Lending Money In The Philippines

[Candyman]

Lending money In The PhilippinesIf you do lend money there, consider it a gift ! A few years ago we set my sister in law up in a 5/6 lending business. It went OK for about twelve months, as she was only lending to close friends, but soon word went out to friends of those friends, and she was lending more and more. She kept bank books and ATM cards as collateral, and on pay day, she would be the first to be paid, and in return the bankbook or ATM card was returned.To cut a long story short, the whole lending business just went belly up, when a series of borrowers, simply disappeared with their loans, leaving her with the bank books and useless ATM cards, never to be seen again ! That little episode cost us close to 250,000 PHP, so never again !Never lend money period ! It just sets yourself up for a whole lot of stress, and no money !

[Dave Hounddriver]

Been there, done that, totally agree with you. Even if you have a lot of good people who pay you back. it only takes one bad one to wipe out the profits from 5 good ones. And then what if a good one dies? Is the spouse going to pay back the debt? Not likely. Are you going to be able to get your security away from the other inheritors? Again not likely.Some people hold on to the security until the debt is paid (like cell phone or motorcycle). What happens? the owner claims you have 'damaged' the security and insist you fix it before getting paid. Of course they put it up for security knowing it was already damaged and thinking they could con you into fixing it or giving it back without getting your money back. Its a headache.the business is best suited for people with no heart, no conscience. and lots of 'persuasive' talents.

[sjp52]

Been there, done that, totally agree with you. Even if you have a lot of good people who pay you back. it only takes one bad one to wipe out the profits from 5 good ones. And then what if a good one dies? Is the spouse going to pay back the debt? Not likely. Are you going to be able to get your security away from the other inheritors? Again not likely.Some people hold on to the security until the debt is paid (like cell phone or motorcycle). What happens? the owner claims you have 'damaged' the security and insist you fix it before getting paid. Of course they put it up for security knowing it was already damaged and thinking they could con you into fixing it or giving it back without getting your money back. Its a headache.the business is best suited for people with no heart, no conscience. and lots of 'persuasive' talents.

Been there done that too. Set the wife up with a lending business and she spent all day all week long collecting. Problem was there were some people she would not lend to and they got very upset and more and more people ( people she would not lend to ) started saying threatening things so it was time to quite.One way we found to make money was to buy stalls in the market and rent them out. costs 100,000 pesos for a stall and you get between 100 and 150 pesos a day. Works out to around 30 % return on your investment and you only deal with one person and there is a waiting list for people to rent them. Usually the same person rents it for years.

[Jim Sibbick]

For friends and relatives, I agree, if you lend money, consider it a gift as you will never see it again.If you do want to lend money, lend against jewellery, not an ATM card.I was part of a group of investors involved in payday lending. It finished about 6 montths ago. We didn't lend the money, front men did that for us. We were promised a 100% per annum return. I didn't beleive it and didn't get it but I did get about 40%, annualised. So I was happy.Regards: Jim

[Moalboring]

I was part of a group of investors involved in payday lending. It finished about 6 montths ago.

It has finished for YOU. I am still in and waiting for my money to be paid back by xxxxxx, the organizer and your "frontman" Bill xxxxxx who has died in the meantime before paid out the biggest investors (and less close friends).A number of angry men now look at how much was it a ponzi scheme or real business. And xxxxx is hiding somewhere, allegedly in the USA but some folks don't believe that.Notice from the BossPlease do not use names of other forum owners in your post,most know who you are talking about but it is not considered to be the best practice of naming people in a public forum. Edited February 15, 2012 by Jollygoodfellow
removed names

[Tatoosh]

While I respect what Jollygoodfellow sets as the rules for this forum, I will have to voice a dissenting opinion. I do understand that he likely does not want this to turn into a mud slinging contest where he has to referee without any real knowledge of the validity of the claims or denials. On the other hand, there are some quite amiable expats that have a patina of honesty and experience about them who prey on their fellow foreigners. They are truly slime balls. But since we cannot or should not name them, they continue to prey upon some people without much worry. So my advice is, don't invest in the Philippines. The better it sounds, the more likely the person advancing the idea is a total POS. Oh, they might be simply a dupe. I was one once, trying to tell my friends about where a great investment was, right up until I lost every penny involved. Now I know better. And I know not to trust some expats in the Philippines with 25 centavos piece. On the other hand, their are guys here I would trust with not only all my pennies but my life. I don't mean that expats are all untrustworthy. Some are honest to goodness gems in the rough.

[Jollygoodfellow]

While I respect what Jollygoodfellow sets as the rules for this forum, I will have to voice a dissenting opinion. I do understand that he likely does not want this to turn into a mud slinging contest where he has to referee without any real knowledge of the validity of the claims or denials.

Its not just that and I have been presented with facts,evidence etc in private but I believe its not ethical for a forum owner to allow another forum owners name to be publicly displayed. He has his followers and to allow such a thing would bring this forum into line with other forums where constant arguments and general disharmony between two or more groups prevail.In this case it would be the die hard followers and the ones who woke up or have decent morals.However I believe soon something will be coming out in the papers and if and when it is public information I may change my mind but at this moment all anyone on this forum can do is talk in general about this subject and I think most members will understand my point of view.

[dean01]

Yes until it makes the news I would say keep it clean. I am sure it will not go away there are plenty out there who have contacts.

[Mike S]

Some people hold on to the security until the debt is paid (like cell phone or motorcycle). What happens? the owner claims you have 'damaged' the security and insist you fix it before getting paid. Of course they put it up for security knowing it was already damaged and thinking they could con you into fixing it or giving it back without getting your money back. Its a headache.

To cut a long story short, the whole lending business just went belly up, when a series of borrowers, simply disappeared with their loans, leaving her with the bank books and useless ATM cards, never to be seen again ! That little episode cost us close to 250,000 PHP, so never again ! Never lend money period ! It just sets yourself up for a whole lot of stress, and no money !

WOW thanks for those experiences guys ...... sorry they turned out so bad ..... money lending is one of the things my asawa was looking at doing once I am gone ...... it would give her some extra income and something to do ...... but after reading about how insecure items put up as security are I hope she will change her mind ...... I never would have thought that about giving items like cell phones that don't work properly and gear that can't be checked .....Thanks for the heads-up

[Call me bubba]

here is another reason NOT to get involved in money lending business

this man did and could not accept the losts $$$ he incurred