“When the trial started, my father had a heart attack.” How do Russians live on microloans?

“At least we’re alive”

Natalya from Moscow is 36 years old, her mother is 62 years old. In 2014, Natalia divorced her husband and left behind two children, three and five years old. She moved into an apartment in her mother’s name. Natalya’s parents live at a different address – in the residence, registered in the name of Natalya’s father. At that time, the addressee of the publication worked as a laboratory technician in a concrete plant, she. My mother is an architect.

“A micro-loan of 2 million rubles was given by my mother. Money was needed to cover bank loans. They, too, took it because of such a person. He needed money to repair or rebuild the summer house – he took a loan. When it became clear that debts had to be paid off and banks would not wait, I made a large micro-loan,” he said.

According to the interlocutor of socialbites.ca, at first everything went well.

“My mom closed her bank loans, paid off micro loans for a year. But she was suddenly fired from her job early and retired. Like thunder from a clear sky. Logically, the money was gone. My mother wrote an application to the microfinance organization to defer payments. There was no answer. Mom stopped paying, ”recalls Natalia.

In 2017, the bank bought the loan agreement from MFI, and Natalia’s mother was summoned to court.

“There was a mortgage on the flat. By that time, the debt had reached 4.5 million rubles. We sued the bank for two years, we lost. The flat was sold with us at auction. In 2020, the new owner threw me and my young children on the street by court order. I was unemployed until then. He quit because of the reduction and degree of harm, the children began to get sick. My daughter had asthma in first grade. But I had to quickly move to a new place – a manager. I cannot leave a child,” the woman said.

Natalia rents an apartment in the Moscow region for the second year.

“The benefits of having many children have been eliminated through the Minister of Social Protection. Living space and reserve housing were denied. Dad is disabled. When the trial began, she suffered a stroke and had a heart attack, ”complained Natalia.

However, the woman does not lose faith in the best. “How can you live with that?” Natalya answers the question: “At least we are alive. But microcredit is a scam of people.”

“My child and I needed money for food”

Elena from Moscow is 52 years old. She is a person of a creative profession with a more or less free program and inconsistent income. She got a microcredit for the meal, she.

“My child and I needed food. For two weeks I got 2 thousand rubles. I was afraid I wouldn’t. On the contrary, I was lucky. Three days later, I came to the microfinance organization. But there they told me: the micro loan was issued for two weeks, which means that the interest will be accrued in two weeks. As a result, I returned 5 thousand rubles. In the end, I paid too much, ”Elena explained.

After this experience, the addressee of the publication formed a sharply negative attitude towards MFIs.

“Even if I needed the money, I never went there again. He interrupted him as best he could, he endured but did not return.”

“Credit history and a waste of time for the courts”

Konstantin from Moscow became a victim of fraud. In 2018, scammers gave him two microloans. He learned this in 2020, when he received a lawsuit demanding a refund of 15 thousand rubles from an MFI.

“I won one try, the second is still on. Already four years. Damaged credit history. I can’t get a personal or car loan. Although the microcredit was issued using a different phone number, not mine, the money was not charged to my card. “MFOs rejected internal audits, sent responses.”

According to the interlocutor, in 2018 there was a wave of such cases.

“Some paid their debts, some did not. I went to court as a matter of principle because my credit history was ruined. Well, the collectors did not call, did not threaten, did not pay the debt. Yet they left a bad mark. The loss of credit history and a lot of time for the courts – this is my conclusion, ”the interlocutor of socialbites.ca summarized.