Denunciation of Fiks Fare: The loan was postponed without asking, ‘Fondi Besa’ also demands the interests of the pandemic period

Ervis has received a loan from the Besa Fund, a loan he was repaying. In March 2020, at the time of the pandemic outbreak, he was in Greece. A loan officer of the Besa Fund told him that your loan is solidifying, as a result of an agreement between the Bank of Albania and Prime Minister Edi Rama. Even, at that time, Rama would declare that “loans are postponed”, but without explaining in detail this decision.

“I had taken the loan and paid about 80 thousand old lekë per month as an installment. I paid for it all. But these pushed me for about 10 months. I was not told anything, I did not sign or ask for a postponement. When the pandemic is over, I repay all the loan, principal and interest. But, Fondi Besa tells me that you have another 37 thousand new lekë as ‘interest period Covidi’. Even, written in a document. Now I have to pay for 1 year another 30 thousand ALL per month, when I had an 80 thousand old installment. “I did not ask for a postponement, nor did I sign,” says Ervis.

The citizen insists that he has not made any request for solidification of the loan to the Besa Fund. According to him, in March 2020 he saw a status of Prime Minister Edi Rama, who announced the postponement of loan installments. In this status, Prime Minister Rama writes that “we co-signed with the Governor of the Bank of Albania a further quarterly postponement of loan installments. The Bank of Albania approved a facilitation for commercial banks to make proactive loan restructuring ”.

Meanwhile, in March 2020, the Bank of Albania has ordered to extend the deadline for payment of loan installments for businesses and individuals, who have faced difficulties in this period as a result of covid 19. Point 2 states that borrowers should communicate with lenders, arguing with the latter their reasons for postponing the payment of installments. So individuals had to apply for a loan deferral. But, the complainant says that he has not made any request to the Besa Fund!

Following the complaint, journalists became interested in the Besa Fund. A loan officer in the town of Çorovoda told Fiks Fare reporters that “Ervis has made a payment of 1 million old lek, but now Covidi also has 380 thousand interest”. The officer admits that Ervis has not made a request for solidification, as he says that “interests come out of the system”. The journalists of Fiks Fare were also interested in the Fund, where they received a response that the client “Mr. Ervis Germenji, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, based on the joint order between the Prime Minister and the Bank of Albania, has “solidified” the client’s credit “. According to her, “solidification” is a loan restructuring, which facilitates the client to defer the installment for a period of time, until the client “recovers” from the difficult economic situation where he is.

“For the specific case, Fondi Besa has calculated the regular interest rates of the loan for the extended period Covid-19 and has not calculated the penalty for the delays in the payment of the loan installments. Mr. Germenji, at the time of the announcement of the pandemic, was abroad and unable to repay the loan, was given a ‘loan deferral’, in order not to be penalized for non-payment and not to be categorized as a ‘bad’ customer who does not pay “says the Besa Fund. He further writes that “he was explained on the phone by the employee of the Besa Fund and he sent a relative to our offices in Çorovoda”. He further claims that he has made loan installment payments until September 28, 2021 and currently his liability is estimated at 38,029 ALL. So the Besa Fund itself says that the client has not made any request for loan deferral, but has only been notified by phone!

Following this response, Fiks Fare addressed the Bank of Albania. “Customers of banks or non-bank financial institutions, in order to benefit from the joint order, had to send to the entity where they were borrowers, the request for obtaining the order and documentation that their financial situation has been negatively affected by the situation created by Covid-19 . After the approval of the request by the subjects, the postponement of the installment payments and consequently the payment of the borrower’s obligation had to be carried out according to an agreement agreed between the parties. The order provides for a postponement of loan installment payments, which consists of principal and interest, but not their forgiveness, ”says the Bank of Albania. The bank clearly writes that the client had to make a loan deferral request. But, Mr. Ervis Germenji has not made such an agreement with the Besa Fund. Even more so than he was in Greece at the time of the loan consolidation. This hardening has only aggravated his economic situation, while the Besa Fund has charged him an amount of 38 thousand ALL that he has to pay as “interest period period”.

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