Who are collectors and how to avoid meeting with them

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

In the last decade, the word "collector" has become associated with Russians with mordovorotami who do not allow debtors to live in order to take their money. The life hacker understands who the collectors are, whom everyone is afraid of, and how legitimate their actions are.

Who are collectors?

Collectors are specialists who provide debt repayment. They usually work with lenders of large banks or work on the sidelines of microfinance organizations. Their goal is to get the defaulter to return the money at almost any cost.

In the USA, collectors appeared in the 60s of the XX century. In the 80s, such firms began to open in Europe. In Russia, the first debt collection agencies were initially created as subsidiaries of banks. The first autonomous collection agency FASP CJSC was registered on August 9, 2004.

Now collectors in Russia work according to two schemes:

1. Collectors buy out debt from a credit institution at an incomplete price. The bank writes off the difference in payments as a loss, and the agency tries to knock out the entire amount from the debtor.
2. The agreement between the lender and the bank has not been canceled. The collector simply stimulates the flow of regular payments.

What can collectors do with a debtor by law?

According to the law that regulates the activities of collectors, they are allowed to:

• communicate with the debtor with his consent;
• remind of the debt and talk about the consequences of non-payment;
• call the lender no more than once a day, twice a week, eight times a month;
• meet in person no more than once a week.

What should the collectors not do?

In addition to limiting the number of calls and face-to-face meetings, the new law prohibits:

• use physical force against the debtor, threaten with harm to health or murder;
• destroy or damage the property of the creditor;
• insult the honor and dignity of the interlocutor;
• distort the amount of debt, lie about the possibility of criminal liability;
• transfer information about loans to third parties: relatives, friends, employers;
• disseminate information about debt in open sources: the media, the Internet, social networks;
• contact the lender from 10 pm to 8 am on weekdays and from 8 pm to 9 am on non-working days.

What kind of collectors paint the entrances and beat the debtors?

In this area, as in any other, there is a shadow side. Rare calls without threats do not always motivate the defaulter to repay the loan. At the same time, the salary of employees of collection firms depends on the volume of returned payments. Therefore, they approach debt beating with enthusiasm.

In the arsenal of black collectors, both relatively harmless, albeit life-poisoning methods, and frankly dangerous ones. The former include terrorizing calls almost around the clock. The second - threats to the debtor and his family, smashing windows in the apartment, arson and torture. All this, of course, is illegal.

I have a little debt. Why are collectors calling me?

Typically, collectors are given small debts with significant non-payment of interest. When it comes to a really large amount, the credit institution is likely to go to court.

How to communicate with collectors?

Stay calm first. The collector must introduce himself. If he has not done so, ask him to identify himself and the organization he represents. Let him dictate the contacts of the agency. So you can call the firm back and make sure that this person really works there.

Find out if the bank actually assigned your debt. To do this, you need to contact the credit institution and find out that you no longer have any relationship with it. If you still owe the bank, decide with it about debt restructuring. If not, ask the collector for the loan documents, otherwise you risk paying the money, but not saying goodbye to the loan. If everything is legal, you can simply repay the debt and continue to live in peace.

Speak kindly with a representative of the agency, but do not tell personal details: where and with whom you live, what roads you go. It's also not worth making excuses why you don't pay - waste your time.

How to avoid meeting with collectors?

In order not to meet with collectors, you need to either not take loans, or to approach this matter with all responsibility. Be sure to enter into a written agreement with a bank or microfinance organization. It should contain the following information:

• loan amount expressed in rubles;
• the full amount to be paid;
• loan repayment schedule;
• conditions for early repayment of the loan (in some cases, the bank needs to be notified of this in advance - it may charge interest);
• the possibility of transferring personal data to third parties (you can agree or refuse).

The main thing when obtaining a loan is to return it on time. If the financial conditions have changed and you cannot return the loan on the same terms, contact the bank. Credit organizations are interested in getting their money back. Most likely, they will meet you halfway and draw up a new payment schedule.

What if I run into black collectors?

If the collectors work using illegal methods, you should immediately contact the police. From threats of murder, attempts to enter an apartment without an invitation, beatings should be protected not by the law on collectors, but by the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

But, relying on the protection of the state, there are two points to keep in mind. First, the police may refuse to accept the application. Law enforcement officers use various excuses, mostly illegal. If you did not find help from the police, write a corresponding statement to the prosecutor's office. Prosecutors, if the fact of violation of the law is confirmed, will oblige police officers to fulfill their duties in good faith.

Secondly, in a collision with collectors, the rescue of drowning people in many ways remains the work of the drowning themselves. Therefore, collect the evidence base:

• record threatening calls (and simply too frequent calls) on a dictaphone;
• call the police every time collectors come to your house and try to get into your apartment;
• photograph the damaged property.

You will need evidence in court. Claims can be made not only to the collection agency, but also to the bank. A lender from Orenburg filed a lawsuit against Vostochny Express Bank for transferring personal data to third parties and won the court. In Karelia, the collector was sentenced to 10 months in prison for threatening to blow up the kindergarten in which the debtor worked.

What if there are no debts, but the collectors are still chasing?

Such situations are not so rare. Collectors may harass you because the debtor lived in your apartment, or is a full namesake, or is related to you. Debt inscriptions often appear in the entrance or on all cars parked in the lender's yard.

All of these methods are illegal. The police must deal with the collectors. Better to go to court right away. Along with the statement of claim, you must provide evidence of threats or damage to property.

For example, a lawyer from Omsk, Roman Kuzmin, won a court case against the collectors representing Trust Bank. His phone number in the database turned out to be recorded in a citizen who did not return the loan. For nine months, he was attacked with threatening calls. He went to court and won the case. The bank must pay him 6 thousand rubles and compensate for legal costs. In the Saratov region, employees of the Home Money microloan organization were convicted of painting the entrance.

You can try to settle the issue in a peaceful way: contact the bank to make changes to the database there. But, as a rule, this method is not very effective.