eastcoast Posted May 3, 2010 Report Share Posted May 3, 2010 Hi, wondering if anyone with a student line of credit for medicine has had a similar experience to the one I'm having; in summary, I have applied to scotiabank for the line of credit, but have been told repeatedly that the loan is only to be used for the program. When I asked about moving to the province prior to starting the program, and paying rent, living expenses, etc, she told me it might be ok, but that they monitor your spending to make sure it's for the program. Reading comments on here, I was under the impression, that once you signed the loan, it was yours to use as you see fit (i.e., living expenses, taking a trip, buying a car, etc.), and not subject to close monitoring by the lender? Is it an issue with the particular bank (scotia)? I don't want someone watching me and my spending habits for 4 years. As far as I'm concerned, I'm borrowing the money, with a promise to pay back, so it's my business what I use it for. Nothing has been signed yet, so if I'm about to get stuck in a bad situation, any advice would be well appreciated! Many thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justletmein Posted May 3, 2010 Report Share Posted May 3, 2010 I think you've been misinformed. The LOC is to be spent as you see fit. SOME banks will put a yearly cap on your spending, but that is the only restriction I have ever heard of. But realistically, there is no way for them to monitor your spending. You transfer money from your LOC straight to your bank account, visa etc or you can even get it in cash straight from the ABM. Don't listen to these rumours, they are completely unfounded. p.s. if you are not comfortable with scotia, I would recommend RBC, I have been very happy with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastcoast Posted May 3, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2010 Thanks for the reply; just to clarify, this information is coming from the person at scotia setting up the loan, not a friend or coworker etc. I actually had plans to purchase a car after getting approved, but if I do make a large purchase, will they take away the loan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mourning Cloak Posted May 3, 2010 Report Share Posted May 3, 2010 I'm with Scotiabank (and prior to that CIBC) and I was told the same as the OP in both places. I pushed a bit, and they told me that there were a few bad apples who used their LOCs to play the market and . . . well, you can guess what happened next. I don't know exactly how they would know what you were spending the money on, but beware . . . if they say you can't do something, and you do it anyway, they'd be well within their rights to crucify you. And they might - who knows? Be careful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justletmein Posted May 3, 2010 Report Share Posted May 3, 2010 If you are worried about it, go with RBC, national bank etc.... You shouldn't have to worry about big brother checking your spending habits. A loan is a loan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted May 4, 2010 Report Share Posted May 4, 2010 Thanks for the reply; just to clarify, this information is coming from the person at scotia setting up the loan, not a friend or coworker etc. I actually had plans to purchase a car after getting approved, but if I do make a large purchase, will they take away the loan? I think you have a somewhat "crazy" bank person - we have several members of our class who are at Scotia and have used the LOC to buy a car (something that many people do for clericship anyway because it hard enough to get to the hospital for the crack of dawn without adding other transportation issues ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ollie Posted May 4, 2010 Report Share Posted May 4, 2010 I would switch to another bank, and tell Scotia why you are switching. They have no business (nor any right, I think) to be monitoring your spending. My LOC was essentially my chequing account for all of med school. I used it for tuition, rent, bills, entertainment, trips, etc. There should be no strings attached. I am with National Bank (via MD Mgmt) and am very happy with them. ETA: I also deposited my student loans and any other money I had (bursaries, OMA stipend, gifts) in to my LOC account so I don't see how the bank could put any limitations on your spending. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runningdoc Posted May 4, 2010 Report Share Posted May 4, 2010 Hi, wondering if anyone with a student line of credit for medicine has had a similar experience to the one I'm having; in summary, I have applied to scotiabank for the line of credit, but have been told repeatedly that the loan is only to be used for the program. When I asked about moving to the province prior to starting the program, and paying rent, living expenses, etc, she told me it might be ok, but that they monitor your spending to make sure it's for the program. Reading comments on here, I was under the impression, that once you signed the loan, it was yours to use as you see fit (i.e., living expenses, taking a trip, buying a car, etc.), and not subject to close monitoring by the lender? Is it an issue with the particular bank (scotia)? I don't want someone watching me and my spending habits for 4 years. As far as I'm concerned, I'm borrowing the money, with a promise to pay back, so it's my business what I use it for. Nothing has been signed yet, so if I'm about to get stuck in a bad situation, any advice would be well appreciated! Many thanks. Seeing as a car can be completely necessary for school, and the whole workload factor kind of limits your ability to do large amounts of paid work on a reliable basis, I'm going to go ahead and call BS on the person you talked to. There might be some truth about the banks wanting to make sure that you don't lose 150K in 2 months, but they certainly aren't going to flag your account for buying a car and paying for housing/food/tuition. I can however see some phone calls to inquire why you spent 100 grand a month after getting the loan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laika Posted May 4, 2010 Report Share Posted May 4, 2010 I can however see some phone calls to inquire why you spent 100 grand a month after getting the loan. I've done something like that, and no one from National Bank called. They told me the LOC was for "school-related things only," but they obviously don't monitor the account. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HBP Posted May 4, 2010 Report Share Posted May 4, 2010 ^^ Did you make a downpayment on a house? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostCause Posted May 4, 2010 Report Share Posted May 4, 2010 ^^ Did you make a downpayment on a house? What else could it be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HBP Posted May 4, 2010 Report Share Posted May 4, 2010 What else could it be? Booze and drugs for celebrating acceptance to med Or possibly an R8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HBP Posted May 4, 2010 Report Share Posted May 4, 2010 Seriously though: you were able to get a mortgage (as a medical student without income) while carrying an LOC? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostCause Posted May 5, 2010 Report Share Posted May 5, 2010 Seriously though: you were able to get a mortgage (as a medical student without income) while carrying an LOC? They may have had savings and then used 100,000 to cover the rest of the purchase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laika Posted May 6, 2010 Report Share Posted May 6, 2010 ^^ Did you make a downpayment on a house? No, and I only spent a relatively small portion on beer. I don't want to get into what I used it for -- my point was just that you can have apparently reckless spending habits without getting scolded by National Bank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HBP Posted May 6, 2010 Report Share Posted May 6, 2010 Couse, didn't mean to pry. But thanks for the info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastcoast Posted May 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2010 To followup, I've been asked to close my other credit cards, or I won't be able to access the full loan amount. To be clear, these are cards with barely any balance, but I'm being told that having credit (with another bank, coincidentally) will result in a reduction of the full loan amount. Which is funny, because right after they give the full loan to someone, they then offer an additional $5000 credit card. Anyone else have this experience? I keep a couple of credit cards for emergency purposes (or unexpected large purchase, etc), with barely any balance, so I'm pretty reluctant to give up the much larger credit-limit cards just for their $5000 limit card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ollie Posted May 7, 2010 Report Share Posted May 7, 2010 To followup, I've been asked to close my other credit cards, or I won't be able to access the full loan amount. To be clear, these are cards with barely any balance, but I'm being told that having credit (with another bank, coincidentally) will result in a reduction of the full loan amount. Which is funny, because right after they give the full loan to someone, they then offer an additional $5000 credit card. Anyone else have this experience? I keep a couple of credit cards for emergency purposes (or unexpected large purchase, etc), with barely any balance, so I'm pretty reluctant to give up the much larger credit-limit cards just for their $5000 limit card. Seriously, go with another bank. You don't need all these strings attached. If this is what they are like now, imagine what they will be like when it's time to pay it back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HBP Posted May 7, 2010 Report Share Posted May 7, 2010 ^ Agree with this. They should want you much more than you want them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runningdoc Posted May 7, 2010 Report Share Posted May 7, 2010 To followup, I've been asked to close my other credit cards, or I won't be able to access the full loan amount. To be clear, these are cards with barely any balance, but I'm being told that having credit (with another bank, coincidentally) will result in a reduction of the full loan amount. Which is funny, because right after they give the full loan to someone, they then offer an additional $5000 credit card. Anyone else have this experience? I keep a couple of credit cards for emergency purposes (or unexpected large purchase, etc), with barely any balance, so I'm pretty reluctant to give up the much larger credit-limit cards just for their $5000 limit card. Your bank sounds like crap. Seriously get another one because something is very wrong with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liszt Posted May 7, 2010 Report Share Posted May 7, 2010 Seriously, go with another bank. You don't need all these strings attached. If this is what they are like now, imagine what they will be like when it's time to pay it back! This. Be sure to tell them why you're switching. MD Management has been great to me. I've never had any of these rules attached, and the reps will even come meet you at school if you can't make it to the office. Get out before you're in even deeper! Who knows what they'll try to pull next! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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