Debt consolidation isn't only for people with perfect credit. Between the big banks, alternative lenders and private lenders, there's almost always a way to clear high-interest debt — the job is matching your situation to the right one, and building an exit back to the best rate.
Prime, alternative & private
Your bank only offers your bank's answer. As a broker I place files across the whole market, and lenders sort roughly into three tiers. Most consolidations land at the top tier; the other two exist precisely for the situations banks won't touch.
Banks, credit unions and monoline lenders. The lowest rates, and where most consolidations belong. You'll generally need reasonable credit and provable income. If you qualify here, this is home.
For bruised credit, self-employed income, or higher debt ratios that prime won't accept yet. A modestly higher rate plus a lender fee — but it gets the consolidation done and buys you room to recover and graduate back to prime.
Equity-based and fast — days, not weeks — when A and B can't move quickly enough: foreclosure, CRA arrears, collections, judgments on title. Short-term by design, and it should always be built with a door out.
The part that matters most
Anyone can place a high-rate private loan. The difference is what happens next. When I write a private mortgage, it's structured to be left behind — ideally fully open with no penalty to pay it out — alongside a clear plan to clean up credit and refinance into a prime or alternative lender once the fire is out. Private lending should be a bridge, not a destination.
Equity lenders that market to people in trouble often quote steep rates and heavy fees on loans you can't easily escape. A properly structured private mortgage is usually cheaper, and open, so you're never trapped in it. Let's compare what you've been offered →
Real Alberta files
Three real case studies from our main site — names and details changed, numbers and sequence real — one for each tier of the ladder.
Bruised credit, CRA arrears and a 13.75% "rescue" offer on the table. We wrote a fully open private second at 10% instead — cleared the debt in a week, no penalty to leave.
Read the case study →A family about to sell to escape debt. A refinance rolled $105,480 into the mortgage, freed ~$2,784 a month, and let them keep the home instead of moving the debt down the street.
Read the case study →Days from losing the home, judgments on title. A private rescue loan stopped it in ~2 weeks, then we rehabbed credit and rolled everything into one payment below the old mortgage — the full ladder, tier by tier.
Read the case study →Good credit or bruised, one bank's "no" isn't the end of it. Book a free debt review and I'll tell you which tier fits and what the exit looks like.