Dear Editor,
I have often heard it said that the rich will be richer and the poor will be poorer still. I have never paid it much mind until recently when a gentleman came to me to ask advice about a situation he found himself in.
He told me that he borrowed $15,000 using his 40-inch flat-screen television set as collateral, and he was late with the payment and they sold it. He told me he struggled and paid $81,000 over 36 months for the TV when things were going well.
He now found himself in a pickle and had to take out a small loan of $30,000 using his appliances as collateral which he had to pay back weekly. He told me that he is a small farmer that relies on cash crops and the loan was to purchase insecticides, fertiliser and other chemicals for the crops already in the ground, and repay from the proceeds of those soon to be reaped.
Unfortunately things did not go as he planned so he ran behind on his payment. Because of pressure from the agency that lent him the money he took his television set to a same-day loan agency which informed him that he could only get $15,000 to borrow on it to be repaid in 30 days.
After the time expired he could only pay the fee of $3,000 to prevent them from selling his television set. He did this for the following two months; however, he was late the fourth month and when he got there a week following the due date they informed him that they had sold it.
It is my view that this is very unfortunate as, by my calculations, he only received, in reality, $6,000 for his $81,000 TV and only God knows just how much they sold it for.
My question is, are these people here to help or exploit the poor? The fact is if he had money he would not have made the choices he did. It is said that circumstances make you who you are.
I believe that the policies that govern these agencies must be re-examined with a view to creating a more balanced system: a system where the poor or people who find themselves in circumstances of desperation are not seemingly exploited. Policies should dictate what happens in instances where they are unable to pay within a given period and what opportunities they might have to timely take themselves out of debt without digging themselves into a deeper hole.
Gary Rowe
magnett0072007@yahoo.com
Small loans agencies -- Help or trouble?
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I have often heard it said that the rich will be richer and the poor will be poorer still. I have never paid it much mind until recently when a gentleman came to me to ask advice about a situation he found himself in.
He told me that he borrowed $15,000 using his 40-inch flat-screen television set as collateral, and he was late with the payment and they sold it. He told me he struggled and paid $81,000 over 36 months for the TV when things were going well.
He now found himself in a pickle and had to take out a small loan of $30,000 using his appliances as collateral which he had to pay back weekly. He told me that he is a small farmer that relies on cash crops and the loan was to purchase insecticides, fertiliser and other chemicals for the crops already in the ground, and repay from the proceeds of those soon to be reaped.
Unfortunately things did not go as he planned so he ran behind on his payment. Because of pressure from the agency that lent him the money he took his television set to a same-day loan agency which informed him that he could only get $15,000 to borrow on it to be repaid in 30 days.
After the time expired he could only pay the fee of $3,000 to prevent them from selling his television set. He did this for the following two months; however, he was late the fourth month and when he got there a week following the due date they informed him that they had sold it.
It is my view that this is very unfortunate as, by my calculations, he only received, in reality, $6,000 for his $81,000 TV and only God knows just how much they sold it for.
My question is, are these people here to help or exploit the poor? The fact is if he had money he would not have made the choices he did. It is said that circumstances make you who you are.
I believe that the policies that govern these agencies must be re-examined with a view to creating a more balanced system: a system where the poor or people who find themselves in circumstances of desperation are not seemingly exploited. Policies should dictate what happens in instances where they are unable to pay within a given period and what opportunities they might have to timely take themselves out of debt without digging themselves into a deeper hole.
Gary Rowe
magnett0072007@yahoo.com
Small loans agencies -- Help or trouble?
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