Legal Articles and Guides

Consumers have been warned to ensure that they do not borrow money from one of the 4 000 credit providers whose registration with the National Credit Regulator has lapsed.

Durban resident Valerie Naidoo – representing herself in court against two advocates – has overturned the foreclosure of her home by SA Home Loans (SAHL), which then sold the property at auction for a tenth of its market value.

Former Vhavenda king Toni Mphephu Ramabulana will have to repay the defunct VBS Mutual Bank nearly R6m after he lost a bid to appeal against a Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) ruling in November.

The National Credit Regulator (NCR) was within its rights to launch an investigation into instant loans company Dacqup Finances on the reasonable suspicion that it was violating the National Credit Act (NCA), according to a SCA decision handed down last week (National Credit Regulator v Dacqup Finances CC t/a ABC Financial Services – Pinetown and Another).

Lending starts at a young age. Remember standing in line at the tuck shop and being asked to borrow a few cents for a lollipop? You probably never saw those cents again. If only we knew about charging interest from a young age, we could have built successful lending businesses by now.

The owner of a struggling Johannesburg restaurant told a judge he bought a R1.8m Maserati to improve his credit record. But with the SUV missing, a debt that has ballooned to R2.7m and an overdraft rejection letter on his desk, Charles Renney failed to convince Acting Judge Jenine Khan to throw out WesBank's repossession application, notes a TimesLIVE report. 

In what is seen as a ‘major victory for consumers’ a registrar in the Western Cape High Court has effectively put a stop to the practice of banks suing consumers in the High Courts for the recovery of outstanding loans.

Two recent ‘landmark’ rulings have put a stop to practices that could add to your distress when you default on your repayments. One protects the debtor from excessive charges – especially legal fees – when you default; and the other stops creditors from taking legal action in the High Court instead of a Magistrate's Court, says financial journalist Angelique Ardé, in an analysis in Business Times.

ANC Mpumalanga bigwig Charles Makola is set to lose his R1.6m Witbank property after he failed to pay R1.3m he owed to Absa, according to a Cape Argus report.

The KZN High Court (Pietermaritzburg) application by the liquidator of VBS Mutual Bank to recover millions owed to it by former President Jacob Zuma, has revealed how the bank was reckless while conducting its business before it collapsed, notes a Cape Times report.

FNB has been found guilty of reckless lending and has had to write off a loan of more than R150 000 to a Gauteng woman who claimed the bank had failed to properly assess her finances when granting the loan.

The Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg), in a judgment written by Judge Roland Sutherland, has confirmed similar rulings in the Western Cape, KZN and Limpopo divisions, that the High Court does not have jurisdiction to release consumers from debt review.

Capitec, which grew into SA’s biggest bank by customer numbers by focusing on those traditionally excluded by commercial lenders, says it has been actively reducing its exposure to low-income earners in anticipation of the recently-approved debt relief legislation.

Local banks are concerned that some of their customers will get away with not having to repay their debt under the National Credit Amendment Act, signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa last week.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed into law the controversial National Credit Amendment Bill which is geared to provide relief to over-indebted consumers, according to a Fin24 report.