The loan is an amount of money borrowed that should be repaid in a time interval including an interest. The amount of money that is borrowed in bank’s terminology is called principal and the interest is the cost of this loan. The time interval during which the loan should be payed is called loan term. The cause of taking a loan is the purchase of something that cost more than you can afford, i.e the purchase of a car, of a house (or to reconstruct the one you have), to go on vacations or to continue your studies, investment in agricultural activity etc. Remember that if you apply for a loan you need to be sure that you can pay it every month, otherwise this will cause difficult financial problems.
The only problem with the loans is that they need to be repaid again!!!

If you are thinking of taking a loan the following advices will help you to prepare:

1. Explain you need for loan – Calculate exactly the amount that you need to borrow. Do not forget that you are going to repay it!
2. Clarify your budget – Calculate how much installment can you afford each month. During the calculation do not forget to include unexpected expenses.
3. Prepare the necessary documentation – To obtain a loan you will have to prove your identity, your income, and properties with supporting documents.
4. Speak with our loan officers – You can visit ASF’s offices to discuss with our loan officers regarding the loan application process, loan’s term, and installments to understand if you have the means to repay your loan regularly.

The guarantor is responsible for the repayment of the loan same as the client and helps the client to meet the conditions to afford the loan.

It is important that when you apply for a loan you should be aware for the sum that you will pay. Ask the loan officer or other responsible persons to explain all the interest/commissions/penalties that you will pay before you sign the loan contract.

The loan contract is an agreement between two parties where the lender disburse a loan to the borrower. The borrower is the person that takes the loan from the lender and will repay the principal and interest for the lender.

The loan contract includes the following elements:
a) Complete data regarding identity and address of the contractual parties;
b) Total amount of loan and its terms;
c) Loan term ;
d) Interest in percentage;
e) Effective interest in percentage and total loan cost;
f) The installment, number of installments and dates of each installment and every other expense in connection with disbursement and usage of the loan presented in repayment plan (principal and interest);
g) The collateral;
h) The right to withdraw from the loan contract;
i) The right to repay the loan before the end of the contract and to receive a reduction of total loan cost;

*A copy of the loan contract signed by both parties is given to the borrower at the moment of contract signing.

If you have difficulties to repay the loan according to the schedule, the institution will help to conclude a new agreement which will be adopted with your new repayment ability. It is important to stay in contact with the credit institution because the lack of communication will be considered from the institution as a refusal to find a common agreement. In these circumstances the credit institution will be obliged that under terms defined by the Bank of Albania to proceed with legal measures until the full repayment of the loan.

It is important that after you fully repay the loan to take a written confirmation from the institution that you have fully repaid the loan and follow the legal procedures to release the collateral of the loan.