Warning about bank repossessions

[nathan0116]

I had my house and three vehicles repossessed a couple of months ago. The vehicles I used for business purposes but due to the repossession I could not continue working which then led to my house being repo'd.

I just want to warn people that debt consolidators and debt counsellors and debt review consultants are just there to kick a dog while he's down because they are attorneys wanting to extort money from people who are already struggling financially. People are shrewd when it comes to money. Speaking to an attorney when the bank wants to repo your car, he/she would probably advise you that they should get a court order. They don't tell you that a court order cost anything between R8000 and R10000 which you at the end would be liable to pay.

So pleeeeeez people, I'm speaking from experience there are other ways to handle your financial predicament such as arranging a better repayment structure with you bank or extending your loan period on your house. DON'T wait until the S....T hits the fan. If your are in arrears with your house and it is less than three months go and see the banks customer liaison department, try and make arrangements. I have three kids and a wife and it wasn't easy losing that comfortable house and those nice cars but YOU need to act now so that it doesn't happen to you.

I tried speaking to the banks representatives but they wouldn't budge. I went to the banking ombudsman and to Argus action but unfortunately this information I never had until it was too late. So if you or someone you know needs help or wants to fight a decision taken by the bank take action and fight back because there are ways to do things. We as South Africans are too easy bullied by these large banks and companies and accept it as right. Hope this information helps someone in need.

Be Blessed

Cheerio [/b]

[TalentedCT]

Thanks for the informative info. If you had followed the latest newspaper articles, you would see that alot of debate around if big institutions is following the National Credit Act and if their actions are legal, especially when it comes to repossion of vehicles and the debt collectors. If you were to read the act that is available for download from the internet, you would see that there is alot of steps that needs to be followed and from a few friends that was in similar spots then you were with the bank, when they started questioning these debt collectors about these steps they suddenly change their attitute and become more civilised and willing to negotiate.

The act was meant to stop this kind of behaviour from the legal fraternity and debt collectors but it seems they still try and bully the uninformed, just sad really.

[Twinkle toes]

Hi nathan0116

I am very sorry for the losses that you have experienced.From what I can see was for no reason at allI agree with you on the issue of notifying your bank.But let me ask you to read on this page "How it all started " on my website www.choicesmp.wetpaint.com and you tell me whether it is at all worth it.I will wait for you and others to read it.go ahead and ask what you need.

I am going to be very blunt about the subject.You might save someone else the trouble o going through that your and my family have gone through.And a million others or so every month for the last 100 years.The National Credit Act has it good spots but has bad spots too.Ones that these ineterent article will not tell you.Shoot ! They play a major role on how productive we are as a society and because of their practises we are at where we are because of silence.

Thanks


TT

[nathan0116]

hey thanks twink, quiet interesting. Now I am not able to find a job because of my credit record how am i supposed to pay my debt, provide for my family and how do you get back on your feet after a setback like this?

[Twinkle toes]

Hi

Thanks for reading the site.I know your circumstances are heavy but I applaud you as a fellow citizen for having the courage at all.Most people are either humiliated or too afraid to speak up.As I am sure you read i had no choice but to.There is quite a bit of adjustment that lies ahead it is not easy to pick up the pieces at all.Your emotions are still unsteady and definately notwilling to trust anyone in general wrt maoney matters.Plus the added loss of your job, I know exactly where you are with how you feel as a parent and husband.The two roles willescalte and clash giving you that sense of hoplessness.

But here I am living proof that you do make it.The ride is rough but I urge you to keep your family together its the one thing that can make or break you at this very fragile time.Ask and you will receive.I will be attending a intercessory prayer meeting on wednesday I will include you and your family.In the meantime I need to know a bit more about your financial status re : debt that is and will escalate while you are unemployed.What I want you to remember most about this experience i that you cultivate strength from experiences like this.Take it ,move on and love your family and yourself enough to keep trying .make it your goal to define the terms future and hope.Do not under any circumstances think that it is over.Its not over until God says it is.He is sooooo testing you to develop you and your family for greater things.

Please do not be shy to e-mail me and I will try to assist you in finding employment ( Credit records do not tell prosepective employers about your capabilities as an individual) In the meantime if you wish I will attend to your accounts and subside the debtors or even go through them until you do and you will find employment.emotions do not allow you that space to focus enough yet.

I always said a prayer where I would include the words,"Your will Lord not mine"let faith and prayer carry you into a place you never knew existed.A sense of complete calmness in absolute chaos.What is required ? BELIEVE what you confess with your toungue.Its absolutely beautiful........

By the way nathan0116 you are down but not out , that must count for something !

Thanks
TT

My e-mail choicesjf@gmail.com

[Walcath]

[gracema]

Hi Nathan,

I find your article very relevant and selfless, thanks for the insights that you've freely given to everyone who cares to read this forum.

I dont know someone personally who has gone through a bank repo, i have heard rumors that banks are so ruthless they dont even warn you that they are about to repossess is that true?

I know I am asking too much here, but how is the process like, do they send you a letter to inform you that they will reposses your house on such and such a day? or does the bank manager show up at your door? in your case how much time were you given? how many months were you in arrears?

I am sorry you went through such an experience which must have been humiliating at the time, but i want to tell you that, in the future, after you have shaken yourself out of it and you have become very successful, you will be able to testify about this time and you will be able to give people hope. A bank repossession is only a wake up call in your finincial life its not meant to paralyse you for life.

I wish you well and I wish you success, I will really appreciate a response from you.

God bless
Grace.

[pianomann4u]

OMG..... what do you expect, banks are not a charity organisation.......are you expecting them tom give you money.... but if you can't repay ..... ok..... don't worry........it doesn't work that way

[TalentedCT]

No pianoman, like any business they out to make money, i think we were trying to say that they like any business should follow SA LAW and rules and just be fair and remember it people they dealing with.

I think also in the current economic climate that they would maybe consider being alittle more lenient and rather try negotiate new repayments monthly amounts with the client instead of just forcing a repossion.

I think that is all we were trying to say....

[Twinkle toes]

Hi pianomann4u

I was reading through your post and thought that I would put this across on your thoughts.Why are we playing the game at all ? Take the purchase price of a house the number of instalments add them then add your interest (10 years ) and then you ask yourself if that was the terms (240 months )what is the problem with us not telling the banks to go fly a kite and include ammendments on the repayment and the terms to the loan and add it to the agreement and take out of the deal what you want as a client.To me its all about who is boss and they are playing power trips over our lives as if they belong there and all to have a possession ?Why can we not say it is illegal to charge that much interest on a purchse? Moreso why is the NCR not opening that one up at all ?Why are we paying six times more than what we bought it for ? Why after 15 years of paying the loan do you get told we will repossess after two payments are not made.Even though you have paid the house to the full price and some interest are you being told to go ?? The time is drawing near when all that will come to an end.I suggest that you take into consideration how much they affect your surroundings because of these practices that can be changed but too many people are scoring out of the deal for it to be seen as an issue at all.Alas they have more power than they should.... and we take it in at the expense of our freedom of speech and choice.South Africa we have a long,long way to go until we are truly one nation .


Thanks

TT

[Miley vanie Kaap]

Nathan my man....

I'm sorry to hear about your experience, but that's all that it is, an experience. Business fokes have it bad to start with. Then they find out they alone at the controls with no manuals.

Remember! One door closers and another opens.

research has shown, that for every 100 businesses that starts out, only 4 makes it after five years.


Banks and lending institutes are not your friends, they only borrow you money when you can prove you have, think of it as buying money from the banks.

The same goes for accountants, lawyers and certain business consulting institutes, for they to are not your friends, they are in some or other bank's pocket, collecting loans, etc.

My advise to you, go after them

first step

Change your name.

That's right, Change your name or surname but keep your id no.

Think of it,... celebrities do it, and it's legal.

After a fews months you can apply for credit and the credit departments won't pick up your blacklisted name.

the real world is cold, for it only deals with information and not real people's feeling, Theres a saying: "If you want to run with the dogs, you can't piss like a puppy!"


My advise to anyone out there who's business is slipping away, change your address where the sherif will be knocking to your accountant's,

if you can apply for credit cards,..PLEASE!!!! only for business owners,..
Apply for as much as you can get. Why you may ask?

Don't believe all that crab about the interest,.. Think of your immediate situation, and think of having plus/ minus 25 credit cards with a max of R 5000 on each, depending on how many you need, now add it up, and you got this within weeks, now use it wisely to get you out of things and if your business is cc, change to PTY(Ltd)

For those on the credit card issue: Credit cards! how much interest?
and when you apply for a loan the interest is much lessor, right, and what about the manager's commission, wages and other hidden cost, not to speak about sureties that you have to sign over.

if you pay late credit card companies charge interest, banks send in the dogs.

And if you really near the end:

Last resort, if you married in community of property and you trust your better half, get divorce and transfer what you can over on their name.


Play information game with them, and you will win.

All the above I can back up.


Miley's back in town!

[Twinkle toes]

Hi Miley

I would like to see you back it up, so shoot ? None of what you are saying will help natahan0116 from your post so show us how exactly.

Natan0116
Hang in the there man.The knowledge you will gain is a remarkable experience .To fully understand the the measure of your new strength you have to experience it for what it is.Sorry no short cuts !

TT

[Twinkle toes]

Hi Miley

Thanks for the reply.Give me and all the readers the link of this ebook or just a portion thereof.I am sure that your book has some valuable info but lets cut to the chase.Does any of that info breathe life into you as an individual.Learning about inetrest is one thing but getting on your feet is of utmost importance, that road to recovery that nathan0116 is on requires strentgh of his character.Its like a chain reaction he has to master the art of "getting up" and it will rub off on his loved ones.Speaking of experience I can tell you that it is the difference between developing or stagnating around man made concepts that do not work.His choice includes his family therefore that extra baggage of name changing is something that I would strongly advise him against.I am no mre prouder to be who I am today than I have ever been.That my friend is not "just an experience " It is the the obstacle that tests you in so many ways.getting out of it when he does (and you will nathan0116 ) is what makes you and your family so much wiser and almost indestructable...... just like mine is now.

Thanks Miley, " gooi my broer , os wil amel lees "

TT

[Jackie TR]

Hi there. My husband and I are so in the ----, not by choice. We bought our middleclass house 2 years ago. I one year, the interest rates went up 5 or 6 times, taking out bond from R6100 to R9500. Due to this, we went way into our overdraft and over - WAY OVER. Our car repayments are R6000. Although the interest rates are coming down, we are still suffering the repocussions from the interest rate hikes.

The last three months we've been short paying on our car. Not that we're not paying, but short paying. We've tried to make arrangements with Wesbank, but they basically gave us the finger. They notified my husband saying they've send a FINAL DEMAND for the arrears amount to be paid in 10 days, or our car will be repossessed. I've been in tears everyday. If we couldn't afford the full car payments, how r we supposed to pay all the arrears in one go. I'm so worried. We have two children aged 5 and 1. My husband is a sales rep, so if the car goes, he'll loose his job. We'll loose our house, and everything we've worked so hard for. My daughter has been crying because mommy is crying all the time.

I don't know what to do and feel completely helpless. I know that banks are not for charity, but due to the financial crises, why can't they help by making special arrangements. Why are they so ruthless? Why repossess so many cars which only adds to their cash flow problem. Why not make special arrangements so that people can still afford to pay for their cars/houses etc while still creating cashflow for the banks.

We don't live extravegantly. We don't eat out, drink, buy expensive things. I don't buy clothing, my cousin hands me her older items. We don't braai or entertain because we can't afford. We're on such a tight budget. We buy the cheapest food we can and changed brands of household items. We've done everything in our power to be able to ride through this difficult time.

I'm not working and my old company closed down. I've been looking for jobs everyday, all day and still nothing.

If we lose the house and car we'll have to move in with my foks who are pensioners. They can barely afford to keep themselves above water, let alone support us.

I'm so depressed and stressed and can't stop crying. I really just don't know what to do and have never dealt with this kind of ---- before. We joint Legal Wise a few months back and our lawyer is trying to help us. But I don't know if she'll be able to. The bank said they sent the FINAL DEMAND on the 6 April 09. We have yet to receive it. We asked them to e-mail us a copy, we're still waiting. Our lawyer asked for a faxed copy, and she's still waiting. She told the bank they are not allowed to do a thing until she has proof that they actually sent the letter.

I'm so pissed off. Pissed off because your whole life you get told that you must work hard, earn a descent salary, that you MUST buy property and own something by the time you're 30. Now we've done that, and look where it's gotten us. - WORSE OFF THAN WE WERE TO START WITH. Before buying a house we rented in Morningside, Durban. We had a lovely flat, descent car and a healthy and active life with my daughter (hadn't had my 2nd child yet). We went out on week-ends and had fun with my little girl. We socialized and were able to eat out once in a while and socialize with friends.

Now I feel like buying property has been a curse. How will we ever come right if the car is taken.

Please anyone, any advise will be appreciated.

Jax

[TalentedCT]

Hi Jackie

Sorry to hear about your difficult time. The best is to get a copy of the National Credit Act which can be downloaded free from the internet. In there it clearly states your rights as a consumer and that of that the credit provider. It clearly shows the steps that need to be followed by the bank in your case and they cant just issue a final demand letter without going through the other steps. The act also states that you are allowed to go to a debt counsellor that will assist you with your creditors in setting up a repayment option with them, like in you case to maybe bank the car alittle less till you can afford to pay them more. The act was created to stop this bullying tactics.

Thanks