1. Please consider carefully whether taking a loan is well justified.
2. Are you aware of the fact how costly the loan will be and whether the price to pay is reasonable?
3. Have you considered your economic situation carefully and realistically enough? Please give proper consideration to the real financial situation of your family:
- How big is the secured and regular income of your family;
- What are your minimum regular expenses, indispensable for everyday life;
- What is the balance between your income and revenues;
- Have you any expenses that could be cut, if appropriate.
4. Please think well whether you would be still able to service your loan if the loan interest rates would increase by 2-3 per cent.
5. You must also consider with different possible threats that will accompany any loan you may take. Possible decrease in solvency of a borrower in the future is a material risk to be considered – this may result from decreasing income (e.g. loss of employment, decreased wages) or increased expenditures (e.g. increasing costs of living, increased housing-related costs, new family members, additional commitments taken etc.). Have you made plan B to cope with the described situations?
6. You will be expected to cover a number of extra costs when taking a loan – have you considered with these expenses? Should you want to modify your loan agreement in the future, you are expected to meet extra expenses (e.g. costs resulting from conclusion of an appendix to loan agreement) and you must also keep on mind possibly changing loan interest rates. Interest rates may change if material loan parameters (loan amount, maturity date etc,) are changed.
7. You must also know that the market value of your real estate, used to secure the loan, or the value of some other assets, used as collateral, may drop (provided that the value of such property will be no longer sufficient to meet the claims of the bank, resulting from loan agreement) or if the solvency of a surety has decreased, the bank may demand additional collateral to ensure satisfaction of possible claims, resulting from loan agreement.
8. Before you sign the loan agreement, please study all the information, related to the loan,, and read the terms and conditions carefully; consult with your loan manager.
9. You will have to adopt a final decision whether to take the loan or not. To do that, you have to use the information and warnings, given by the bank, to decide whether the loan (incl. terms and conditions) will match your needs and opportunities.
10. Don’t allow payment difficulties to evolve; contact your loan manager immediately –s/he will help to find the best solution. Do not postpone contacting the bank as fast action will make finding the solution easier.
11. Don’t forget to contact the bank immediately if you have terminated your employment relationship unexpectedly or if you are subject to execution proceedings and your bank account has been seized.
12. You can contact your loan manager for professional advice and assistance any time during the loan period.