ZERO Mortgage - Is there a 100% Shariah Compliant HALAL mortgage in Canada

[steaky]

The following questions were asked to Zero Mortgage Bay Street Canada and posted on Islamic Finance Guru website but never been answered by Zero Mortgage because they don't have an answer.

• Is the diminishing Musharaka a legal document, I mean does zero mortgage file that in the land deeds office and accordingly allocates a percentage of property between the lender and the borrower?
• If the complete ownership of property is with borrower, how can it be considered diminishing?
• If the payments are to be considered as rent, then why is the relevant market value of rent for the property not considered? And also how can that be fixed for say 5 years if we take a fixed term contract?
• The value of the property with time (increase or esp. decrease) does not affect the amount owed back to the lender. Isn’t that a pure finance? There’s no risk shared by the lender, Musharaka contracts mean the loss should be shared. Is this truly halal?

The answer to these questions are as the following and surely some answers were posted online thru this forum or online reviews:

- There is no LEGAL document to be provided by the lender to the borrower
- It's only diminishing contract is on Zero mortgage illusion, it's simply a conventional mortgage
- Part of Zero mortgage scam, the use the term "rent" on their worthless document, but the actual mortgage contract is purely a mortgage with the published interest rate
- The answer from Zero mortgage is that you keep the profit and you will be the first to take a hit with losses, if the losses are more than what you already paid then the lender take the second hit. Having said that it would not include the "RENT" or interest you already paid. Sounds like a mortgage.

Think of it like a rent to own contract between you (the renter/buyer) and the builder (the borrower). If you don't believe it's halal, then don't buy. It's just like buying a halal uncooked chicken from a store that says it's halal. Do you have a way to find out it's truly halal?

 

[Yazin]

Adding to the Halal chicken analogy, yep you don't know if it's Halal or not but still the producer has packed the frying chicken and printed a label claiming it's Halal. In case of Zero Mortgage the bank wouldn't put Zero mortgage contract as the mortgage agreement instead it would use the legal mortgage commitment contract. Zero will take the commission and few weeks later after closing one of their scam artists would send you one piece of paper to be the mortgage contract with a jargon title claiming that the mortgage you signed was Halal. That piece of paper has no value at all and nothing would happen if you opt to not to sign it except Zero mortgage would consider your mortgage is not Halal.

 

[Vanknight]

Looking at Zero Global website, Zero Mortgage SCAM posted the following:

"Zero Mortgage Canada's products are licenced for use in Canada through Zero Global Limited, based in Dubai, UAE.products are licenced for use in Canada through Zero Global Limited, based in Dubai, UAE. "

This is a total copy and paste from their website (they may correct that after reading this thread), scammers usually make spelling mistakes as you can see the word "licensed" misspelled twice.

At the end of the page they put an address in Dubai with two Canadian phone numbers not sure what is the point of having a Canadian phone number on a Dubai address and if this address even does exist.
Zero mortgage brags about it is based in Dubai and failed to get one scholar or mufti there to endorse their HALAL contract but they had to go all the way to South Africa to find their Mufti Ebrahim Desai to endorse their "Halal Contract"
I am still looking for their product, that piece of paper with no value at all but it's not posted on any of their websites.

 

[Yazin]

I have started this thread not to write ZERO Mortgage a REVIEW but to expose ZERO Mortgage as a SCAM scheme and I would like to thank all the participants who added to this thread and will try to keep this thread active till we have a real Halal solution.

I have been checking on Manzil Halal Mortgage and guess what, I found that they obtain their Musharakah fatwa from the Musharakah fatwa dealer Mufti Ebrahim Desai the same mufti that provided the Zero mortgage SCAM fatwa that by no means is Halal unless the bank would sign it instead of your mortgage paper.

@Vanknight, have you been a victim of Zero mortgage too

 

[Vanknight]

I have started this thread not to write ZERO Mortgage a REVIEW but to expose ZERO Mortgage as a SCAM scheme and I would like to thank all the participants who added to this thread and will try to keep this thread active till we have a real Halal solution.

I have been checking on Manzil Halal Mortgage and guess what, I found that they obtain their Musharakah fatwa from the Musharakah fatwa dealer Mufti Ebrahim Desai the same mufti that provided the Zero mortgage SCAM fatwa that by no means is Halal unless the bank would sign it instead of your mortgage paper.

@Vanknight, have you been a victim of Zero mortgage too

I was fortunate enough that I have survived the Zero Mortgage Canada halal home financing scam scheme, we have invited Nabil Khan at our Mosque and we got bought into his presentation but our imam asked him about the scholars that endorsed Zero Mortgage contract and he referred to one in Pakistan that took a month to get hold of him, That scholar said he left Zero mortgage more than three years ago then later or sheikh ruled out Zero Mortgage is not Halal. During that time I was calling Nabil Khan multiple times to get a Zero mortgage application but he didn't get back to me which I am so grateful for.

 

[zaidbobat]

I have started this thread not to write ZERO Mortgage a REVIEW but to expose ZERO Mortgage as a SCAM scheme and I would like to thank all the participants who added to this thread and will try to keep this thread active till we have a real Halal solution.

I have been checking on Manzil Halal Mortgage and guess what, I found that they obtain their Musharakah fatwa from the Musharakah fatwa dealer Mufti Ebrahim Desai the same mufti that provided the Zero mortgage SCAM fatwa that by no means is Halal unless the bank would sign it instead of your mortgage paper.

@Vanknight, have you been a victim of Zero mortgage too

Brother mufti Ibrahim desai haven't sign any fatwa on zero mortgage. He is always against them. It is Ismail Desai who signed the fatwa for them. Please check askimam.org for further details. Also read the musharakha fatwa on Manzil's website. It is according to shari'ah. No doubt about zero mortgage.it is not halal

 

[zaidbobat]

Brother mufti Ibrahim desai haven't sign any fatwa on zero mortgage. He is always against them. It is Ismail Desai who signed the fatwa for them. Please check askimam.org for further details. Also read the musharakha fatwa on Manzil's website. It is according to shari'ah. No doubt about zero mortgage.it is not halal

http://askimam.org/public/question_detail/37222

 

[Yazin]

Thank you brother, I got mixed up as when I searched the name I got the same photo for both mufties and then I found the name " Ismail Ebrahim Desai" so I was under the impression it's a compound name.
May Allah (swt) grant us forgiveness and my sincere apology to Mufti Ibrahim Desai if he is not the one that associated with Zero mortgage.

 

[Yazin]

Zero Mortgage is trying to revamp it's appearance buy changing faces and doing charity like a burglar that makes donation after every theft he made.
All the sudden the scam artist Youssef Azad disappeared and opened his own website with great titles of PMP, MBA, Business Solution manager for Dominion Lending and forgot the best title of scam artist to be added.
The "scholar" Nabil Khan is now focused on his real estate business "what a loss" and he brags about he hit the mark of $10 million in sales early this year, sorry Mr. Khan Vancouver real estate market is over priced and few sales only will get you to that number. Zero got a new scholar named Abu Adus-Salam which I never heard of for the last 22 years that I have been in Vancouver but it seemed he is so deep in "Musharakah" halal financing.

 

[mechanical95]

Assalamoalikum,
What about Ontario based “Ansar Co-operative Housing Corporation Ltd.”.

http://www.ansarhousing.com/home.aspx

 

[Yazin]

Assalamoalikum,
What about Ontario based “Ansar Co-operative Housing Corporation Ltd.”.

http://www.ansarhousing.com/home.aspx

Wa aliakum assalam,

I have looked at their model couple of years ago and they were the only promising candidate for Halal financing but they have a limitation as they don't affiliate with a bank to facilitate their loans therefore they serve a limited community in Ontario not across Canada due to cash flow limitation. Also there is a waiting list before you can purchase your first home. We have tried to establish something similar in Vancouver but couldn't due to overpriced real estate market.

I have started this form to expose Zero Mortgage scam just to make the community aware and avoid their pitfall scam

 

[sabi1512]

Assalamualaikum wrb,


I am in the same boat, have been reviewing various options since last 3-4 years. Unfortunately there is no provider meeting the halal guidelines. It could be a limitation due to various regulatory controls in Canada where a home loan / mortgage needs to follow a certain standard set of guidelines etc. I am not sure.

The closest I have seen in my analysis is Manzil, but as expected they have a significant waitlist and I have not been able to communicate with them in anyway (phone or email), so not sure if they serve all regions in Canada.

Both Ijara and Zero Mortgage are scams, big time… please stay away from them.

Now about my latest analysis - I recently got a clue about this https://www.canadianpropertysolutions.com/
Scheduled a call and had a detailed discussion (not yet fully vetted). So far, they do seem close to what we all need, in a summary they are a real estate development company who
- Buys the interested property as a direct ownership (no bank/lien involved)
- Adds a addendum to the ownership documents, listing the share of both parties. The company that bought the property and us the
- requires us to pay a fixed amount as ‘Rent’
- Rent calculated as about 5-6% of the amount/share of property they own
- we agree upon a term for the repayment of their share and a year-on-year share increase and according ‘Rent’ value is arrived at
- Eventually when we have paid back all their share, property is fully transferred.

So far so good… agree? Share your thoughts please.

Some points which I am further to clarify -
- what happens in case of defaults (should be no penalty, instead after say 6 defaults they possess the property and payback the existing buyer’s share)
- how does the appreciation/depreciation of property value come into play each year when the addendum is re-evaluated?

Requesting you all to please evaluate as well and share your opinion. We have to find some creative ways respecting the Halal guidelines, I don’t see any other way otherwise.

Jazakallah Khair

 

[sabi1512]

The following questions were asked to Zero Mortgage Bay Street Canada and posted on Islamic Finance Guru website but never been answered by Zero Mortgage because they don't have an answer.

• Is the diminishing Musharaka a legal document, I mean does zero mortgage file that in the land deeds office and accordingly allocates a percentage of property between the lender and the borrower?
• If the complete ownership of property is with borrower, how can it be considered diminishing?
• If the payments are to be considered as rent, then why is the relevant market value of rent for the property not considered? And also how can that be fixed for say 5 years if we take a fixed term contract?
• The value of the property with time (increase or esp. decrease) does not affect the amount owed back to the lender. Isn’t that a pure finance? There’s no risk shared by the lender, Musharaka contracts mean the loss should be shared. Is this truly halal?

The answer to these questions are as the following and surely some answers were posted online thru this forum or online reviews:

- There is no LEGAL document to be provided by the lender to the borrower
- It's only diminishing contract is on Zero mortgage illusion, it's simply a conventional mortgage
- Part of Zero mortgage scam, the use the term "rent" on their worthless document, but the actual mortgage contract is purely a mortgage with the published interest rate
- The answer from Zero mortgage is that you keep the profit and you will be the first to take a hit with losses, if the losses are more than what you already paid then the lender take the second hit. Having said that it would not include the "RENT" or interest you already paid. Sounds like a mortgage.

I had posted those questions after attending a webinar with their team…there were surely 100+ other attendees, and the ZeroMortgage team did not bother answering any questions … lol.
It’s a scam, please stay away.

 

[Yazin]

Assalamualaikum wrb,


I am in the same boat, have been reviewing various options since last 3-4 years. Unfortunately there is no provider meeting the halal guidelines. It could be a limitation due to various regulatory controls in Canada where a home loan / mortgage needs to follow a certain standard set of guidelines etc. I am not sure.

The closest I have seen in my analysis is Manzil, but as expected they have a significant waitlist and I have not been able to communicate with them in anyway (phone or email), so not sure if they serve all regions in Canada.

Both Ijara and Zero Mortgage are scams, big time… please stay away from them.

Now about my latest analysis - I recently got a clue about this https://www.canadianpropertysolutions.com/
Scheduled a call and had a detailed discussion (not yet fully vetted). So far, they do seem close to what we all need, in a summary they are a real estate development company who
- Buys the interested property as a direct ownership (no bank/lien involved)
- Adds a addendum to the ownership documents, listing the share of both parties. The company that bought the property and us the
- requires us to pay a fixed amount as ‘Rent’
- Rent calculated as about 5-6% of the amount/share of property they own
- we agree upon a term for the repayment of their share and a year-on-year share increase and according ‘Rent’ value is arrived at
- Eventually when we have paid back all their share, property is fully transferred.

So far so good… agree? Share your thoughts please.

Some points which I am further to clarify -
- what happens in case of defaults (should be no penalty, instead after say 6 defaults they possess the property and payback the existing buyer’s share)
- how does the appreciation/depreciation of property value come into play each year when the addendum is re-evaluated?

Requesting you all to please evaluate as well and share your opinion. We have to find some creative ways respecting the Halal guidelines, I don’t see any other way otherwise.

Jazakallah Khair

I look into the website above, it's also a rip off. it's really unfortunate that we Muslims don't know how to do business with each other. I have used a mortgage calculator using their asking price, down payment that is required and the highest 5 years fixed rate, the difference was over $1300 a month more than conventional mortgage.
Those guys remind me of Halal meat shops when they increase their lamb meat prices before Eid time opposite to the supermarkets that reduce their prices before Christmas, Thanks Giving and Easter.

Adding to this problem the richest Muslim countries like Saudis, UAE and Qatar they were spending money buying sub-prime mortgages that collapsed the financial market in 2008, the could take the lead on this but if they are busy pumping their money on European soccer teams and other crappy stuff then there is no much of hope here too.
Do you know Alwaleed bin Talah owns much of Citi bank but who cares and then you have Saudi scholars just repeating mortgage is Haram. I would never say or agree to say usury or interest is Halal but I want one of those Haram mongers to come and live here then get him and his family kicked out by the landlord then to try hardly find an affordable space and say Haram again.

 

[Adil Qc]

Salam Laikom Brothers,

i have been searching for a long time for halal mortgage, at the end i found two compagnies, Manzil but, huge waiting list, and they just cover ontario, and Qurtuba in Quebec which is the only one for me that offer a halal mortgage, but it is expensive and limited to 300K so you have to get a very large down payment, it is like rent to own, they purchase the house for you, you live on it as occupent, you paie a portion of the rent and a portion of capital, the house will be transfered to you when you finish paying the capital, the money came from the membre contribution, Qurtuba is debt free and financed over then 500 houses within the last 30 years, in 2021, they purchased over then 107 houses.

https://qurtuba.ca/