As a debt counsellor I encounter many different approaches people try when they are over in-debted. One of the most asked questions I get is what will they do if I simply do not pay my debt.
Below is a brief description of the steps the credit providers will take
Getting Rid Of Debt – Step One
The credit provider will send out a section 129 letter via registered post to your last know address. This letter tells you that you should settle the amount owed within 10 business days or the credit provider will proceed to enforce the agreement by means of legal action. The letter also states that you should go and see a debt counsellor within this period if you so wish.
Getting Rid Of Debt – Step Two
If you choose to ignore the section 129 notice the credit provider will issue a summons which will be delivered by the sheriff of the court. This summons will give you a set period in which to notify the handling attorneys of your intention to defend the matter. If you do not notify the attorneys or appear in court the attorneys will get a default judgment against you. This default judgement will mean that the creditor can now take one of the following approaches
Getting Rid Of Debt – Step Three
First approach
The attorneys can now apply for an emoluments attachment order (more commonly known as the garnishee order), this will mean that the attorneys will decide on an amount and they will apply to the court to have this amount deducted directly from your pay before you even receive your remuneration. This is generally not based on your actual living expenses and can cause huge problems in a consumers life as he/she might not be able to survive should the amount be taken and secondly the client might now not be able to pay his/her other accounts leading to legal action from the remaining credit providers
Second Approach
The credit provider can apply for your assets to be attached. The sheriff of the court will come and write up an inventory of your assets eg, furniture, vehicles, houses etc. he will then take this inventory back to the attorneys handling the case, the attorneys will decide weather the estimated value of the assets is worth them taking the assets. The assets will then be sold on auction. The proceeds of the auction will offset the amount you owe. If there is a shortfall you are still liable for this.
Third approach
If the attorneys do not know where you work and you have no assets worth taking they will call you to appear in a section 65 enquiry, this is an enquiry called for you to appear before a magistrate and prove all your income and expenditure so it can be decided what you can afford to pay towards the amount owed. This is the only time you can be arrested for debt, If you ignore the summons to appear you can be arrested to appear before the court for this enquiry.
Getting Rid Of Debt
The above is just a short description of options the credit providers have available to them. If getting rid of debtis you wish and you are falling behind on your accounts please do not let it get to the above stages, taking a pro active approach is a much better idea.
In our next blog post, we will be going through the dirty tricks credit providers use against you.
Get Rid Of Your Debt With The Help Of An Expert Debt Counsellor Today! Call 0314624308 or 0318275906