Debtors feel the heat as bill collectors turn up at their homes and offices
By Melissa Sim 13 November 2008
Even while she was on leave, secretary M. Ail could not avoid her creditors.
The 37-year-old, who owes $30,000 to five banks, came back from a vacation recently to find that a debt collector had been to her office, insisting that he wanted to see her.
He had demanded her phone number from the receptionist, and a colleague had to step in to ask him to leave.
Ms Ail said: ‘If it was human resources that was called in to mediate, it...might have cost me my job.’
The mother of three is among a growing number of Singaporeans who have been feeling the heat, as credit companies and banks call in debts amid a slowing economy and global financial turmoil.
Debtors who spoke to The Straits Times said bill collectors are visiting their homes, calling late at night, and even dropping in at the office - pressure many described as harassment.
In a recent letter to The Straits Times, Credit Counselling Singapore, which helps clients come up with payment plans, called for a code of conduct for debt collectors. Its president Kuo How Nam said: ‘Collection procedures by creditors should exclude tactics that amount to undue harassment and intimidation.’
One manager in her 50s, who declined to be named, said she owes money to six banks and gets at least 12 calls a day.
If she turns off her phone, they call the office, and sometimes leave messages with her colleagues.
Debt collectors, who get a cut of the money they recover, said they will do what it takes to get their clients’ money back - short of breaking the law.
Companies that spoke to The Straits Times admitted that collectors stop by debtors’ offices and are not discreet about the purpose of their visit.
Mr Simon Lim, the operations manager of Asian Debt Collection Services, said: ‘If reception asks where we are from, we will say debt collection.’
Oagents director Dylan Loi said it was common to pay a creditor a visit every day or even twice a day, depending on how long they have been chasing him.
The aim, said Mr Lim, is to let the debtor know they are always around. ‘We may visit with mandarin oranges during Chinese New Year, or pop a name card in the mail box now and then.’
All this is still within legal limits, said insolvency and asset recovery lawyer Justin Chia, who works at Harry Elias Partnership. He said that while the tactics are distressing, there is no law to say a debt collector cannot call the debtor or visit his home or office.
But he added that ‘there is a line to be drawn’ between interfering with their personal lives and collecting the debt they owe.
Some debt collectors, too, can be reasonable. Mr Lim said his collectors do not work past 11pm, and would sit down with a debtor to work out a repayment plan.
‘Just because we are in this business doesn’t mean we are gangsters.’
1 comment:
Harassed and intimidated
Debtors feel the heat as bill collectors turn up at their homes and offices
By Melissa Sim
13 November 2008
Even while she was on leave, secretary M. Ail could not avoid her creditors.
The 37-year-old, who owes $30,000 to five banks, came back from a vacation recently to find that a debt collector had been to her office, insisting that he wanted to see her.
He had demanded her phone number from the receptionist, and a colleague had to step in to ask him to leave.
Ms Ail said: ‘If it was human resources that was called in to mediate, it...might have cost me my job.’
The mother of three is among a growing number of Singaporeans who have been feeling the heat, as credit companies and banks call in debts amid a slowing economy and global financial turmoil.
Debtors who spoke to The Straits Times said bill collectors are visiting their homes, calling late at night, and even dropping in at the office - pressure many described as harassment.
In a recent letter to The Straits Times, Credit Counselling Singapore, which helps clients come up with payment plans, called for a code of conduct for debt collectors. Its president Kuo How Nam said: ‘Collection procedures by creditors should exclude tactics that amount to undue harassment and intimidation.’
One manager in her 50s, who declined to be named, said she owes money to six banks and gets at least 12 calls a day.
If she turns off her phone, they call the office, and sometimes leave messages with her colleagues.
Debt collectors, who get a cut of the money they recover, said they will do what it takes to get their clients’ money back - short of breaking the law.
Companies that spoke to The Straits Times admitted that collectors stop by debtors’ offices and are not discreet about the purpose of their visit.
Mr Simon Lim, the operations manager of Asian Debt Collection Services, said: ‘If reception asks where we are from, we will say debt collection.’
Oagents director Dylan Loi said it was common to pay a creditor a visit every day or even twice a day, depending on how long they have been chasing him.
The aim, said Mr Lim, is to let the debtor know they are always around. ‘We may visit with mandarin oranges during Chinese New Year, or pop a name card in the mail box now and then.’
All this is still within legal limits, said insolvency and asset recovery lawyer Justin Chia, who works at Harry Elias Partnership. He said that while the tactics are distressing, there is no law to say a debt collector cannot call the debtor or visit his home or office.
But he added that ‘there is a line to be drawn’ between interfering with their personal lives and collecting the debt they owe.
Some debt collectors, too, can be reasonable. Mr Lim said his collectors do not work past 11pm, and would sit down with a debtor to work out a repayment plan.
‘Just because we are in this business doesn’t mean we are gangsters.’
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