Standard Bank Debt Review Meet With SBSA Collections Attorneys
The Standard Bank Debt Review team recently engaged with Mac Roberts, Bham Dahya and Norton Lambrianos about the debt review process. These different collections attorneys handle debt collections on behalf of the bank. Often times, these are the attorneys who will make contact with consumers who have just entered debt review or who are currently under debt review.
The meeting was motivated, in part, due to the high number of complaints and enquiries that Debt Counsellors and consumers have made about SBSA collections attorneys.
“Terminations”
If a consumer under debt review misses any debt review payment (as ordered monthly by the court in their debt restructuring court order) then they can lose the protection of the debt review process and are in breach of the requirements of their court order. Credit providers are then allowed to begin a new round of collections and legal enforcement. This is their legal right.
‘Credit providers are then allowed to begin a new round of collections and legal enforcement’
The credit provider will send the consumer, Debt Counsellor and NCR a notice of intent to terminate or 86(10) notice (at present there is no prescribed form as mentioned in the National Credit Act but most people see this notice as the form itself- inaccurate but how things are done).
The notice does not terminate the entire debt review but signals that the particular credit provider is not going to be cooperating with the debt review any longer and will hand matters over to a collections department or attorney. They may later even (summons and) go to court to try to get a judgement (which the consumer is allowed to defend and ask to have put back into debt review at a court level as per NCA Section 86(11)).
The various SBSA collections attorneys all mentioned that when they try engaging with consumers or Debt Counsellors they are always told that the ‘”termination” is not valid. They have no way of checking this.
Standard Bank has reminded the industry that these collections attorneys are not empowered to investigate the validity of a 86(10) termination by the bank. They are only empowered and contracted to make collections and collections agreements.
‘these collections attorneys are not empowered to investigate the validity of a 86(10) termination by the bank’
If contacted by a collections agent, consumers should notify their Debt Counsellor, who can make contact with Standard Bank Debt Review at DebtReviewServices@standardbank.co.za who can then investigate (the attorney cannot).
The attorneys will continue to try and collect outside of debt review until told otherwise. They are, however, able to enter into a payment arrangement with either the consumer or Debt Counsellor (with a power of attorney from the consumer). Where this can match the restructured repayment amount this has minimal effect on the debt review but where the amount demanded is much higher it can complicate things greatly.
NEVER MISS A DEBT REVIEW PAYMENT
