Documents for a private business loan: what you need, and when you need it

A bank’s document list for a business loan is long: a business plan, financial reports, cash flow statements, forecasts, leases and personal financial information all appear on the government’s own checklist (business.gov.au). Short-term private lending works differently. Because the loan rests on the property and the exit, the list is shorter — but the items on it matter more, and timing is everything.

Here’s what you’ll need, sorted by the stage at which it’s asked for.

What do you need just to enquire?

Nothing on paper. At enquiry stage, we need accurate answers:

• the property’s address and which state or territory it’s in;
• roughly what it’s worth and what’s owed on it, and to whom;
• who owns it — you, a co-owner, a company or a trust;
• how much you need and what for;
• when you need the funds by;
• how you expect to repay — sale, refinance, a contract payment.

Those answers decide the structure: a first mortgage, a second mortgage, or a caveat loan if the property is in Victoria (elsewhere, a registered second mortgage does that job, usually just as quickly). Get them right and the document list that follows is short and specific to you. Answer them now in about 60 seconds.

What’s needed for assessment?

Once a structure is on the table, we want to confirm the basics.

People

• Current photo ID (driver licence or passport) for every borrower, property owner, director and guarantor.
• Contact details for each — they’ll all need to sign.

Property

• The property address and a recent council rates notice.
• A current statement for any existing mortgage, showing the balance and lender.
• Any lease if the property is tenanted, especially commercial property.

We’ll run our own title search. In Victoria, a register search statement shows the registered owners and any encumbrances, including mortgages and caveats (Land Use Victoria) — so anything on the title you’ve forgotten about will come up. Better to mention it first.

Entity, if one is involved

• Company name, ACN and ABN. We’ll check the ABN’s status on the free ABN Lookup service (ABN Lookup).
• Each director’s director ID. ASIC says every director of an Australian company needs one and keeps it for life (ASIC).
• For a trust: the full trust deed and every variation, plus the trustee’s details.

Our page on short-term finance for companies and trusts explains who signs and guarantees for each structure.

What proves the purpose and the exit?

This is where private lending puts most of its attention, so it’s worth doing well.

Purpose or exit	Good evidence
Paying an ATO debt	A recent ATO statement of account showing the balance
Buying a business or premises	The contract and settlement date
Funding a contract or order	The contract or purchase order and its payment terms
Exit by property sale	Signed contract of sale, or an agent’s appraisal and listing agreement
Exit by bank refinance	A short letter from your accountant on timing and what the bank will need
Exit by a known payment	Written confirmation of the amount and expected date

A purpose that’s written down in one or two sentences — what the money does and how it comes back — often does more for a file than a folder of financials.

When are financial documents needed?

Not always. Many short-term property-secured loans are approved without tax returns. Financials are more likely to be asked for when:

• the loan is large relative to the property;
• the exit is a refinance to a bank, so we want to see the bank will say yes;
• interest will be paid monthly from trading income rather than prepaid or capitalised.

When they are needed, the usual substitutes for full financials are recent business bank statements and an accountant’s letter. If income evidence is thin across the board, see no income verification private loans or low doc business loans.

What’s needed to settle?

By this stage our solicitors take over most of the work, but they’ll need from you:

• Signed loan documents, mortgage and guarantees — from every borrower, owner and guarantor.
• Independent legal advice certificates where required, often for guarantors.
• Payout figures from any existing lender being repaid, plus that lender’s discharge arrangements.
• Your bank account details for the funds, confirmed in writing.
• Building insurance on the property, with us noted if asked.

The steps between approval and funds landing are mapped in how fast private lenders settle.

The items that most often hold up a settlement aren’t exotic. They’re the trust deed variation nobody can find, the co-owner who’s travelling and can’t get to a witness, the director whose ID was never applied for, and the outgoing bank that hasn’t produced a payout figure. Each one can be solved in a day if it’s spotted in the first week — and each one can push settlement back if it surfaces on the morning funds are due. If you suspect any of them applies to you, say so at enquiry.

Illustrative example: the five-minute folder

Illustrative only — not a real client.

A Hobart builder needs $140,000 to cover a gap between two progress claims. Before calling, she puts five things in one folder on her phone: her driver licence and her husband’s (they co-own the house), the latest rates notice, last month’s home loan statement, the signed building contract showing the next claim date, and the company’s ACN and both their director IDs.

Because the house is in Tasmania, the structure is a registered second mortgage. With everything in the folder, the questions on the first call are about the deal, not about chasing paperwork. The only wait is the valuation booking.

Bring the answers — the documents can follow

You don’t need every item above to find out whether you qualify. You only need accurate answers about the property, the money and the timing; the paperwork comes afterwards, in a short, specific list.

The enquiry takes about 60 seconds and there’s no credit check when you first enquire. Your information goes to one desk, not to a queue of lenders, and a real person looks at your circumstances and gives you a call. Please answer accurately — particularly the property’s state, what’s owed on it and your deadline — so the document list we send is the right one first time.

See if you qualify — paperwork later →