Questions & Answers

Q 1 – What does Liberty Trust do?
We promote the Christian faith by teaching & demonstrating how following the Bible's financial principles bring liberty and advance the Kingdom of God.  Part of our ministry is lending interest-free to enable New Zealanders to own their own homes, churches, and ministries without long-term debt, so they can be free to fulfill God’s call upon their lives. 

Q 2 – How does it work?
Your contributions assist with our charitable activities and build an interest-free storehouse to help others.  Those who contribute to the Trust are offered an interest-free loan after 8 or more years by our lending charity, Ark Resources, of up to 7 times their total contribution.  

Q 3 – Is the loan really interest-free?
Yes, every dollar paid after receiving your loan goes directly to reducing your loan principal.  Loans are offered up to 100% of valuation, subject to normal lending criteria and must be secured by a registered residential or church property.

Q 4 – Can anyone join?
Yes – anyone may join.  Liberty Trust is ideal for: Children, students, singles, couples, parents, grandparents, whanau, churches, church workers, missionaries, ministry supporters, family trusts and sponsorship of others. 

Q 5 – What happens to my contribution?
Your contribution is a voluntary donation to Liberty Trust to help others.  Less than 10%* is spent teaching the Bible's financial principles and on our marketing and administration, and more than 90% becomes part of our interest-free storehouse and is lent and re-lent without interest to assist hundreds of households and churches out of debt.

Q 6 – How soon can I be offered a loan?
Loans are offered in the order people join Liberty Trust, as soon as funds are available.  We expect this will be within 8-10 years.  If you give your whole contribution upfront by lump sum we can reduce your waiting time by two years.  Alternatively, you may contribute more for a loan offer sooner, see question 10.

Q 7 – What about the loan repayments?

We ask that the loan is repaid within 7-12 years, so you can become debt-free and the funds can be re-lent to help others as soon as possible.  The loan repayments are arranged based on your situation at the time of lending. 

Q 8 – Can you provide an example?
Here is an example comparing $350,000 borrowed interest-free with a $350,000 bank mortgage: 

Contributions for a $350,000 interest-free mortgage =      $50,000 to LT charity
Repaid at $2,500 per month for 11.7 years

Or Interest on a $350,000 bank mortgage at 5%pa* =     $174,186 to bank
Repaid at $2,500 per month for 14.7 years

* This example assumes 100% borrowing in both cases & the bank interest rate stays at 5% throughout.

      Here's an alternate example where $50,000 is used as an (approx) 15% deposit for the bank:

Contributions for a $350,000 interest-free mortgage  =      $50,000 to LT charity
Repaid at $2,500 per month for 11.7 years

Or Interest on a $300,000 bank mortgage at 4%pa* =       $115,021 to bank
Repaid at $2,500 per month for 13.8 years.

* This example assumes 100% borrowing from LT but 85% borrowing from the bank, and that the bank interest rate stays at 5% throughout the whole loan term.  

The average NZ floating first-mortgage rate from 1995 - 2015 was 8% pa per RBNZ.  
Click here to change the example.

 

Q 9 – How much deposit will I need?
Most lenders require a deposit of 20% for your own home, 40% for an investment property and 40% or more deposit for church properties. But Liberty Trust requires no deposit, just the 15% contribution. We can lend up to 100% of the value of your home, investment property or church property.


Q 10 - How much should I contribute?

For a loan in our standard time we recommend you contribute $30 per week per $100,000, eg $90 per week (or $400 per month) for 9 years for a loan of $300,000.  Sometimes we are able to lend our standard loans in 8 years not nine.  If you don't want to wait 8 or more years you can contribute more for faster memberships:


Contribution Years

Contribution 
Total

Loan Multiple
8-10 years
7 years 
6 years
5 years
14.3%
20.0%
25.0%
28.6% 
7 times
5 times
4 times
3.5 times


Q 11 – Can I contribute a little now and increase later?
Yes.  You can apply for a small loan now and increase it later when you can afford more.  We may calculate a delay to reflect the change so that it will not adversely affect others.  For example, if you contributed a large lump sum which doubled your total contribution eight or more years after you commenced this would increase the waiting time by 24 months.

Q 12 – Do I have to wait before buying a home?

No, if you want to buy your property immediately then don’t wait for us.  We can replace your mortgage with an interest-free mortgage when it is available.

Q 13 – How safe is Liberty Trust?

Liberty Trust is a New Zealand charitable trust, operating since July 1989, and we report to two local churches. We have been approved by an independent qualified actuary and our financial accounts are audited annually and available to the public.  Unlike the banks, we don’t borrow or leverage.  As we have no debt we are not subject to interest rate or credit fluctuations and so you have the certainty of knowing from the outset what your cost will be.  Interest rates can rise or fall but your contribution and repayment rate will not change. 

Q 14 – Would Liberty Trust be suitable for my children?

It’s particularly suitable for them.  Many parents start memberships for each of their children (minimum is $20 per week).  As each child begins earning they can take over the membership and add to the contributions themselves.  Your children and young people can be debt free decades sooner than their peers and save paying many hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest. By joining the Liberty Trust community they can help others and be invited to borrow for their home without interest following principles laid down in the Bible over four thousand years ago.  

Q 15 – Would Liberty Trust be suitable for my church?

Yes! Instead of paying hundreds of thousands in rent or interest at commercial rates your church can borrow interest-free while supporting God’s Kingdom. To borrow $600,000 from a bank you would need a $400,000 deposit plus you would usually pay over $300,000 in interest. To borrow $600,000 from Liberty Trust you would just contribute $100,000 to help others, no deposit is required, and no interest is charged, saving $300,000 for God’s Kingdom! If you decide not to go ahead with the project your contributions can be requested back by the church. See Interest-free Church Buildings for more information.

Q 16 – How can I join?

You can download our joining form and set up your contributions to the Liberty Trust bank account 38 9020 0768106 00. Or send us an email to info@libertytrust.nz or call us on 0508 Liberty (which is 0508 542 378) should you have any questions. Our website includes teaching, videos, endorsements from Christian leaders and scholars and over 250 inspiring testimonials from New Zealanders who have received interest-free loans.

 

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    "I shall walk in Liberty because I follow Your Principles" Ps 119 v 45