Wesbank debt-collection queried
Lender approaches defaulters to surrender cars
The national credit regulator is seeking legal clarity in a case against WesBank, a division of FirstRand, which it claims is contravening the National Credit Act by persuading defaulting consumers to surrender cars bought under credit deals. "Credit providers should not be using section 127 [of the act] to escape going to court," said Jacqueline Peters, manager of investigation and enforcement at the regulator. "The application is about legal interpretation. It is not a cut-and-dried case." The regulator was confident that it was correct, she said. Loan repayments Section 127 allows consumers to voluntarily surrender goods purchased under credit agreements if they are unable to meet loan repayments. The regulator is taking issue with WesBank approaching defaulting consumers to surrender their cars, as opposed to defaulters approaching WesBank. "We mustn’t change the voluntary surrender process to anything other than a process [begun] by the consumer. WesBank’s debt-collection agen...
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