Joint borrower disclosure: rights and responsibilities

If you borrow money or take out a credit card jointly with another person and you are dealing with a federally regulated financial institution (FRFI), you are entitled to receive disclosure information.

What you have a right to receive

When a FRFI agrees to provide a loan or credit card to you and one or more other people, known as joint borrowers, all of you have a right to receive:

• information that outlines the interest and other costs you will have to pay
• the same statements that the other borrowers receive on an ongoing basis

If you are a joint borrower on a credit card, for example, you should also receive a monthly statement about the account. From these documents, you can learn about the current status of the loan—whether the other borrower is making payments, or whether the terms and conditions have changed.

Waiving your right to receive disclosure

You can waive the right to separate disclosure in two ways:

• all joint borrowers consent verbally or in writing to allow only one borrower to receive disclosure documents
• two or more joint borrowers consent verbally or in writing to allow another borrower to receive disclosure documents instead of them. Those who did not agree continue to get disclosure documents

When one or more joint borrowers give verbal consent to the FRFI to waive their right to receive the information, the financial institution must give confirmation in writing to those who provided their consent verbally. The financial institution may provide this information to you electronically if you consent to receive required information in electronic format rather than as paper documents.

What you should do if you feel your rights are not being respected

If you feel that a FRFI is not respecting your rights, contact the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada.