Signing Documents when Borrowing and Lending Money

  Written by: Naqib Ahmad Azizi

Borrowing or lending money among friends is common in Afghanistan. Most people sign a document when borrowing or lending money but some people do not care about it and this issue might cause some problems to both parties.

AEPO’s writer/producer has talked to some people about this issue.

Mariam Hotak, a resident of Maidan-Wardak province says, “Once one of my friends asked me some money and I lent her but she did not pay me back after a long time. When I asked for my money, she gave me half of it back but she forgot to pay me the second half of her loan and there is no document among us.”

Sayed Ahmad Zia Ashrafi, a resident of Kabul city says, “I had a job in one of the offices about 6 years ago. Once the cook of the office borrowed 2000 Afghanis from me. After 3 months, when I asked for my money, he denied and said that he had already paid it.”

What do people think about the causes of not signing a document?

Mariam says, “When someone wants to borrow money from you, he/she insists that not to tell to anyone else about the loan and promises that he/she would pay it very soon. Some people consider written document disrespect for themselves.”

Ahmad Jawad, a resident of Chaharasiab district says, “My father lent 50 thousand Afghanis to one of his friends for the treatment of his patient and my father said that there is no need for singing document because they were old friends and know each other better. Now he does not answer his mobile phone.

How could people solve this issue?

Muhammad Azim says, “When I want to lend money to someone, I respectably wish him to sign the document. If he insists that he would not forget the money, I say to him that I might forget it. Once I lent 12 thousand Afghanis to one of my friends and we had signed document and he paid me back on time.”

Abdul Qadir, a resident of Logar province says, “When someone wants to buy a house or a car from someone, both sides sign the document and if someone borrows or lends money, why they should not sign. My uncle borrowed some money from us and we signed document and now we have no worries about paying the loan back.”