Never Ever be A Guarantor!If you have never been a guarantor to someone's loans or other indebtedness, count yourself lucky and blessed!
If you have, I am sure you have your horror stories to relate.
Let me tell you about a friend of mine who signed as guarantor for her brother. He was involved in some messy affair and he was somehow caught with his fingers in the cookie jar. So they cornered him and asked him to pay up pronto. He failed to settle his obligations and so they got his poor sister to stand as guarantor. Being so fearful for her brother, she signed blindly and was to regret later with some sleepless months to boot.
Things turned real when she received a letter of demand from a lawyer. Fear become agony. So she started seeking help. Lawyers fees are high but she needed advice desperately to quell the growing fears.Fortunately for her, she got a friendly lawyer to reply the demand letter gratis. It is not the end of the story but it should put her mind to rest for a while until new events unfold.
For me, I would like to to tell you how I was suckered in to be a guarantor. A colleague pestered me incessantly to be a guarantor to a loan,telling me that he needs to buy a return ticket for his father to go to India. After a few days of incessant kacau from him, I gave in and agreed only to be the second guarantor. That was the start of my trouble.
Banks normally provide a copy of their reminders of non-payment to guarantors. I was foolish as I had used my office address in this matter. So when the debtor failed to pay up his installments, I did not receive these letters. Apparently, he had hijacked them to keep me in the dark of this development.
Then I saw it in the papers. My name appeared in the Bank's advertisement and its intention to prosecute to get back their loan. At that time, I had an MBF Gold Card. That afternoon I received a phone call telling me that my card has been invalidated because of this and I should now cut my card into two halves and return it to the issuer.
Things turned real when she received a letter of demand from a lawyer. Fear become agony. So she started seeking help. Lawyers fees are high but she needed advice desperately to quell the growing fears.Fortunately for her, she got a friendly lawyer to reply the demand letter gratis. It is not the end of the story but it should put her mind to rest for a while until new events unfold.
For me, I would like to to tell you how I was suckered in to be a guarantor. A colleague pestered me incessantly to be a guarantor to a loan,telling me that he needs to buy a return ticket for his father to go to India. After a few days of incessant kacau from him, I gave in and agreed only to be the second guarantor. That was the start of my trouble.
Banks normally provide a copy of their reminders of non-payment to guarantors. I was foolish as I had used my office address in this matter. So when the debtor failed to pay up his installments, I did not receive these letters. Apparently, he had hijacked them to keep me in the dark of this development.
Then I saw it in the papers. My name appeared in the Bank's advertisement and its intention to prosecute to get back their loan. At that time, I had an MBF Gold Card. That afternoon I received a phone call telling me that my card has been invalidated because of this and I should now cut my card into two halves and return it to the issuer.
Seems they do not care who is the first or second guarantor. They go for the one with the 'deepest pocket'. I got screwed and had to pay up to clear my name as well as that of the first guarantor and the debtor. I must be Sucker-General. But then that is the way of the world. Today the situation would be different. They would have to bankrupt the debtor first before they seek the guarantors.
So the next time when someone comes along and ask you to be a guarantor, think a million times and then say "No."
Quote of the Day:
Heartsong
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