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Debtfree DIGI March 2015- Editor’s Note

Finally! The National Credit Amendment Act 2014 has come into effect this month. This is great news for consumers considering debt review as the amendments make further changes which protect these consumer’s rights even more than before. Consumers in general now get additional protection from unscrupulous collections companies that have abused the Prescription Act and it is now an offence for large creditors to sell off their really old debt. Typically (but not always) this was done to smaller collections firms who try to get consumers to pay for old debt that was never acknowledged by the consumer or enforced by the creditor. This mulitmillion Rand revenue stream has dried up and this will provide relief for many consumers. It must also be said that once debt has “prescribed” even if a collector “tricks” a consumer into paying something toward the debt then that does not revive the debt. It is merely a voluntary gift from the consumer, essentially. It will be interesting to see the court cases and enforcement that arise due to this massive change.

Sometimes massive changes are needed if you want to balance your budget, reduce your expenses or finally get a handle on your debt. For some debt review is that change. Debt review is growing ever more popular with troubled consumers recently that said finding a Debt Counsellor can be tricky. Particularly, if you are unsure about how the process works or what a Debt Counsellor does. This issue we interview a Debt Counsellor and have listings of several companies you can talk to about their services in the Service Directory Section. We also discuss various aspects of the recent changes to the NCA.

We are also happy to announce the date of the Debt Review Awards 2015 namely the 13th of June. The Debtfree DIGI team are all helping organise the event again this year. As before Debtfree will not be handing out awards or deciding who actually get awards ourselves but we will be helping spread the word and make the arrangements for the Awards gala in June. More on that in this issue.

We hope that you too have been able to make big changes this year and that these steps will see you soon get debt free.

 

 

This article and more in the March issue of Debtfree DIGI

Read the magazine all about debt review for free online here: https://debtfreedigi.co.za/read-the-current-issue-of-debtfree-digi-magazine-online/

Debtfree DIGI March 2015 Cover