All About Loans - What is a Loan?
A loan is an arrangement where money is lent by one person (the lender) to another (the borrower); this is a legal contract between the lender or creditor and the borrower or debtor. The true definition would include, services, products or people (like staff) but for the purposes of this piece it is financial arrangements we are concerned with. The period a loan will run generally depends on the financial circumstances of the borrower but normally the longer this period, the more it will cost; whilst it is possible to make 3 or 6 monthly repayments, the usual time period is one month.All monetary debts consist of two elements: the sum owed and the interest charge for the time during which it is payable over; this is added to the overall amount owed. Although not seen as much these days one type of financial agreement ensures that the first payments made to clear the debt are in fact just the charges on the sum owed. However the normal way to repay a debt is to ensure that each monthly repayment combines part sum and part interest.
The primary use of a financial institution is to arrange finance but they do have many more functions. For both companies and individuals, arranging a loan is a way to increase their cash flow for a regular monthly outlay. although other money raising methods do exist.
Arranging a mortgage, whilst a little more complicated, is in essence the same but the use for which it is required is not flexible and the money can never be used for anything other than buying a house or land. In this instance, the lender is given security on the money advanced in the form of the title deeds of the house until the debt is repaid in full. This is a much more serious type of situation and one where it is actually possible for the bank to foreclose on the loan if the borrower fails to make repayments; whilst they can reclaim money owed immediately this way, they may also decide to retain the property until a later date.
Even small loans can be secured but this generally only happens when a person has a poor credit history which could be the case of a person buying a car; if the person using the money to buy a car defaulted on the money used to purchase it, the car would be sold to repay the debt. Whilst secured loans can last a considerable time, this is usually as long as it remains possible for the finance company to reclaim costs should they need to sell the item; for cars, this very rarely extends beyond five years.
Financial companies organize unsecured loans everyday although many people do not even realize that is what they are being provided with; usually this type of arrangement refers to money, credit cards and bank overdrafts, to name a just a few. The interest rates vary with the lender and type of credit supplied but credit cards around the world have some of the highest rates of interest, whilst a bank overdraft will typically be much lower in comparison.
There are many names for it but predatory lending is the most common; used when a company places pressure on a person to use their services in order for the company to have a financial hold on that person. Credit card companies in many countries are often accused of a similar practice where they lend money at very high interest rates and make money out of frivolous extra charges. Try to remember what has been written here and you might not have too many problems.