Judgements

When Can You Have A Judgment Removed?

You may find that you have a judgement on your credit record. Judgments are kept on your record for up to 5 years and can greatly hamper your efforts to secure a home loan or any other kind of finance.

There are certain occasions where you may be able to remove a blacklisted / bad judgement listing from a your credit history.

You would be entitled to apply for the rescission of a Judgment that was granted against you if the creditor/bank provide written consent to do so.

If you are able to get written consent, it is a relatively simple process to have the bad record removed. Although, there are necessary documents that will need to be drawn up by an attorney.

Alternatively, you could prove that at time the judgment was entered, you were not in wilful default and that you had a valid and bona fide defence to the action instituted against you.

Below you can find a list of attorneys who are able to assist you in the process of removing Judgement listings:

Bregmans Attorneys
www.bregmans.co.za

Schoeman Attorneys
www.schoemanlaw.co.za

Hahn and Hahn attorneys
www.hahnlaw.co.za 

CSM ATTORNEYS
csmlaw.co.za

Radebe Attorneys
radebeattorneys.co.za

No Quick Fix After Being Blacklisted

Sadly, quite a few businesses are built on the premise of “kick them when they’re down”.
Illegitimate funeral policy merchants and funeral parlors are right up there, as are unscrupulous tow-truck operators.

And then there are those who claim to be able to clear people’s credit records, magically ridding them of those inhibiting “blacklistings”.

“Michelle” wrote in last week about one such company.
“They would like to clear my credit history,” she said. “Of cause, I have to pay R188 for a ‘legal pack’, which to me is weird.
“They just want to go for your bank account. They are preying on people who would like to fix their credit history for good and all they doing is stealing their money.”

That’s exactly it.
The inconvenient truth is that third parties aren’t able to wipe anyone’s adverse credit listings away; there’s a process which has to be followed – by the person who is listed.

But all those advertising flyers and posters on trees create the impression that, armed with your fee and little else, a company can easily take care of all that for you.

Here’s what the credit ombud has to say about such claims: “Those companies are not able to make such promises.
“If the consumer was listed fairly, the listing will remain on their credit profile, as per the National Credit Act, for the lawfully allowed duration period.”

That’s two years in the case of a default listing, which is a listing relating to non-payment.

“In the case of a judgment,” the ombud says, “Upon paying off the entire debt, the consumer will have to apply to the relevant court for a rescission of the judgment and when the rescission has been granted, the consumer can use the rescission document to approach the concerned bureau to remove the judgment.”

In other words, first you have to pay the amount you owe, and then you have to apply to the court to have the judgement overturned, and if you succeed, only then can you approach the credit bureau, with that document, asking for the listing to be removed.

If the consumer feels that an adverse listing is incorrect or unfair – and there are a depressing number of those on the credit bureau – their only hope of getting it removed is by lodging a dispute with the bureau concerned to remove the listing.

If after 20 days, the listing remains, they may approach the credit ombud for assistance. Call 0861 662 837

Many people who have default listings on their credit records feel it’s terribly unfair to continue to be “punished”, despite the fact that they’ve since paid the debt.

Such listings remain on someone’s credit record for two years as a warning to credit providers that the consumer has a history of not managing their debt well.

But to be fair to the consumer, it is removed after that time to allow them a chance to get more credit, and built up a positive credit record.

In a sense the consumer is seen to have “server their time” and paid for their “crime” and thus they have the right to a second chance at proving that they can play by the rules when it comes to paying back what they’ve borrowed.

source – iol

How To Rescind a Judgement or Bad Credit Listing

The procedure of a rescission of judgment in South Africa is as follows:

There are only a few ways to have a judgement removed from your listing.
A judgement is a actually a court order requested by your credit provider when you have not paid your debts.

You will only be entitled to apply for a rescission of judgement if you can show that your were not in willful default, and/ or you have a valid defence to the judgement that has been listed against you.

You may also qualify for amnesty against your judgement under the National Credit Act ruling. This you can check with your attorney.

Even though there maybe judgement against you, this does not mean you are unable to secure credit. While some financial institutions will never lend you money if you have a judgement on your record, but others will actually look a your application on it merits. These lenders will consider whether you’ve paid up your debts and how you’ve managed your finances since then.

It’s important to note that you try to avoid judgements as far as possible. Judgements are kept on your credit for up to 5 years, and can even be renewed.