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Debt
Counselling - Needed? Call
Debt Counsellors South Africa
WELCOME
TO THE WEBSITE OF DebtCounsellorsSA.com
Debt
comes a long, long way! *The Bible tells us of over-indebted
people. Don’t feel alone – millions of other consumers
experience the same debt-stress as you. We
will help you take control of you finances
again.
Contact us now for Debt Counselling!
We
are a team of NCR registered debt counsellors,
ready and eager to help you make an end to you debt
problems. It is our vision to contribute to help
all over-indebted South African consumers to
become debt free again. We are also members
of DCASA (Debt Counsellors Association of South
Africa) and stays on top of changes in the industry.
MAKE
SURE YOU ONLY DEAL WITH NCR REGISTERED DEBT
COUNESELLORS – ASK FOR THEIR REGISTRATION
CERTIFICATE AND NCR NUMBER. DEBT COUNSELLORS ARE NOT
ALLOWED TO RECEIVE YOUR MONTHLY PAYMENTS OR
DISTRIBUTE YOUR PAYMENTS. THERE ARE PRESCRIBED FEES
AND DEBT COUNSELLORS MUST ADHERE TO THIS. IF IN
DOUBT, SPEAK TO US FOR ADVISE.
Debt
Counselling is still a fairly new concept in
South African law, stemming from the National
Credit 34 of 2005, which came into use in June
2007. South African lawmakers and judges have a huge
responsibility in developing the concept, as there
were no precedents to follow – and still many
uncertainties regarding the interpretation of the
Act exist. Through the process it is hoped that
people will be able to save for retirement, provide
housing for their families, educate their children,
pay for services and generally manage their debt.
Already
the legislator had to give clarity to certain areas
of the Credit Act and a Declaretor was
brought before Judge Ben Du Plessis on 21 August
2009. There is a possibility that the Act will be
re-written in future, to be more applicable.
A huge
demand for debt counselling assistance
exists in
South Africa
.
The
percentage of consumers in good standing is
continued deteriorating
(full report on www.ncr.org.za)
Of
the total 17.79 million credit-active consumers as
at end of the June 2009 quarter, 55.9% were ingood
standing. This was a quarter-on-quarter decrease of
1.7% and a year-on-year decrease of 4.5%,indicating
that the level of debt-stress continued to increase.
The
percentage of consumers with impaired records (the
inverse of those in good standing) at the end of
June 2009 quarter was 44.1% - comprising 16.8% of consumers
in 3+ months in arrears, 14.2% of consumers
in adverse listings, and 13.1% of consumers
with judgments and administration orders.
A detailed breakdown of the nature of impairments is
provided in the table below.
|
|
Jun’07
|
Sep’07
|
Dec’07
|
Mar'08
|
Jun'08
|
Sep'08
|
Dec'08
|
Mar'09
|
Jun'09
|
|
Good
standing (#)
|
10.67m
|
10.52m
|
10.67m
|
10.55m
|
10.38m
|
10.43m
|
10.26m
|
10.15m
|
9.94m
|
|
Good
standing (%)
|
63.6%
|
62.3%
|
62.4%
|
61.6%
|
60.4%
|
59.5%
|
58.4%
|
57.6%
|
55.9%
|
|
Current
(%)
|
47.5%
|
46.6%
|
47.2%
|
45.1%
|
44.9%
|
44.9%
|
43.6%
|
42.3%
|
41.7%
|
|
1-2
months in arrears (%)
|
16.1%
|
15.7%
|
15.2%
|
16.5%
|
15.5%
|
14.6%
|
14.8%
|
15.3%
|
14.2%
|
|
Impaired
records (#)
|
6.11m
|
6.38m
|
6.45m
|
6.59m
|
6.79m
|
7.10m
|
7.30m
|
7.46m
|
7.85m
|
|
Impaired
records (%)
|
36.4%
|
37.7%
|
37.6%
|
38.4%
|
39.6%
|
40.5%
|
41.6%
|
42.4%
|
44.1%
|
|
3+
months in arrears (%)
|
12.8%
|
12.6%
|
13.5%
|
14.3%
|
15.3%
|
15.7%
|
15.1%
|
15.3%
|
16.8%
|
|
Adverse
listings* (%)
|
11.8%
|
13.1%
|
12.7%
|
12.8%
|
13.1%
|
12.2%
|
13.8%
|
14.2%
|
14.2%
|
|
Judgments
and administration orders (%)
|
11.8%
|
12.0%
|
11.4%
|
11.3%
|
11.2%
|
12.6%
|
12.7%
|
12.9%
|
13.1%
|
|
Credit-active
consumers (#)
|
16.78m
|
16.90m
|
17.12m
|
17.14m
|
17.17m
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17.53m
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17.56m
|
17.61m
|
17.79m
|
The impact and cost of over-indebtedness
should not be underestimated, and it is reflected in
social grants being diverted into debt
payments, maintenance payments not being
made, municipal service payments falling into
arrears and finally, households being impoverished
and denied basic resources.
The
NCRA was enacted in March 2006 to
comprehensively regulate the credit industry
in
South Africa
. Government was concerned about certain abuses and
malpractices that developed in a previous
unregulated environment. Malpractices included the
retention of bank cards, pins and ID
documents by micro-lenders, as well as
abusive collection methods.
The
Act further makes provision for disclosure of cost
of credit, regulate the Micro-lending
industry and prescribe certain costs, such as initiation
fees and service fees, as well as maximum
interest, credit insurance, default administration
costs and collection costs.
In
short, the Act makes provision for:
Prohibition
of unfair credit and credit marketing practices;
Promotion of responsible credit granting
Prohibition of reckless credit granting
Provision for debt review and
rearrangement mechanisms in cases of
over-indebtedness;
To educate consumers concerning
credit and consumer rights;
To improve credit information and
reporting on credit bureaus.
One
of the major issues the Act addresses is the
debtor’s RIGHT
to consult a debt counsellor for debt
counselling. Creditors are obliged to
inform consumers about this right by way of a Section
129 letter, before they can proceed with legal
action and issue a summons.
It
will now no longer be necessary to run around to try
to arrange for another credit card, an overdraft,
personal loan or consolidation loan. Many
consumers have lost their homes, by taking out a second
mortgage, to cover debt. The debt
counsellor will evaluate your over-indebtedness
and work out a sustainable budget, where you
will still be able to pay off your debt via
the PDA (Payment Distribution Agency) in one consolidated
payment every month. After you have paid off all
your debt, the Debt counsellor will
issue a Clearance Certificate, to clear your
name from all credit bureaus.
DebtCounsellorsSA.com
has been established to ensure financial freedom
to over-indebted people, with dignity and
understanding.
DebtcousellorsSA.com
is registered Debt Counsellors and waiting to
help you to work out an individual plan for your debt
restructuring. The Registered Debt Counsellors
are willing to negotiate with your creditors,
to reach a suitable agreement, to work towards an
end-goal of a debt free life.
We
have satellite offices in
South Africa
. Our head offices are in Strand (
Somerset
West, Gordon’s Bay) in the
Western Cape
,
Bloemfontein
in the
Free State
and Alberton in Gauteng
.
The
sooner you realise your debt problems and
seek help, the easier it would be for them to
negotiate a deal with creditors. Creditors
have put measures into place to be sure to retrieve
their money. They have established Call Centres and
appointed debt collectors, who will go to
great lengths to make sure you pay. Your only
protection would be debt counselling, as creditors
are not allowed to legally act against you,
take you to court, repossess your
possessions, car or home, or garnish your
salary.
Before
thinking of bankruptcy (sequestration), first
consider debt counselling. There are talks of
Administration being phased out in the next
few years and then debt counselling, will be
the alternative remedy, with no
monetary limitation and homes and vehicles can be
included.
We
provide:
Debt
Counselling
:
Where we negotiate with you creditors
and bring down you
monthly repayments to an
affordable amount (up to 40% ).
Debt
Management
:
We will help you draw up a sustainable budget
and give advise on financial matters.
Debt
Consolidation
:
You will pay ONE consolidated payment
to the Payment Distribution Agency, who will
pay
your creditors.
All
cases are handled confidential and with the
utmost privacy.
The
freedom to contract has always been seen as an
important cornerstone of any civilized society. It
grants individuals who bargain with each other the
security and certainty that the terms of their
contracts will be complied with. It also assures
them that their contracts will be enforced by a
competent court in the event of any default. This
general understanding and comfort is what drives and
holds together trade and commerce in free market
economies.
*The Bible
refers to debtors and creditors. The difference
however was that the creditors during Biblical times
were much more lenient towards debtors. In Exodus
22:25 [God says] “If you lend money to any of my
people with you, who is poor, you shall not exact
interest from him; If ever you take your
neighbor’s garment in pledge, you shall restore it
to him before the sun goes down...”
The
sanctity of contracts and freedom to contract has
always been viewed seriously by the law and the
judicial system. Under Roman law (which forms the
foundation of South African common law), compliance
with credit contracts was so serious that failure to
pay resulted in the debtor and his family being sold
to slavery (Robert Sharrock et al “Hocklys
Insolvency law” at 9). Roman law also allowed the
creditor to cut the body of a debtor. He could be
excused if he cut more flesh than he was
anticipated!
These
primitive methods of enforcement were later replaced
by imprisonment of debtors who failed to pay their
debts. In later years a debtor, who wanted to avoid
imprisonment, surrendered his whole estate to the
creditor. This latter principle was accepted in
Roman Dutch law and formed the foundation of early
insolvency law in SA.
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