Mrs. F bought the tiny house and lot of her distant cousin to save it from bank foreclosure. She gave her cousin cash payment of P250,000 supposedly as partial payment to the bank. Then Mrs. F also gave P35,000 cold cash to Atty. M, a lawyer of the bank who happened to be Mrs. F’s buddy-buddy friend.
After two years, Mrs. F received a notice of foreclosure from the bank. Upon verification of the bank’s records, they never received the P250,000 and the P350,000. Mrs. F’s P600,000 loan remain unpaid plus it incurred interests, surcharges and penalties of P1,000,000. So now, she needs to raise P1.7M to save that tiny property. Because the value of the H&L is only P500,000, it doesn’t make sense paying the bank P1.7M. She decided to have it foreclosed. Why did this happen? Mrs. F’s mistakes?
1. She gave cash of P250,000 to her cousin instead of going to the bank directly.
2. She did not make her cousin sign an acknowledgement receipt. Mrs. F just gave her the cash. There’s no proof that she indeed gave her P250k
3. She gave cash of P350,000 to the bank lawyer instead of going to the bank and paying the loan personally.
4. She did not make the lawyer sign an acknowledgement receipt as proof of payment. Kasi daw they are buddy buddy. She trusted him. The lawyer denied receiving any cash from Mrs. F.
5. She never asked for bank receipt or proof of payment from her cousin and the lawyer. Mrs. F just didn’t bother to check with the bank if payments had been made on her behalf.
6. She didn’t pay the real estate taxes for 3 years.
IMPORTANT:
1. Cash is tempting and could easily disappear. As much as possible, do not pay cash.
2. When paying for a bank loan, make sure to go straight to the bank, pay there and not thru an agent.
3. Always ask for acknowledgement or official receipts.
4. Ask for an updated statement of account, to verify that your payment/s had been deducted/applied to your loan.
Nowadays, even your relatives could betray you especially when it comes to money matters.
I should have read this before I handed over money to a very, very good friend who said he needed it for his son’s college tuition fee. He said he would pay me within 3 months. It has been over 4 years, his son has graduated and now working, and the man I had considered a friend before had now unfriended me in Facebook and yet to pay up.
I have learned to charge it to experience. But from time to time, it still riles me that I was so naive and such a sucker,