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Members of the National Credit Tribunal (NCT) team made their way to Cape Town during March to not only hear a matter regarding a statement entry dispute between one of the Big banks and a consumer but also to present information to Debt Counsellors and consumers.

The presentation was made in Cape Town CBD on Monday 12th March. Attendance was poor. Though many Debt Counsellors had RSVP’d sadly only a third of those who said they would attend actually bothered to show up. When the same presentation was recently made in Pretoria there were 33 Debt Counsellors in attendance.

Lynne Koen and Marelize Bosch of the NCT not only presented information showing how applications can be made but also hosted a question and answer session. Attendees where very impressed and now seem eager to make use of the NCT. One Debt Counsellor who attended said he was definitely going to “give it a try”…there is not even a doubt”. He now plans to take around 20 consented matters to the NCT.

An application to have a debt review consent order (where all creditors have agreed to a repayment plan or have made counter proposals that the debt counsellor has accepted) heard by the NCT costs only R100. No legal representation is necessary and normally such applications take about 3 months from the date of application till being heard. This is, in many cases, faster than the magistrates courts waiting periods. An Order granted by the NCT has the same force as a High Court Order making this cheaper option, where all parties are happy with the plan. The NCT has made over 300 of these orders in the last quarter alone.

Many Debt Counsellors are making use of the DCRS system to make proposals and are receiving consent through the system. They could thus take all these matters to the NCT rather than other local courts. Also a factor is that there are no jurisdiction issues when having the matter heard by the NCT.

In certain parts of the country, some Courts have refused to grant debt review restructuring orders that feature interest rates that have been reduced by consent. Even though the credit providers have agreed to these reductions to help consumers, these courts will not make such an Order leaving consumers hanging. Now Debt Counsellors and consumers in these areas can turn to the NCT for such orders at a cost of only R100.

Consumers too can turn to the NCT to help them get account information that creditors refuse to provide. In such an application to get this sort of information there is no fee that the consumer has to pay.The NCT will have hearing and can then force the creditor to give the consumer a statement at no cost.

If you would like to know more about the NCT or would like to download application forms then head over to their website at: www.thenct.org.za