Bond arrears

[Derlyn]

Hi Ian

There are basically 2 directions to go.

1) Consult a registered debt councilor. Make sure he or she is registered. Explain your situation and be truthful. They will then work something
out, correspond with the relevant parties on your behalf and once you are are registered with them, your assets, by law, are frozen and cannot
be attached. NB! Make sure they are registered and a reputable company.

2) Go the Standard Bank Sellsure route. This will buy you time.
Do not accept their valuation of your property. Stall as much as possible. Point out all the upgrades you have done to your house. Find out
what was the highest price paid for recently in your area and chuck that in as well.

Now this is when you start being awkward. First appearances count 90% of the time with the sale of any house.
Make the house looks like shit from the street. Don't cut the grass. Do anything to put off potential buyers. After all, it's not in your interest
that the house get's sold.

When there is an arranged viewing by a potential buyer, make sure nobody's home, the house is locked and you were called out to an
emergency breakdown. You're an electrician trying to earn a living. Like I said ... be awkward.

Inside, for when the day arrives that someone eventually gets in to see the interior, make sure it doesn't look good. Use your imagination.
Washing in the lounge, wires hanging from the ceiling, dirty dishes piled up everywhere. Make the place look kak. That puts off most buyers. If
you are a fisherman, be sure to leave some vrot bait somewhere. Smell is very important. Nobody will buy a house that smells like shit.

In the meantime, while this is going on, get yourself a good attorney who you know has helped clients successfully with similar problems.

In the meantime, keep paying what you can on the bond. Don't skip. Pay. No matter how little, don't skip. This is important.

I know of people that have been awkward for up to 4 years without losing their house.

Good luck, brother. You have my particulars. I can put you onto people that can assist.

Peace out .. Derek.

[ians]

Are you being billed by two entities?

They forced a debit order onto my wife's account ... without her permission ... so she contacted FNB and advised them ... FNB bounce the debit every month.

You say that you have been paying the bond for the past 7 months - have you been paying Standard bank directly?

For the past 7 months I have been paying the full amount of my bond and a little extra every month.


You say that you are receiving debit orders that are bouncing - is that from a separate entity?

Standard bank debit an FNB account every months since they forced a payment holiday ... which ( the payment holiday) they removed 2 months later ... but didnt remove the debit order.

How many months were you in arrears before you started paying again 7 months ago?

About 3 or 4 months not 100 % sure because I have been paying extra every months for the past 7 months.


How long ago were you 1st notified that you've been handed over?

I have been harassed by debit collectors since around November last year.

[ians]

Hi Ian

There are basically 2 directions to go.

1) Consult a registered debt councilor. Make sure he or she is registered. Explain your situation and be truthful. They will then work something
out, correspond with the relevant parties on your behalf and once you are are registered with them, your assets, by law, are frozen and cannot
be attached. NB! Make sure they are registered and a reputable company.

I will pass on this idea thanks ... there is no way on this earth that I will go this route ... I would rather just sell one of my bicycles and pay the outstanding bond amount.

2) Go the Standard Bank Sellsure route. This will buy you time.
Do not accept their valuation of your property. Stall as much as possible. Point out all the upgrades you have done to your house. Find out
what was the highest price paid for recently in your area and chuck that in as well.

Now this is when you start being awkward. First appearances count 90% of the time with the sale of any house.
Make the house looks like shit from the street. Don't cut the grass. Do anything to put off potential buyers. After all, it's not in your interest
that the house get's sold.

When there is an arranged viewing by a potential buyer, make sure nobody's home, the house is locked and you were called out to an
emergency breakdown. You're an electrician trying to earn a living. Like I said ... be awkward.

Inside, for when the day arrives that someone eventually gets in to see the interior, make sure it doesn't look good. Use your imagination.
Washing in the lounge, wires hanging from the ceiling, dirty dishes piled up everywhere. Make the place look kak. That puts off most buyers. If
you are a fisherman, be sure to leave some vrot bait somewhere. Smell is very important. Nobody will buy a house that smells like shit.

In the meantime, while this is going on, get yourself a good attorney who you know has helped clients successfully with similar problems.

In the meantime, keep paying what you can on the bond. Don't skip. Pay. No matter how little, don't skip. This is important.

I know of people that have been awkward for up to 4 years without losing their house.

Good luck, brother. You have my particulars. I can put you onto people that can assist.


This just sounds like too much hard work.

[ians]

I really don't think that it is wise to try and get clever in this situation - the risk of losing the house is too great.

I really think that @ians should seek out the services of a professional accountant or lawyer to assist him. One may end up having to pay the professional R50k but that would be better than fighting a battle where the opposition clearly has the upper hand.

My wife and I have had to revert to an accounting firm to sort out our taxes for the very same reason (It isn't nice to part with R40k paying accountants but that is what they are for - We can rest easy knowing that they are dealing with it on our behalf)

I know the feeling ... I had a crap accountant ... I paid him R10 000 to get my books sorted out ... he disappeared ... I got a new accountant ... I ended up having to sell one of my vehicles to pay over R80k in taxes and services

[ians]

Blurock ... dont even talk to me about FNB ... my wife is with FNB (she got tired of Standard bank and their shyte service) now every time I have to deal with Standard bank ... she rubs my nose in it ... " I told you to move to FNB"

He banking experience is like asking a qualified electrician for help with connection a light fitting and for me dealing with Standard bank is like asking an oke with an electrician sign outside builders how to program a PLC ... dealing with standard bank is joke.

My wife is employed and she has an account which gives her access to a personal online banker and if she needs to see the banker in person she makes an appointment.

I am business owner and have personal account with Standard bank for more than 10 years ... I have to drive to Standard bank fill out a form and sit and wait a que for a banker to become available.

You cant even make an appointment with a business banker at Standard bank

[ians]

I still cant get an answer from Standard bank ... nobody can tell me what the "garden fees*" is for.

[Derlyn]

Oh well, I tried.

Good luck, brother.

If I were in your shoes, I would have sold that bicycle long ago.

Peace out .. Derek.

[Blurock]

I still cant get an answer from Standard bank ... nobody can tell me what the "garden fees*" is for.

Contact their fraud dept and report the unauthorised debit. They then have to investigate and report back to you. As you cannot stop a debit order, you will have to stop payment every month until it goes away. Keep pressure on the fraud dept and get names and references so that there is someone that can be held accountable.

[Blurock]

This bond issue appears to be a slapgat attitude from bank officials. I am sure that a senior official can look into the matter and have it resolved in no time.
Are you getting bond statements and can you see the debits and credits on your account? If they have handed you over to a debt collector, he is probably adding his 10% to any monies collected. This could add additional costs to the account. It could also be possible that credits are not recorded on your account, but is lying in a suspense account.
How did the bank get hold of your wife's banking details to submit a D/o?
If that was unauthorised, you should demand full refund for the extra charges to return the D/o

In my experience, I would do the following:
1. Demand a full record of transactions for the past 24 months at least.
2. See that interest is calculated correctly and that all your payments are recorded on the same date that you had paid.
3. Look for any add- ons that could push you further in arrears.
4. Get a good attorney to approach the bank at a snr level (such as regional manager or at least the regional head of department) with the facts as per the statement to show that you have continued paying and are trying to catch up.
You may try this yourself, if you can get an appointment.
5. Let the attorney negotiate a new repayment plan and make sure that your instalment is not due on the last day of the month as your debtors may only pay a week later.

[adrianh]

Another angle is to speak to a local radio station. I've spoken to Cape Talk about a couple of things a couple of times and it is amazing how quickly people take action when they are expected to appear on radio to explain their actions. I don't know if there is a local radio station / program / journalist that you could speak to. Look, you are not the only person in this situation so I really think that a progressive radio station would love to run with it.

[adrianh]

In a similar vain to what @Ians is dealing with

TELKOM just pulled an interesting stunt on me. I go in to the shop to add an additional service to the long list of services on my name. Next thing they say that I can't get another service because I owe them R4k from 2016. I go huh....since when?

Anyhow, after much phoning around and digging it comes to light that I was involved in a company that went belly up long ago. Telkom WROTE THE DEBT OFF. The guy on the phone 1st said that I owed them nothing but when I pushed him he looked in an archive system that showed the issue. So now they say that unless I pay them the R4k that was written off in 2016 they cannot allow me to make changes to my existing services (That I have been paying for for 10 odd years)

I think the scheme is this: They can't force people to pay written off debt so they blackmail them into doing so by refusing future service. I think that Telkom is digging up old skeletons because they are hurting for cash. I further think that anybody that was associated in any way with debt that Telkom had written off is going to get a very nasty surprise when they go to the Telkom shop or phone inquiries for that matter.

We are in the fortunate position of being able to pay the R4k so life goes on - I just think that it is a very SCUMMY way for them to get money from people considering the broader situation.

TELKOM gets my vote as SCUMBAGS OF THE YEAR! - Come to think of it - They are just doing what they always do so nothing has changed!

I think that other companies are going to use this same scheme to suck money from people - be very careful of the conglomerates - your 10 year old written off debt in one company may just show up in an affiliated company's "archive".

[adrianh]

Oh and by the by: SANLAM phoned me 5 times this morning trying to sell me a a credit card - until I shouted at the lady and blocked the number.

Big companies ALL seem to be a bunch of money hungry scumbags!

[Justloadit]

Next thing they say that I can't get another service because I owe them R4k from 2016. I go huh....since when?

This should have fallen under the Prescribed law.

Prescription Act says that contractual and delictual debts extinguish after three years from the date when it became payable (due). Prescription periods may, in certain circumstances, be delayed or interrupted.

Hence never admit to having a debt, and never ever voluntarily making a single cent of contribution to the debt, it will automatically reset the prescribed date to the date of these actions. Be careful, they can record you and use it against you in these cases.

I suppose under the case that you were under, it would not have helped to get the service required.

[adrianh]

This should have fallen under the Prescribed law.


Hence never admit to having a debt, and never ever voluntarily making a single cent of contribution to the debt, it will automatically reset the prescribed date to the date of these actions. Be careful, they can record you and use it against you in these cases.

I suppose under the case that you were under, it would not have helped to get the service required.

I agree not to admit to any debt but the scam is that they simply refuse additions or alterations to existing service unless the matter is resolved in their favour. Damned if you do and damned if you don't - They are banking on the fact that people will rather pay the outstanding amount than go through the trauma of moving to another service provider.

This is the 1st time since 2016 that a check of my id number on their system showed the written off amount - (..and all the family phones and devices are on my name so I haven't been hiding from them - I pay them nominally R1.5k per month for the past 5 years a least) - It is as if they are resurrecting all their written off archives so as to blackmail people into clearing the old debt.

[adrianh]

Very difficult in COVID-19 situation. Everyone knows that.

The problem is that some companies are blackmailing people and making matters worse for the general public.

I am not going to pay the prescribed debt - they are welcome to take me to court - I don't care - If you refuse me additional services then I will just go elsewhere and cancel my contracts once they've run their course.

I think its short sighted ploy on their part - they take me for R4k and they stand to lose R1.5k per month once all my contracts run out.