Sometimes, our kindness and cravings to help the people around us, can box us up in a corner where we can’t even raise a finger. Our reputations are dented and we sometimes become objects of mockery and disdain. Sometimes, it could even lead to us losing something very important or someone dear to our hearts.
“Do not be one who shakes hands in pledge or puts up security for debts; if you lack the means to pay, your very bed will be snatched from under you.” Proverbs 22, Verses 26-27
I came across this message in the holy bible long ago, but I refused to pay heed, because I thought I was actually doing an act of kindness. (Whenever I’m writing about real life lessons like this one, I always make references to a scripture or two, this is because the scriptures cover every area of our daily living and activities, for those that have taken the time to study their bible properly.)
Do not stand as surety (guarantor like we popularly call it in Nigeria) for anyone, especially when it involves money and people’s well being. Don’t say because your friend is in trouble, you will throw caution to the wind and stand as a surety to borrow money or anything else to bail him/her out.
When your friends come to you for a loan, give them what you know you can part with, do not borrow or go on their behalf to borrow money to settle their debts or needs. Do not stand as a surety for them to borrow money from a money lender or any financial institution.
Most times, when these defaulters refuse to pay their debts, you will be held responsible and it is not against the law for you to be be held responsible for their debt, because you stood in for them as a guarantor, which means, you can actually pay the debt, if they refuse to or are unable to make the payment.
Moreso, do not allow anyone to use you as a referral when acquiring or selling a property, advise them to use a lawyer, you did not study law, so you can’t categorically be their guarantor or signatory to a property you can’t possibly defend it’s authenticity or availability in the near future.
So many of us, including myself, have fallen victims of these situations. The first time I ever went into a police cell in my life, was because I stood as a middle man for my church president in our Port Harcourt Branch, to make payment for a hall we needed to host an event, he ate the money and absconded , I was arrested and made to pay back the money I never spent. I have lost properties just because I stood in as a surety for someone I call a close friend to borrow some money from loan sharks in Benin City, Edo State. You don’t want to experience it before you obey the scripture above.
