Today, in the pretty weird news section: a Russian bank has started lending cats to customers who take out mortgages to buy a house. It seems to be some sort of incentive, also based on a Russian superstition about cats bringing good luck to a new home.
I was almost ready to get angry about giving away animals like they were a gift pen, but then I realized the homeowners can only keep the cat for two hours, and they must promise not to harm it. Knowing this it seems to me a pretty funny and cute way to motivate house buyers!
One sentence struck me, though: "They must sign an agreement [...] freeing the lender from responsibility for any possible catastrophe." Do you think they mean catastrophes caused by the cats? That would be great foresight!
What an interesting article ! I am amazed that someone would come up with this idea, but i can see where it makes sense, and would work out great for superstitious people. If they don't already have a cat of their own, and believe that having a cat in the house will indeed bring them good luck, then this is a perfect solution !
As long as the cats didn't run out of the door and escape and become lost; it is probably not a bad thing for the cats either. They probably choose cats with an easy-going personality to use for the cat-loans; and two hours gives the cat plenty of time to stroll throughout the whole house and bring luck to it.
And if the new homeowners don't want to have a cat, then this solves the whole situation of the cat-blessing easily, without them having to find their own cat.
When I first started reading I too was going to get up in arms about the fact that they would just give cats away like a toy...but it was interesting to me that cats are good luck there and it's only for a couple of hours. Here, real estate agents tend to try and win your business and loyalty with things like gift hampers full of gourmet food or fancy champagne or wine -- I am curious to know how the use of a pet for a couple of hours would be received! Thanks for sharing the article! I'm going to tell my friends about it, I'm sure they'll find it interesting too!
