A caveat is a notice lodged on the title of a property warning the world that someone has an interest in it. A caveat loan uses that notice as the lender's security position.
Caveats are not as strong as registered mortgages — they don't give the lender a direct power of sale — but they can be lodged in days rather than weeks, which is why they're used for genuinely short-dated funding (3–6 months typical).
Common caveat scenarios: stamp duty shortfalls in a settlement, working capital ahead of a sale that's already under contract, urgent business obligations where a registered mortgage can't be settled in time.
Most short-term files Archer Wealth writes are better served by a registered first or second mortgage rather than caveat-only security. Caveat lending sits outside our active product suite.
Caveat lending carries higher rates than mortgage lending because of the weaker security position and shorter tenor.