“For nearly 5 years, my parents lent my uncle 2 gold bars, without any interest. Yet, my uncle goes around saying bad things about my family waiting for the gold price to peak to demand it."
That is the sharing of Ms. Nguyen Thi Hang, residing in Nam Truc (Nam Dinh) about her family's story of lending gold when she received no thanks and was "guilty".
Ms. Hang said that her parents both worked as workers in the industrial park near her home. Her parents' income is only a few hundred thousand VND, even more than a decade ago it was less than 2 million VND/person/month.
However, with their frugal nature and frugal spending, every month after receiving their salary, they would buy a tael of gold to save, and carefully scrape together the rest to make sure it was enough without overspending.
“My father told me that when I was in 6th grade, he bought 5 gold bars for only 8 million VND/tree to save as a dowry for me and my younger brother in the future. Even the motorbike my father used was bought for 7 gold bars at that time. My parents turned everything into gold," Ms. Hang said.
Many people have the habit of buying gold to keep in safes to "keep the house".
If he had money, he would save money to buy gold, so when he built a house and lacked money to pay the workers and materials, he asked to borrow money. Ms. Hang's parents brought 2 sticks of gold to lend, with no deadline to repay and no interest. However, if you need to give notice at least 1 month in advance and when paying, you must pay in gold.
According to Ms. Hang, that year was March 2019, the price of gold rings was 36.9 million VND/tael, SJC gold bars were priced at 36.6 million VND/tael. The two gold rings her parents lent her were worth about 72 million VND, equal to 1/5 of the value of the house her uncle built at that time.
The loan does not charge interest, has no documents, and has no repayment date, so despite many clever reminders, they still procrastinate and are unable to repay. A few months ago, when her family was planning to hold a wedding for her younger brother, she offered to ask for the gold they lent back. However, up to now, not only have they not received the gold back, but Ms. Hang's family also has a bad reputation.
“My family gave me half a year's notice, but with only ten days left until my younger brother's wedding, my uncle still didn't pay. Moreover, many relatives came to blame my parents for being too excessive in aiming for the highest gold price to demand. "If you can't collect your debt, you will lose face with your brothers and relatives," Ms. Hang said.
Highest gold price of all time: Lending gold to relatives, demanding not to pay back, losing relatives - 2
In just a short time, gold prices rose to record levels, making both borrowers and lenders restless.
According to Ms. Hang, in less than 5 years, the price of gold rings has increased from 36.9 million VND to 62.8 million VND, an increase of nearly 26 million VND/tael; SJC gold price increased from 36.6 million VND to 74.2 million VND, an increase of more than 37 million VND/tael. However, because her family gave the loan without interest, not to mention because the gold loan agreement had to be repaid in gold, she couldn't be blamed.
“My family only has gold to lend, no one knows if gold will increase or decrease. If it reduces, we won't say anything. My uncle couldn't pay back and didn't say anything directly, but he slandered my family everywhere. Not only could I not collect the debt, but my whole family was angry because of the gold loan," Ms. Hang sighed.
In the same situation, Ms. Pham Thi Hoan, residing in Thanh Xuan (Hanoi), lent her husband's nephew 2 taels of gold in 2018 to buy a car. This year, the economy is difficult, her family faces many difficulties, many times she wants to claim but is "afraid" of the borrower.
“When I lent the loan, the price of SJC gold was only 36.4 million VND/tael, but it's been more than 5 years and my husband's nephew hasn't paid it back. From last year to this year, gold prices have increased too high. Now it's more than 74 million VND/tael, the gold price has more than doubled compared to when I lent it. If you don't ask, what if the gold goes up to 80, 85, 90 million VND/tael? On the contrary, if we collect debt now, we will have a reputation for being selfish, and we may even lose our relatives," Ms. Hoan sighed.
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