Do I still need to pay my debt after all this time?
What is prescription? As a general rule, prescription occurs when a debtor’s liability to pay a specific debt is extinguished as a result of the passing of a prescribed time period. As soon as a debt prescribes, a debtor is no longer under any obligation to pay it. It is still legal for the creditor to demand payment or even sue for a […]
Budget 2021: Individuals and savings
Finance Minister Tito Mboweni delivered his third annual budget address on 24 February 2021. Below we highlight some of the significant proposals, which will likely be contained in the Draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bill to be published for public comment in June or July 2021. Applying tax on withdrawals of retirement interest when an individual ceases to be a tax […]
DO DEBTS LAST FOREVER?
Prescription was introduced as means of protecting South African consumers from dishonest credit providers, who are responsible for recklessly lending credit and have contributed to the detrimental debt crisis many South Africans face today. What does prescription mean? The Prescription Act 68 of 1969 (PA) says that a debt (payment of money) is extinguished/expired after […]
CREDIT BUREAUS: CAN I BE BLACKLISTED?
There is no such thing as a blacklist. It simply means that there are negative data on your credit report that is hosted at a Credit Bureau. This negative data can be anything, from a plain collection on one of your loans right through Judgment data or even Debt review. This negative data will have […]
THE SEQUESTRATION PROCESS
The sequestration process involves a Court Application. The Applicant in the Application is either yourself for your own sequestration (voluntary surrender) or the Applicant is one of your creditors (either a friendly or aggressive creditor). The applications are similar and although there are some different requirements for each, the result is the same. Voluntary surrender Voluntary surrender […]
THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN THE CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT AND THE NATIONAL CREDIT ACT, AND THE POSSIBILITY OF PENALTIES WITH EARLY SETTLEMENT OF CREDIT AGREEMENTS
Mr Black buys a BMW car in terms of a hire purchase agreement and the financing is done through BMW Finance. After a few months Mr Black inherits a huge sum of money and decides that he wants to settle the outstanding amount. Mr Black’s concern is whether the credit provider is entitled to charge […]
THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN THE CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT AND THE NATIONAL CREDIT ACT, AND THE POSSIBILITY OF PENALTIES WITH EARLY SETTLEMENT OF CREDIT AGREEMENTS
Mr Black buys a BMW car in terms of a hire purchase agreement and the financing is done through BMW Finance. After a few months Mr Black inherits a huge sum of money and decides that he wants to settle the outstanding amount. Mr Black’s concern is whether the credit provider is entitled to charge […]
STANDARD ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS OF DEBT AND THE NATIONAL CREDIT ACT (NCA)
The new NCA does not only regulate instalment sale agreements and lease agreements in respect of movables as was done by its predecessor, the repealed Credit Agreements Act 75 of 1980. The NCA also applies to a much wider variety of credit agreements and has no monetary cap. Instead of instituting legal action a creditor […]
RESCISSION OF JUDGEMENT
Imagine receiving the nasty surprise that default judgement has been entered against your name because of a summons that you have never even received. It is necessary that you know the procedure of how to rescind a default judgement to get you out of this unwanted situation. Many people are confronted with the unfortunate situation […]
THE CREDIT AGREEMENT
If you default on a credit agreement and action is taken against you by the credit provider, you still have time, according to Section 129(3)(b) read with 129(3)(a) and S129(4) of the National Credit Act (“NCA”)[1] as well as the case of Firstrand Bank Limited v Nomsa Nkata[2] to re-instate the credit agreement until the […]