Friday June 28, 2024 | VICTORIA, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Alpine Credits Ltd. has catchy jingles that people hear on TV – “Alpine Credits… where homeowners get approved”. The ads are accompanied by animated comicbook-style graphics, never real people.
They’re not a new company, now in business for over 50 years.
Their super-hero style marketing campaign was launched in 2023. The implication is that Alpine Credits embodies superhero traits like speed, trustworthiness, and credibility.
In January 2023, Arif Mulji was quoted as the Alpine Credits CEO saying in an interview: “For us, speed, trustworthiness and credibility are all critical in our business, and happen to also be the key qualities a superhero embodies.”
Currently, on LinkedIn, Arif Mulji is not shown as affiliated with Alpine Credits, but is CEO Of Amur Financial Group. None of the Alpine Credits website or marketing indicates their ownership.
Catch people in desperation:
The Alpine Credits voice-over includes “sending help right away” after showing people in various graphic-animated scenarios of need including debt and businesses with low inventory.
In implying that homeowners need to be rescued is the implication that homeownership is a struggle, or at least that economic circumstances of any given homeowner might be in distress. The loans sounding appealing… getting up to 75% of home equity paid up-front in cash.
The appeal is also that the deal allows for “more flexible uses than other types of financing”.
Risk of losing the home:
Right up front, Alpine Credits says “a key difference between Alpine Credits and traditional banks is the focus on homeownership and the value of real estate relative to how much is owed against it—not credit score, age, or income”. Debt consolidation and home improvements are two points of appeal for getting these loans.
But in reading the fine print, struggling homeowners who engage with these loan opportunities may not realize that they could end up losing their home if they cannot repay the loan in a relatively short period time.
Alpine plays on the psychology of desperation, and ends up holding ownership of houses as a result.
There might be a record somewhere of how many people have lost their homes by defaulting on loans from Alpine, which in some cases requires full repayment in a short period of time.
If a person’s income situation doesn’t improve, they may lose their home and equity, whereas if they had gone to some other form of debt consolidation their homeownership might still be intact.
Financial opportunity:
Obviously Alpine Credits figured out the homeownership angle years ago, and ends up owning properties as a result. Arguably, major financial institutions like banks end up doing the same thing if a person cannot meet their mortgage obligations.
What underpins this entire discussion is the push for Canadians to get into homeownership where in some or many cases they cannot afford the overhead (e.g. maintenance) or the risk (e.g. if they experience diminished income).
The much bigger picture is how the overall Canadian economy works, including favouring homeownership as a wealth-building tool but locking people into obligations that cannot manage. The idea that renting might be a perfectly adequate or even desirable lifestyle is not built into the Canadian economic psyche (compared to Europe, for example, where renting is commonplace and not seen as a lesser way of living).
Over $5 billion in loans since 1969:
Today Alpine Credits sent out a news release saying that the company has “facilitated over $5 billion in home equity financing since its inception in 1969, further cementing the company’s position as Canada’s leading alternative lender”.
“By unlocking the value of their homes, homeowners can meet their financial obligations, whether consolidating multiple credit cards, funding renovations, or financing new construction projects. Alpine Credits is dedicated to making this accessible to as many homeowners as possible across Canada,” said the CEO of Alpine Credits (who was not named in the release).
Alpine Credits’ home equity financing is available for homeowners ages 18+, and its features include:
- Fixed rate payments for easy budgeting
- Access to up to 75% of home equity to be paid in up-front cash
- More flexible uses than other types of financing
“Homeownership is a cornerstone of financial security, and we’re proud to play a role in helping Canadians unlock the value of their homes,” added Alpine Credits’ CEO in the news release.
The Alpine Credits profile on their website shows them serving “the communities of British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec”.
Alpine Credits says in today’s news release that the company has raised over $80,000 for the Children’s Wish Foundation, Family Services of Greater Vancouver, Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation, and CKNW Kids’ Fund, which is says demonstrates its commitment to supporting local communities in Canada.
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