ARAR: In a practice that is peculiar to this part of the world, people wanting loans or buying cars on installments are asked to bring along guarantors who pledge to ensure the person taking the loan or buying the car honors his or her commitment.
Acting as a guarantor is risky business; you never know when something goes wrong. If a debtor fails to repay, guarantors are summoned and asked to convince the debtors to pay up, or pay themselves. Failure to do so can lead to jail.
It is not too uncommon to come across guarantors who were forced to pay outstanding amounts to banks and car companies. In most such cases, those who were guaranteed forget their guarantors or avoid them to escape the responsibility of what they owe.
Muhammad Abdul Aziz, a Saudi citizen, spent over two months in jail because his friend who he had guaranteed failed to repay his loan. “He was my best friend since high school and I didn’t hesitate to act as his guarantor. My brother warned me against guaranteeing people but I did not believe him,” said Abdul Aziz. “Things went well for the first four months. He was paying the installments to the bank for SR120,000 he had taken. Then he began falling back on payments,” he added.
It was then that Abdul Aziz began receiving phone calls from his friend’s bank. His friend, initially, promised to pay saying he had a difficulty in coming up with the cash. Over time he stopped paying and stopped answering his phone calls.
“It was a hard lesson and I learned it the hard way. I was summoned to court and later imprisoned until the amount was paid. Luckily, I stayed for two months in jail until my relatives came up with the cash and then I was released,” he added. A Saudi woman teacher, who asked her name not be published, was also forced to learn her lesson the hard way after guaranteeing her husband. “I acted as a guarantor for my husband on a large loan. After a short period of time, my husband left his job and I began receiving letters from court and the police,” she said.
“I had no choice but to take a long vacation from work,” she added, implying she was sent to jail. “At the end of the day it’s far too late to regret.”
Muhammad Al-Onaizi, a Saudi citizen, said he has been unable to finish building his home due to problems associated with guaranteeing others. “I acted as a guarantor for my brother who bought two cars. He sold the cars to pay his debt and then began paying the installments on the cars,” he said. “After a short period of time, he was fired from work and was unable to pay the installments. The car company began chasing me for repayment and I had no choice but to take a large loan. I am now paying the bank loan and have been delayed in being able to complete building a home,” he added.
Another teacher, who asked her name not be published, said she also acted as a guarantor for her husband who took out a large loan. “He used the cash to marry a second time. I later learned that he had apparently been planning to take another wife for quite sometime and took advantage of me to finance that,” she added.
Muhammad, a car salesman, said, “We try our best to make sure we finally reclaim all of our money. The guarantor is more important than the buyer.” He added that women guarantors are the best, as they always pay at the end and if they cannot then their families provide the cash to ensure they do not go to prison.
