The Spoils of DEBT

To explain the concept "The spoils of debt" I have to use the spoils of war as an example.  The spoils of war can best be described as "Any profits extracted as the result of winning a war or other military activity"  

Why would anyone winning a war take from the defeated what they- the defeated need to survive on?  - A good example to illustrate this is the spoils of the war in Iraq. The spoils of that war are the oil the United states are taking out of that country. I think most rational people will agree with me that this act is unethical, immoral, unprincipled and indefensible. A word that sums this up perfectly is unconscionable 

The spoils of debt are exactly the same:  People deep in debt loose everything when the banks go to war against them - They will use every weapon available to them to extract every cent a person have, to try and settle their debt. They will sell everything he has, his house, his car, attach his salary, attach his loose assets, drag him to court to explain why he is not paying etc,etc.

Then when everything has failed and they have judgments against the person and there is nowhere to extract any money from them anymore the creditor - or bank - will write the debt off against "bad debt" and then claim this off their profits against tax.   Nothing funny so far?

Normal run of the mill and accepted as the norm.  

Now, this is where the spoils of debt come in - There is a secondary industry that feeds on these debtors like leeches - it is the industry of buying bad debt and starting the spoils of debt cycle. 

These people created an industry where there are no conscience, no ethics, no morals, no principles and their actions are indefensible. It is driven by Unconscionable greed. They are living on the spoils of debt.  And they employ half trained, arrogant call center based staff to start haunting and harassing these victims of the financial war.  

And society again accept this as normal - 

Well, it is time to start the fight against this  -

So - to those in this industry - a new war has started and you just might not like it.

Everyone that wants to get involved please do. Watch this space as I am going to start drafting defense mechanisms on how to handle the situation when you are the victim of this. 

The first line of defense is Prescribed debt.  In terms of the latest changes to the NCA it is now illegal to even try and collect on prescribed debt. It is illegal to sell or buy Prescribed debt.  So the first thing when you get an SMS or call about a debt older than 3 years is to define the debt - If there is no judgment on the debt it most probably has prescribed and the would be collector is breaking the Law.  Report it to this forum - We will send you a template to handle the situation.

Here  is my guide on how to handle debt collectors calls 

I am also in the process of researching the legal standing of these types of debt - the ones where there are judgments and I will comment on this later. 
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The Book

"THE BOOK" has had a long way in becoming a reality. This morning I read an article that was emailed to me - somehow confirming what I had already decided on last week. It is time.SETTING GOALS to eventually get the book published is not the answer .  The answer is to get into the habit of writing at least 500 words daily until the book is ready and I took the first action this morning . I WILL BE POSTING REGULARLY ABOUT THE BOOK   here - and any constructive comments will be appreciated.......................
The general public have a lot in common when it comes to debt and a lot of you out there can relate a lot to the following article: ( This is going to be in the preamble to the book)

People deep in debt has one thing in common...that dreaded feeling of helplessness - I am drowning and no one is even noticing.
Read the following carefully right to the end.

There are basically two parties to a debt: The creditor and the debtor - If you are the first party please leave as you are going to be offended and the intention is that you should.
The ones now left are the debtors deeply in debt and having a feeling of hopelessness. You are drowning in debt and there is not much you can do about it.

Take a deep breath and read on ( take your time - this is not a quick fix but if you skip paragraphs you are not going to get the message)

I am going to tell a story here and you are most probably going to be the main character of this story
I am going to call him Consumaris

The following quote comes from the Bible and just so vividly describes the position Consumaris eventually found himself in: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead"

I will explain the application of the above quote at the end

Consumaris was on top of the world- He was general manager of a specialist chain of jewelry shops around the country earning a pretty penny. He has worked his way up the corporate ladder one step at a time and now after 35 years of service is as high as he probably would be able to go in the company but he is feeling fine - He earns a 6 figure income per month and has a nice house and 2 grand cars and both his children is now nearing the end of their university adventures. He has recently bought a new house and have a home loan on this as well as some other debts amounting to about 40% of his income which still leaves him with a nice margin to live comfortably.

This morning his whole life fell apart - he was called in by the CEO informing him that an international company has recently become the major shareholder in the company and that they had evaluated the companies present strategies and have decided to make an a major player online and that certain staff will be retrenched with immediate effect, and that he was one of them. 

6 months down the line the crunch was getting to him - his cash flow was running low and he knew he would have to sell the house to keep his head above water. 

3 months later there were no more cash left and he knew he was seriously in trouble - so far no interested buyers for the house and he will not be able to make the end of the month repayment on the house.
The bank was very sympathetic but made no stories about what would happen if he started to default. 

"A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead"

THE BOOK IS GOING TO ADRESS THIS SITUATION AND QUITE A FEW OTHERS TO ENABLE PEOPLE TO LIFT THEIR HEAD, PREPARE FOR SITUATIONS LIKE THESE AND KNOW HOW TO HEAL AGAIN.   

Unlawfull attempts at collecting Prescribed Debt

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THE FACTS ABOUT PRESCRIBED DEBT

The effect of the Amendment to the National credit act that came into force on the 13^th day of March 2015 regarding prescribed debt.............

Prescription, in terms of debt, is when a debt expires after a certain period of time which is usually three years. The result hereof is that the debtor is no longer regarded as owing the debt and the creditor may not initiate legal action to collect this debt.  This is now specifically prohibited in terms of this amendment. In terms of the Prescription act 68 of 1969 consumers could raise the defense of prescription when a credit provider instituted legal proceedings after a period of three years had lapsed.

 (It was not uncommon for creditors to trick consumers into acknowledging their commitment in terms of the debt and then collect on the acknowledgement.  It is now totally illegal to do this)  The regulatory Compliance Amendment Act 9 (13 March 2015) has included an additional section in the Act that specifically deals with prescription and which has shifted the onus from the consumer to the creditor and has placed a restriction on credit providers or any other person who collects debt.  Section 126B of the Amendment Act provides that no person may sell any debt under a credit agreement to which the NCA applies, where such debt has prescribed. Furthermore, a person may not continue to collect such debt or proceed with the re-activation of such debt where the debt has prescribed and where the consumer has raised or would reasonably have raised prescription as a defense. 

Until the wording of the act is challenged in court and case law comes into force contradicting this the wording is very clear.  Even if you acknowledged a prescribed debt previously and made arrangements to pay on this and have been paying on this –  Creditors will be in default after 13 March 2015 to accept payment from you and I am sure that you will be successful in claiming such payments back if you now raise the defense of prescription.  

iN THE CASE OF KAKNIS v ABSA BANK LTD AND ANOTHER 2017 (4) SA 17 (SCA) IT HAS SINCE BEEN ESTABLISHED THAT THE ACT DOES NOT WORK RETROSPECTIVELY AND THAT THE ASSUMPTION I MADE ABOVE IS NOT APPLICABLE. iT WILL ONLY BE APPLICABLE AFTER THE DATE OF IMPLEMENTATION  WHICH IS 13 march 2015 .  ANY ARANGEMENT THAT WAS THUS MADE BEFORE THIS DATE WILL STAND AND IS STILL ENFORCEABLE 

The Amendment Act has provided protection to consumers in this regard due to a consumer most likely being unaware of the provisions of the Prescription Act No. 68 of 1969 and their rights in terms of this Act. Therefore, credit providers should be aware of the prescription periods of debt and ensure that debts are recovered before they prescribe. It should be noted that the prescription period of three years does not apply to mortgages as the prescription period for mortgages is 30 years. It also does not apply to license fees and payment for services to municipalities, tax and other payments to the state.

The actual wording in the act reads as follows:

The following section is hereby inserted in the principal Act after section 126A:
‘‘Application of prescription of debt - 126B. 

(1) (a) No person may sell a debt under a credit agreement to which this Act applies and that has been extinguished by prescription under the Prescription Act, 1969 (Act No. 68 of 1969).

(b) No person may continue the collection of, or re-activate a debt under a credit agreement to which this Act applies— 

(i) which debt has been extinguished by prescription under the Prescription Act, 1969 (Act No. 68 of 1969); and 
(ii) where the consumer raises the defence of prescription, or would reasonably have raised the defence of prescription had the consumer been aware of such a defence, in response to a demand, whether as part of legal proceedings or otherwise.’’

How Bank Cards are stolen at ATM's

This article appeared on the 11th of July in My Broadband news letter

I post this on the blog for anyone who might need it later on -

It is imperative for anyone using an ATM and the following advice from the article is probably the most important:

(THESE ARE GOLDEN RULES !)

1. Never allow anyone to help you at an ATM.   NEVER

2.   ALWAYS PRESS CANCEL ON AN ATM BEFORE PUTTING YOUR CARD IN A MACHINE.

3.   IF THERE IS A SLIP IN THE MACHINE - REMOVE AND DESTROY IT IMMEDIATELY !


Here is the link to the whole article : 

How bank cards are stolen at ATM's


Here is the link to the card skimming article that is also a must read:

How Waiters skim your credit or debit card

High court ruling regarding previous owner debt - groundbreaking ruling!

New homeowner not liable for old electricity bill

Today’s South Gauteng High Court ruling gives property owners extra protection – Chantelle Gladwin – Schindlers Attorneys.

Hanna Ziady  |  27 June 2016 19:02

HANNA ZIADY:  The South Gauteng High Court today granted an order against Ekurhuleni Municipality, which covers Gauteng’s East Rand, ruling that the municipality cannot disconnect the electricity supply to a new owner’s property because of an outstanding debt owed to the municipality by a previous owner of that same property.

The judgment has been welcomed as a victory for property owners, and we are joined now by Chantelle Gladwin, who is a partner and registered tax practitioner at Schindlers Attorneys. Chantelle, it’s good to have you with us this evening, and welcome.

CHANTELLE GLADWIN:  Hi, and thanks very much.

HANNA ZIADY:  The High Court today ruled that it was actually unlawful for the Ekurhuleni Municipality to refuse to supply electricity to this particular premises on the basis that a prior owner had an outstanding electricity bill. Is this precedent-setting, Chantelle? How important is this judgment?

CHANTELLE GLADWIN:  A couple of months ago there was a judgment which everyone called the Mitchell judgment, and it created a hoo-ha in our law because it appeared to say that new property owners are liable for the debts of old property owners. Now that’s not actually what it said, but that’s what a lot of people think that it said.

The judgment that we got today makes it absolutely clear in no uncertain terms that just because you own a property that has a historical debt attached to it doesn’t necessarily mean that you can be held liable in the sense that that debt becomes your debt. It’s still the old owner’s debt and you can’t be turned off for it and you can’t have the municipality refuse to supply you for it.

What the municipality can do if it chooses to – which we’ve never seen happen –is bring an application to court to try and attach your property for the old debt which is owed and which was incurred by the old owner. But, as I say, municipalities don’t generally do that. We’ve never seen them do that.

So this goes a very long way to making absolutely clear what the law is and it gives property owners that little bit of extra protection because until now there wasn’t really anything that explained that distinction very nicely.

HANNA ZIADY:  You noted the Mitchell judgment, saying that really what people thought it said was not what it actually said, but also that this judgment today is perhaps a small step towards repairing any of the harm of that judgment and the Mathabathe judgment. Is this really just a point of clarity – that this judgment finally brings much-needed clarity to this area of law?

CHANTELLE GLADWIN:  Absolutely. Unfortunately the Mathabathe and the two Mitchell judgments have been entirely misunderstood by the greater public and many attorneys – and even the courts themselves. What’s happened is that everybody’s got caught up in the hype of this idea of a new owner being held liable for an old owner’s debt, and that’s not at all what the law contemplates.

So what’s happened is that we’ve had to, on a case-by-case basis, basically carve out a little bit of clarity in every test case that we get to make it 100% clear to municipalities and to the public at large what is okay and what is not okay.

HANNA ZIADY:  Just a quick one, Chantelle. When will more information on today’s judgment be forthcoming?

CHANTELLE GLADWIN:  You can expect an article to be published in the next week or two by my partner at Schindlers, and then a copy of the judgment will be available on our website as soon as I can get it from the court. It usually takes a couple of days, so let’s say in a week or so a copy will be available on our website.

SUCCESSFUL PERSONAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

There are all sorts of financial management programs available that try and teach people financial management.  Some are more successful than others. BUT still people are struggling with debt and mismanagement of money.

Financial management cannot be taught, it can only be learned. Having someone or something to aid with the process is of great benefit. Find a guide, not an instructor.

I am going to start publishing the pages of an upcoming ebook on sound personal financial management in the coming weeks on this blog and if you need some guidance on the subject this is an ABSOLUTE MUST READ and you cannot afford to miss a single page!

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This is totally FREE and will change your financial perspective forever ! 

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