What is a loan?

When money is lent to a person or organization, it is said to be a loan; normally finalized by a legal document as it is a binding arrangement between the two. Lending money has been around since it was invented although people and other goods or services have been lent to others for longer but as the majority of these are for money; this is what this article is about. Unlike most other types of loan, those involving cash will gradually be paid back over a period of time previously arranged; the usual repayment method is based around monthly installments but this period can be longer.

The debt is repaid but an interest charge is added for the service being provided and the method by which the lender is compensated. 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. More frequently the amount is repaid in equal installments, a portion of which is the interest.

Most of the time, this is the only contact the majority of people have with financial companies and it is just one of many roles they have; although this is the most important. For both companies and individuals, arranging a loan is a way to increase their cash flow for a regular monthly outlay. other ways to raise capital are available but none as easy as this.

Another common type of debt, particularly in the Western World is a mortgage and is the primary way real estate is purchased, but this is all it can be used for. The financial institution is given security however; in this case the title to the house, until the mortgage is paid off in full. This security means that defaulting on the loan may leave the lender with no alternative but to repossess the property; 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.

The average person may have a number of unsecured loans or credit facilities and not even realize it; if you have an overdraft or credit cards for example, this is exactly what these arrangements are. Typically, interest rates on credit cards or store cards will be the highest but all unsecured credit rates will of course vary from one lender to the next.

Abuse in the granting of money is known as predatory lending; it usually involves providing cash in order to put the borrower in a position where one can gain advantage over them. This type of lending also takes place with credit card companies around the world who issue credit cards with high charges which take a disproportionate amount of time to pay off; even small balances, just to retain a customer. You would be wise to be wary of financial arrangements that seem to good to be true because they probably are.