’ve received a Chase business checking bonus within the last two years, so it won’t work for everyone. There used to be a clause that you had to keep the account for 6 months before closing, but I think (?) Chase has removed that now from all of their bonuses.

Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:

  • A Beginners Guide To Bank Account Bonuses
  • Bank Account Quick Reference Table (Spreadsheet) (very useful for sorting bonuses by different parameters)
  • PSA: Don’t Call The Bank
  • Introduction To ChexSystems
  • Banks & Credit Unions That Are ChexSystems Inquiry Sensitive
  • What Banks & Credit Unions Do/Don’t Pull ChexSystems?
  • How To Use Our Direct Deposit Page For Bank Bonuses Page
  • Common Bank Bonus Misconceptions + Why You Should Give Them A Go
  • How Many Bank Accounts Can I Safely Open Within A Year For Bank Bonus Purposes?
  • Affiliate Links & Bank Bonuses – We Won’t Be Using Them
  • Complete List Of Ways To Close Bank Accounts At Each Bank
  • Banks That Allow/Don’t Allow Out Of State Checking Applications
  • Bank Bonus Posting Times

Deal History:

  • Update 5/29/24: New working link added.
  • Update 4/6/24: extended until 7/22/24
  • Update 1/21/24: Deal is back and valid until 4/18/2024.
  • Update 1/7/24: New link has the lower tier with a higher $400 bonus (instead of $300). This $400 link expires 1/18/24. The $750/$300 link is still slated to expire 1/18/24. (ht to reader moneymaker)
  • Update 11/29/23: Available now online at this link, valid through 1/18/24
  • Update 11/23/23: Deal is back, but this time in branch.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

How Much Student Loan Debt Is Actually Forgiven?


Key Points

  • President Biden forgave more than $188 billion in student loans for over 5 million borrowers, the largest amount of cancellation by any president.
  • Despite record forgiveness, total outstanding student loan debt grew from $1.565 trillion to $1.640 trillion during Biden’s term, as new borrowing outpaced relief.
  • Programs like PSLF, Borrower Defense, and Teacher Loan Forgiveness delivered billions in relief, but data on the true impact for individual borrowers remains limited.

How much student loan debt has actually been forgiven? The number is staggering: more than $188 billion erased for over 5 million borrowers during President Biden’s presidency, the largest wave of student loan forgiveness in history.

But the story doesn’t end there. Despite record levels of forgiveness, America’s student loan balance still grew, climbing from $1.565 trillion to $1.640 trillion.

The reason: new borrowing and interest continue to outpace the relief provided. That paradox raises important questions about what forgiveness really means, who benefits, and how much it changes the bigger picture.

Although there is some information about the total amount of student loan forgiveness and discharge, there is very little information about the actual impact on individual borrowers. For example, Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) requires the borrower to make 120 monthly payments in an income-driven repayment plan before the remaining debt is forgiven. It is unclear how much of the original debt and accrued interest is ultimately canceled on average.

This article breaks down where forgiveness came from: including Public Service Loan Forgiveness, Borrower Defense, Teacher Loan Forgiveness, and more, and why the numbers don’t always match what borrowers feel in their day-to-day lives. 

Understanding these details matters, because the future of forgiveness is shifting under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) and new rules for student loan repayment.

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President Biden Forgave More Debt Than Any Other President

President Biden forgave more than $188 billion in student loans to more than 5 million borrowers, more than any other president. He did this by making existing student loan forgiveness programs more efficient and automated.

However, timing did work to his favor – with Public Service Loan Forgiveness finally hit its stride in 2024. The program started in 2009, but required 10 years of qualifying payments. However, to be eligible, it required Direct Loans and qualifying repayment plans. Most new students didn’t start taking Direct Loans until 2010 (then had 4 years of college), and repayment plans like PAYE didn’t start until 2014. So, the first “big wave” of borrowers hitting 10 years happened in 2024. And in October 2024, the 1 million PSLF borrower mark was hit.

This table shows the totals forgiven, as of January 15, 2025, based on U.S. Department of Education press releases. The U.S. Department of Education under the Biden Administration published press releases very frequently, whenever they had a significant amount of forgiveness. This yielded a continual drumbeat of new forgiveness announcements.

Program

Dollars

(Billions)

Number of

Borrowers

Average per 

Borrower

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)

$78.5

1,069,000

$73,396

IDR Payment Count Adjustment

$56.5

1,400,000

$40,357

Borrower Defense And Closed School Discharge

$34.5

1,945,880

$17,708

Total And Permanent Disability

$18.7

633,000

$29,542

SAVE Accelerated Forgiveness

$5.5

414,000

$13,285

TOTAL

$193.6

5,461,880

$35,449

Total Exluding SAVE

$188.1

5,047,880

$37,449

More than 40% of the total student loan cancellation was through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. 

Despite all the forgiveness, there was more federal student loan debt outstanding when he left office than when he started. Total student loan debt outstanding increased from $1.565 trillion to $1.640 trillion. 

This is because new borrowing exceeded the amount forgiven. Since the start of the pandemic, there has been more than $80 billion of new borrowing each year and about $15 billion in progress in paying down debt. That yields a net increase of $65 billion per year before subtracting the $47 billion in annual forgiveness. 

Overall, the loan forgiveness during the Biden Administration represented more than 10% of the number of borrowers and dollars of federal student loans. 

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) forgives the borrower’s remaining federal student loan debt after the borrower makes 120 qualifying payments while working full-time in a public service job. Qualifying repayment plans include income-driven repayment plans and the standard 10-year repayment plan. Qualifying employers include government employers and 501(c)(3) organizations. Only Direct Loans are eligible for forgiveness (not FFEL or Perkins).

As of July 31, 2025, a cumulative total of $85.5 billion in loans to 1,155,400 borrowers has been discharged through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program (Excel File). That’s an average of $74,000 per borrower.

Of the total, 421,600 borrowers received $33.1 billion in forgiveness through PSLF, 7,300 received $0.3 billion in forgiveness through TEPSLF and 758,800 received $52.1 billion in forgiveness through the Limited PSLF Waiver (PDF File) that ended on October 31, 2022.

An additional 2.5 million borrowers have eligible employment and total outstanding balance of $224.9 billion in debt, an average of $87,700 per borrower. The balance may decrease by the time they receive forgiveness as they continue to make payments through income-driven repayment plans. 

Of borrowers who have applied from June 30, 2024 to July 31, 2025, 57% work for a government employer and 43% to a 501(c)(3) employer. 37% of applications were closed or cancelled without receiving forgiveness. 5% of the applications were closed because of employer eligibility issues. 

A precise calculation of the impact of the PSLF is not possible with currently available data from the U.S. Department of Education. Calculating the percentage of the original loan balance that is ultimately forgiven by PSLF would require information about the original loan balance, the interest rate and the annual income and family size.

But, a back-of-the-envelope estimate suggests that as much as half to three quarters of the original loan balance plus subsequent accrued interest is ultimately forgiven

Teacher Loan Forgiveness

Teacher Loan Forgiveness (TLF) provides student loan forgiveness for highly qualified teachers in low-income elementary and secondary schools. Up to $17,500 in loan forgiveness is provided after five years of full-time teaching in math, science and special education. Up to $5,000 in loan forgiveness is provided for teachers in other subject areas. 

As of February 2025, a cumulative total of $4.2 billion of Teacher Loan Forgivneess (TLF) has been received by 486,300 borrowers from FY2009 through FY2024. That’s an average of $8,542 per borrower.

The average per borrower has increased from $7,963 in FY2009 to $10,238 in FY2023 and $9,681 in FY2024.

It’s important to note that many teachers benefit from PSLF, and you cannot “double-dip” benefits (though the can be earned sequentially).

Borrower Defense To Repayment Discharges

The Borrower Defense to Repayment Discharge cancels a borrower’s federal student loan debt if their college engaged in fraud or false and misleading information concerning the college’s educational programs, charges or employability of graduates. The fraud must have affected the student’s decision to enroll in the college or borrow federal student loans. In addition to discharging the borrower’s remaining federal student loan debt, the borrower will receive a refund of loan payments they have already made. 

Data provided by the U.S. Department of Education in response to a FOIA request shows that 22% of borrower defense claims involve public or private non-profit colleges and 78% involve private for-profit colleges. The approval rate for borrower defense claims is 50% for private non-profit colleges and 23% for private for-profit colleges.

The U.S. Department of Education has also published a list of 3,379 colleges (Excel File) as of June 30, 2025 that have received a total of 979,580 borrower defense to repayment complaints. Only 5% of the complaints have been denied or closed, but 47% are still pending. 

The top 25 colleges received 46% of the complaints. 88% of the top 25 colleges are for-profit.

The complaints tend to parallel the geographic distribution of college students, with 13% of the complaints concerning California colleges, 9% Florida colleges, 9% Texas colleges, 6% Georgia colleges, 5% Illinois colleges, and 4% Ohio colleges. 

The average amount discharged is an estimated $23,000 per borrower. 

Closed School Discharges

The Automatic Closed School Discharge report (Excel File), which was last updated in June 2022, reports a cumulative total of 153,100 borrowers eligible for discharge of $1,889,800,000 in student loans due to attendance at a school that closed. About 5% of the discharges were still pending.

The average amount discharged was $12,344 per borrower. 

Death And Disability Discharges

Based on data from the federal budget, death and disability discharges represent an estimated 0.7% to 1.3% of outstanding federal student loan debt each year. That’s roughly $1.6 billion in student loans cancelled each year due to death or total and permanent disability.

Total and permanent disability discharge processing has experienced delays in 2025 due to system upgrades, so the data from earlier this year may be skewed.

Impact Of OBBBA On Student Loan Forgiveness

The OBBBA legislation has made several changes that will reduce the amount of student loan forgiveness.

  • The legislation affects Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) by replacing the four income-driven repayment plans with just one. The new Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) has higher payments than under the SAVE repayment plan, which has been repealed. Payments under RAP may be lower than under Income-Based Repayment (IBR) for low- and moderate-income borrowers, but the payments are higher for borrowers with income over about $75,000. You can see a full RAP vs. IBR breakdown here.
  • The RAP plan forgives the remaining debt after 30 years of payments, longer than the 20 or 25 years required for forgiveness under IBR. 
  • Borrowers of Parent PLUS loans are not eligible for the RAP plan, which effectively ends the eligibility for PSLF for new parent borrowers. 
  • The legislation repeals the Grad PLUS loan. The Grad PLUS loan had an annual limit up to the full cost of attendance minus other aid received, with no aggregate limits. Although the legislation compensates by increasing the aggregate Federal Direct Stafford loan limits for graduate students and professional school students, these limits are low enough that they may shift some borrowing from federal student loans to private student loans. Private student loans are ineligible for loan forgiveness. 
  • The legislation delays the effective date of the 2022 Borrower Defense to Repayment regulations and closed school discharge provisions, thereby reverting to previous, more restrictive rules for new loans. 

In addition, the Trump administration has temporarily paused IBR forgiveness and has created a backlog for processing IDR Plan Request forms and PSLF Buyback Option application forms.

The Trump administration has also proposed changing the definition of qualifying employer for PSLF to exclude employers that engage in a “substantial illegal purpose” even if the employer is a government agency or 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. These changes could further limit student loan forgiveness.

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The post How Much Student Loan Debt Is Actually Forgiven? appeared first on The College Investor.

What Is a Muslim or Islamic ‘Mortgage’?


Charging or paying interest is prohibited in Islam, which can make conventional home loans off-limits for observant Muslims. But that doesn’t mean Australian Muslims need to save the entire value of their dream property in cash. 

Numerous Sharia-compliant financing solutions are structured to avoid conventional interest. And you don’t have to be a practising Muslim to access these products.

Muzzammil Dhedhy, co-founder and executive director of Islamic financial services provider Hejaz Group, told Your Mortgage that while Muslim homeowners make up the majority of customers, uptake among non-Muslim Australians is increasing.

“Many people like the ethical and transparent nature of Islamic finance,” he said.

Image: Supplied

“We’ve seen non-Muslims choose these products because they align with their personal ethics or values, or simply because they appreciate the predictable structure of payments.”

What is an Islamic or Muslim ‘mortgage’?

For a practising Muslim, financing a house purchase isn’t always as simple as perusing conventional mortgages or calling up a home loan broker. That’s not to say it’s impossible, or even particularly difficult.

“Islamic finance is built on two core principles: avoiding interest (riba) and avoiding excessive uncertainty or speculation (gharar),” Mr Dhedhy said.

“Instead of charging interest, Islamic home finance uses structures like Murabaha or Ijara.

“The goal is to keep transactions fair, transparent, and tied to real assets. It’s less about clever financial engineering and more about ensuring every deal has real value behind it.”

Here are three common Sharia-compliant methods of financing a home without a home loan:

How Islamic home finance works

1. Ijara (lease-to-own):

Under an Ijarah financing structure, the financier purchases and owns the property while the customer makes regular payments that function like rent. Unlike traditional rent, however, each payment is divided into two parts: a rental charge (which includes the financier’s profit) and a portion that gradually increases the customer’s ownership share. At the end of the lease term, the financier transfers full ownership of the property to the customer. In many ways, it’s similar to a rent-to-buy scheme.

2. Murabaha (cost-plus financing)

Another common form of Sharia-compliant financing is Murabaha – where the financier buys the homeowner’s preferred property and agrees to sell it back to them at a marked-up price, repayable over time.

3. Diminishing Musharakah (co-ownership):

Musharakah sees the homebuyer and the financier partner up to purchase the property. The owner’s deposit will determine how much of the property they own and the financier will charge them rent on the remainder. The owner will also agree to buy out the financier over time, effectively purchasing shares in the property on a regular basis until they’ve acquired 100% of the property.

Costs and features: What to expect

  • Pricing language
    When researching Islamic ‘mortgages’, note that the term ‘profit rate’ or rent will often be used where ‘interest’ would otherwise be.

  • Deposit requirements
    While many Islamic home finance products ask that customers have a deposit of at least 20%, some allow a homebuyer to enter the market with a deposit as small as 5%. Customers with smaller deposits may be asked to pay for Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI) like they would if securing a traditional mortgage.

  • Features
    Some providers offer offset and redraw facilities. Be aware, however, that most Sharia-compliant products are offered by non-bank lenders, which aren’t able to provide traditional offset accounts. Often, these facilities work similarly to a redraw with the added benefit of a debit card attached directly to the funds.

Are Islamic home finance products regulated in Australia?

Rest assured, if you’re considering a Sharia-compliant home financing solution, you’ll likely be protected under Australian regulations.

In Australia, Sharia-compliant home finance products must comply with the National Credit Code, enforced by ASIC. If an Islamic bank is licensed in the future, APRA would also play a role.

However, there aren’t Australian standards specifically covering Islamic financing principals. For that reason, it’s important home buyers understand exactly what they’re agreeing to when purchasing a home with the help of a Sharia-compliant financier.

Tax troubles to be aware of with Islamic home financing

One area where Sharia-compliant property finance can run into difficulty is transaction costs.

Stamp duty – a hefty tax often charged when property changes hands – poses a unique challenge, since some Islamic finance structures involve more than one transfer of title.

Certain states, like Victoria, have introduced relief to avoid double duty, but it’s still a complexity buyers need to be aware of.

Who offers Islamic home finance in Australia?

In the 20 years leading up to the 2021 Census, the number of Australians identifying as Muslim more than doubled. As Australia’s Muslim community has grown, so too has demand for Islamic home finance products.

But despite significant growth in the Sharia-compliant home financing market over the last few years, mainstream adoption is still a ways away, Mr Dhedhy noted.

“There are only a handful of providers who can deliver fully Sharia-compliant products end-to-end,” Mr Dhedhy said.

“Most customers still have to jump through a few more hoops, longer approval timelines, higher deposits, and less choice compared to conventional lending.

“That said, the market is maturing and institutions are investing heavily to make Islamic finance feel just as seamless as a traditional home loan.”

At the time of writing, these financial institutions are among those offering Sharia-compliant home financing products to the public:

  • Hejaz
  • Amanah Islamic Finance
  • MCCA
  • ICFAL
  • Ijarah Finance

All the listed institutions act as non-bank lenders. That means they’re not licenced to hold customer deposits, unlike traditional banks.

Australia does not currently have a live Islamic bank. Until recently, there were expectations that Islamic Bank Australia would graduate to an unrestricted Authorised Deposit-taking Institution (ADI) licence (ergo, a banking licence). However the outfit voluntarily handed back its restricted ADI in March 2024.

Islamic home financing: Red flags

No matter the mortgage or home financing product you’re considering, it’s important to be aware and observant of ‘red flags’ that could signal extra costs or inaccurate advertising.

One risk homebuyers should be aware of is the possibility that a financial product isn’t actually in line with Sharia principles, even if it says it is.

“Buyers should check if there’s an independent Sharia advisory board approving the product, and if the terms clearly outline ownership transfer and profit calculation without hidden interest clauses,” Mr Dhedhy said.

“A big red flag is when a product uses conventional interest rates behind the scenes but rebrands it with Islamic terminology.

“Transparency is everything, if a provider can’t clearly explain how they make money, that’s a warning sign.”

In addition, make sure you’re aware of the actual cost of the finance product you’re considering. While traditional mortgages must display interest and comparison rates – the latter reflecting the ‘true’ cost of an assumed home loan over a 25-year period – this isn’t necessarily the case with Sharia-compliant products. Take your time to read over any documentation provided to ensure you’re getting a good deal.

Sharia-compliant home financing: FAQs

Is there an Islamic bank in Australia?

Not currently. Islamic Bank Australia was expected to become the country’s first fully fledged Islamic bank, but it voluntarily handed back its restricted Authorised Deposit-taking Institution (ADI) licence in March 2024. At present, only non-bank lenders offer Islamic home finance products in Australia.

Do I need to identify as Muslim to apply for a Sharia-compliant finance product?

No. Islamic home finance is open to anyone, regardless of faith. While most customers are Muslim Australians, some non-Muslim borrowers also choose Sharia-compliant products because they value the ethical or transparent payment structures.

Can I get an offset account?

Some providers do advertise offset-style features, however, because most Australian Sharia-compliant financiers are non-bank lenders, the accounts may not function exactly like offset accounts with traditional banks. Always check the terms carefully.

How large of a deposit do I need for an Islamic home financing product?

Many Islamic home finance products require a deposit of around 20%. However, some providers offer options for those with deposits as small as 5%.

Image by Ivan Andriavani on Unsplash

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