Perissos DEBT Counselling

11/09/2024

Many people are being scammed by alleged Companies who promise that they can clear you from debt review. Beware! The Law is very clear on how this must be done. Contact us for assistance and peace of mind

09/07/2021

Charles Geel van Charles Geel en Genote gesels oor skuldberading, en verduidelik hoe die proses werk en hoekom nie almal daarvoor kwalifiseer nie. Luister na hierdie eerste van 3 onderhoude op RSG vir meer inligting:

Charles Geel van Charles Geel en Vennote gesels oor skuldberading, en verduidelik hoe die proses werk en hoekom nie almal daarvoor kwalifiseer nie. Leana Burger, 'n prokureur by Burger Potgieter Prokureurs, gesels oor die moets en die moenie wanneer jy skei, en die stigma wat aan geskeide vroue en e...

04/09/2020

SCAMS

I have been receiving more and more enquiries from consumers and colleagues following calls from call centres promising that they can remove a consumer from being “flagged” as being under debt counselling. Obviously, a large fee is payable upfront.

IS THIS POSSIBLE?
No! And no court application can change this. It is now established law that a consumer cannot be “unflagged” unless:
(a) All unsecured debt has been paid in full;
(b) Paid-up letters are obtained from each of the listed Creditors;
(c) Your Debt Counsellor then issues a Clearance Certificate in terms of the National Credit Act, which clearance letter and all the paid-up letters must then be submitted to the most important credit bureaus.
CONTACT US FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICE, BOTH AS DEBT COUNSELLOR AND ATTORNEYS

04/09/2020

BEWARE THE CALL CENTERS

Unfortunately, it has become the norm rather than the exception that most debt counselling companies make use of call centers and all so-called “counselling” is done telephonically by telemarketers.
No actual debt counselling is done, whether personally or by way of Zoom- and/or Skype meetings. It is nothing more than a numbers game of which you the consumer becomes one. This totally refutes the whole purpose of the debt counselling process.
What is further upsetting for me as a practising attorney and registered debt counsellor is the exorbitant legal fees raised by most of these companies. In some instances, the services of attorneys are procured, but the chunk of the legal fees are pocketed by the debt counselling company which is unlawful and contrary to rules of the Legal Practice Council which specifically prohibits the sharing of legal fees with non-attorneys, such as debt counsellors.
CONTACT US FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICE, BOTH AS DEBT COUNSELLOR AND ATTORNEYS

02/03/2019

WHAT IS THE USE?
MY OUTSTANDING BALANCES JUST KEEP INCREASING UNDER DEBT REVIEW?
This is one of the most difficult questions to answer and explain to consumers, although – if you consider it clearly - it is actually quite logical.
A. BEFORE YOU FORGET:
1. At the time you applied for debt counselling you found yourself in a precarious situation as you were unable to pay your monthly contractual debt payments timeously or at all.
2. The process immediately stopped all legal pending legal action against you. No judgement against your name.
3. Your assets, whether property, motor vehicle(s) and/or furniture were protected from being foreclosed or attached.
4. In some instances (not always), you were fortunate enough to receive a decrease (often significantly) in your monthly interest rates on outstanding balances.
5. After taking into account your necessary living expenses, your monthly debt payments were restructure thereby often drastically reducing your monthly debt repayments. This should have provided you with a huge relief of stress.
6. No more threatening calls and/or SMSs.
B. SO WHY THE INCREASE IN THE OUTSTANDING BALANCES?
7. FIRSTLY: You are making a lesser payment monthly than your contractual agreement with the Creditor.
8. SECONDLY: Due to the above you are falling into arrears, and interest on interest is accumulating. The result: Your outstanding balance is growing.
C. SO, WHAT’S THE USE?
9. You are still fully protected as explained in A above.
10. The in duplum rule kicks in after a period of time. It is another one of those difficult legal/accounting principles to explain, but allow me to try by way of a basic example:
10.1 Let’s assume that on the date you first defaulted on your installment the outstanding balance was R50 000.00.
10.2 You are making regular payments in terms of your debt review restructured Order.
10.3 Once all the interest, creditors’ fees, default fees, collections costs etc becomes equal to the above R50 000,00, ALL these charges stop accumulating immediately. This may be after one, three or 4 years depending on the balance outstanding when you fell into arrears.
11. QUESTION: So how does this benefit me?
ANSWER: You will now start seeing a dramatic decrease in the outstanding balances as the full restructured installment is allocated to settle the outstanding balance and not interest, fees etc.
For more information give us a call on 021-852 7716 / 021-851 1544 or SMS 065 973 7023

26/01/2019

WHAT IS RECKLESS CREDIT?
Before a Credit Provider (let us refer to it as" the Bank") enters into a Credit Agreement (such a personal loan, overdraft facility, motor vehicle finance, etc) with you as individual, it must conduct an affordability assessment as prescribed by the National Credit Act ('the NCA") and its regulations.

WHEN WILL A CREDIT AGREEMENT BE RECKLESS?

When the Bank with the information available entered into the Credit Agreement with you even though:

(i) You did not generally understand or appreciate the risks, costs or obligations of such credit agreement; and/or

(ii) entering into that credit agreement would make you over indebted.

DO TAKE NOTE: The Bank will have a complete defense against an allegation of reckless lending if you have failed to make a full and truthful disclosure of all your income and expenditures, and your failure had a material influence on the outcome of the assessment.

MORE about the implications of reckless lending in my following post.

20/01/2019

PERISSOS = EXCEEDINGLY ABUNDANTLY ABOVE

Your Debt will not disappear. For peace of mind allow us to take the load of your shoulders so that you can concentrate on more important things like your work and family. Once legal action is taken, it may be too late to protect your assets. Call us NOW.

14/01/2019

Why choose us? Charles Geel is a practicing attorney with over 25 years of experience. He also facilitates the compulsory National Credit Regulator’s (NCR's) compulsory courses to prospective debt counsellors. As a great deal of the debt review process requires the interpretation and application of the Act, Court procedures and the Law, his legal expertise obviously provides a great advantage to our clients.