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The right to be issued with a clearance certificate and the cancellation of the debt review process

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(as extracted from Nicky Campbell’s Chapter 6, “The consumer’s rights and credit provider’s obligations”, in The Guide to the National Credit Act by JW Scholtz, Jannie Otto, E Van Zyl, Corlia Van Heerden, and Nicky Campbell) Section 21 of the National Credit Amendment Act amended section 71 of the principal Act to provide as follows:…

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The effect of Rougier v Nedbank on the cancellation of debt review

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The National Credit Act 34 of 2005 essentially gives a consumer the right to apply to a debt counsellor for debt review if he is of the opinion that he is over-indebted. This right is entrenched in section 86(1) and gives a consumer an opportunity for debt rearrangement. The aforesaid cannot be deprived or limited…

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Dereliction and Relegation of Debt Counsellor’s Duties may prove costly for Debt Counsellors

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In December 2016, three people were ordered to pay R180 000.00 in fines for failing to comply with debt counselling regulations. The fines were imposed by the National Consumer Tribunal (the “NCT”) after it was discovered that the guilty parties had been operating a debt counselling business, but had done so in contravention of compliance…

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Beware! Upfront fees for credit repair are unlawful

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Credit repair in South Africa has become a formidable industry. Only ten years ago, one needed an attorney to improve one’s credit record. Today there are dozens of so-called credit repair agencies and most do not employ attorneys, and many do not have any legal qualifications. With the proliferation of credit repair agencies, there has…