The most recent significant case impacting on the National Credit Act is the currently unreported decision in the case of African Bank Limited v Additional Magistrate Myambo NO and Others (34793/2008) [2010] ZAGPPHC 60 (9 July 2010), in which Judge Du Plessis gave another declaratory judgment on various provisions of the NCA, this time in regard to the application of Section 58 of the Magistrates Court.
Section 58 is a provision of the Magistrates Court Act which allows a debtor who has received either a summons or an appropriate letter of …

In a previous article we looked at the various different forms of security that a  commercial creditor providing credit to legal entities with limited liability can use to secure their debt. To view the article click here.
One of the more common forms of security used by commercial creditors is the cession of book debts.

A cession is the act by which a person/entity (known as the cedent) transfers their personal right to another (known as the cessionary). By signing a cession of book debts a debtor therefore agrees to transfer to …

The National Credit Regulator responded  to the drafting debacle of the National Credit Act, in particular in relation to its debt counselling provisions, by firstly bringing the High Court application for declaratory order. Subsequent to the order being made the National Credit Regulator has been proactive in December 2009 appointing a Debt Counselling Task Team headed up by former advocate and banking ombudsman and consisting of players from both sides of the fence in Peter Setou, Paul Slot,  Johan de Ridder and Rob Easton-Berry.
The mandate of the task team was to:
• Identify the primary causes for the current …

We have in previous articles pointed out the importance of a suretyship as security to a creditor, given that with the limited liability of companies and close corporations creditors can often find themselves in an undesirable position when it comes to debt recovery.
To recap, a ‘suretyship’ is an accessory contract whereby a person (know as the surety) undertakes to the creditor to perform the principal debtors obligation should the principal debtor fail to perform. In most instances the person signing on behalf of the close corporation or company can be …

We have in previous articles pointed out the importance of a suretyship as security to a creditor, given that with the limited liability of companies and close corporations creditors can often find themselves in an undesirable position when it comes to debt recovery.
To recap, a ‘suretyship’ is an accessory contract whereby a person (know as the surety) undertakes to the creditor to perform the principal debtors obligation should the principal debtor fail to perform. In most instances the person signing on behalf of the close corporation or company can be …

The Department of Trade and Industry has published a draft set of regulations to govern aspects of the debt re-arrangement application to court by both debt counsellors and debtors themselves, as well as applications to court for an order declaring credit agreements reckless agreement in terms of Section 86(7)(c).
A copy of the draft regulations is downloadable at polity.org.za , amongst other and submissions on the draft have to reach the DTI on or before the 25th February 2010.

Previously we had commented on the in duplum rule and its connection to the NCA and also reported on the judgment of Judge du Plessis on the declaratory order brought by the National Credit Regulator which dealt with procedural and other legal issues relating to the debt rearrangement process, but also dealt with the issue of the so-called statutory “in duplum” in terms of Section 103(5) of the National Credit Act.
Now Maureen Marud, a Consumer Editor at Independent Newspapers, reports on IOL that:
“Two of the four major banks are challenging …

Section 127 of the National Credit Act gives the consumer an extraordinary right, namely to rid themselves of their credit agreement when goods are involved, by unilaterally deciding to return the goods to the credit provider so that they can be sold by the credit provider in order for the agreement amount to be settled.
This right and procedure relates only to instalment agreements, secured loans and leases as defined in the NCA.

The long-awaited High Court declaratory Order sought by the National Credit Regulator, attempting to resolve numerous problems arising from the vagueness of the National Credit Act, particularly relating to the process of debt counselling applications and debt relief, was handed down on 21st August 2009.
A copy of the judgment can be found at the Southern African Legal Information Institute website.
The Court granted 11 Orders regarding the interpretation of the National Credit Act, 10 relating to over indebtedness and debt review practical procedures and one relating to the charging of interest …

The issue of how far an estate agent or sectional managing agent could go in the collection of outstanding rentals and section title levies has been a vexed question.
Thuli Zungu in the Sowetan reports on the decision that was made by the Council for Debt Collectors on the issue:
“….Bernard Irvine won a case involving people who stay in sectional title apartments and who were subjected to exorbitant charges for letters and telephone calls reminding them (occupants) to pay their debt arrears.
In a landmark ruling on June 6 last month a …