A professional debt collector has a clearly defined task - to motivate the client to pay off or restructure (draw up a new payment schedule) the debt. And he must achieve this exclusively through legal means - conversations, calls during working hours, personal meetings with an explanation of the laws.
Communication regarding the debt can take place directly with the borrower and only through the telephone numbers specified in the agreement or belonging to him; if a personal email address was indicated in the agreement, then this can also be used.
Unscrupulous borrowers provide deliberately incorrect information or get rid of numbers and even change their place of residence. In this case, the task of finding the debtor and conveying to him information about the need to pay off the existing debt becomes difficult to resolve and collectors have to balance on the brink of what is permitted.
One of these controversial issues is communication on the Internet.
“An individual approach to everyone”
Several years ago, it was popular among collectors to call debtors and raid their homes to remove valuable property to pay off the debt. More precisely, it was about a ransom: find the money, pay off the loan - and take your property back.
Today, collectors do not confiscate property, but they still call with threats both to the debtor and to his relatives, neighbors, acquaintances, no one knows how to find their numbers. They can leave a message in paint at the door at the place of residence or paste over pillars in the area with leaflets with a picture of the debtor and an inscription like “A fraudster(s) lives here.” Or even post some kind of porn collage on the Internet.
“My loan amount is 4,500 UAH, the credit company wants 13 thousand UAH. I’m not crying and I’ve been fighting off SMS and phone threats for six months now. They started calling on the third day of the loan being overdue. A week later, relatives, godfathers and neighbors came under pressure - their phones were set to auto-dial, and every half hour they listened to the fact that I owe such and such an amount, influence it. They have already threatened me not just with death, but also promised to rape my daughters. These are the methods used against debtors,” Lyudmila Zayats tells Vesti.
A year ago, not far from her house, Alina noticed her image on poles with the caption: “Fraud.” It took the girl several days to cut them off, but new ones appeared. Collectors entered Natalya's apartment in broad daylight and, quickly running through the rooms, took out everything valuable - from a microwave to a laptop. And all this because of a five-year-old debt of 5 thousand UAH, which turned into 25 thousand UAH. They threatened that if they didn’t return it, they would take the apartment, even though it belonged to relatives.
There are a lot of such stories. To extract money from a client, collection companies will do anything - for them, all means are good. “I worked in a collection company, sat on the phone, made calls. We had instructions on what to say and to whom, depending on the amount of debt. We were specifically instructed how to put pressure on the debtor. Each one had an individual approach and written phrases. We worked in shifts, the first shift started work at four in the morning, and the second ended at two in the morning. What can I say, I had to threaten clients who did not repay the debt for a long time - this was called psychological pressure. It worked for some, and people did their best, but they found money, but for others it didn’t. During this time, I heard so many things addressed to me that it is impossible to convey. It lasted me for eight months, and then I ran away,” ex-collector Andrei Zakrevsky tells Vesti.
Who are collectors? ↑
Collector literally means “gatherer.” Collection agencies are organizations specializing in collecting debts from individuals and legal entities.
Their goal is to use any methods (mainly psychological pressure) to force and stimulate the debtor to repay the debt.
Unfortunately, today there is no special law regulating the activities of collectors. Their activities are regulated by criminal law (extortion, battery, intimidation, arbitrariness) and the Civil Code.
Typically, companies that have a huge number of such debtors and cannot cope with this category of clients on their own resort to the help of specialized agencies.
These are banks, microfinance organizations, insurance companies, utility organizations, etc.
Do you want to get a microloan without refusal with a bad credit history? We recommend that you read the article dedicated to this issue at the following link. You can find out how to take out a microloan online to a bank account without refusal by following the link.
Code of Ethics
Today, it is not easy to fight off threatening calls and the spread of false information from debt collectors who act in concert with various credit unions and banks. This is not criminal and the police will not help. Even for collecting and disclosing confidential information (the database of phone numbers of relatives, acquaintances and neighbors was clearly purchased) nothing will happen. The police only advise filing complaints with the National Securities Commission and the National Bank.
The National Bank responded - they held a meeting with collection companies and identified the main problems. First of all, this is the lack of rules of the game in this market. As a result, a register of collection companies will appear, and exclusion from the register will mean a ban on banks and financial companies entering into agreements with them. An exception for a year is a punishment for a collector who has received a number of complaints about violations of the law. And today, as noted by the NBU, the actions of collectors violate the following norms:
- Art. 3, 21, 22, 32 of the Constitution of Ukraine: “Threats of physical violence to the debtor and members of his family in case of non-payment of overdue debt. 24-hour automatic dialing with short intervals to the telephone numbers of the debtor, his family members, and colleagues. Use of obscene language in messages and phone calls to the debtor and his relatives.”
- Art. 3, 291, 301, 302, 308 of the Civil Code of Ukraine: “Distribution of photo collages that humiliate the honor and dignity of the debtor. Threats to make an inventory of the debtor’s personal property for the purpose of selling it in case of non-payment of the debt.”
- Art. 6, 12, 14 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Protection of Personal Data”: “Processing of personal data of third parties not related to the loan and who did not provide consent to the processing of personal data. Dissemination of the debtor’s personal data.”
- Art. 182 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: “Collection, use, distribution of confidential information about the debtor in instant messengers, social networks.”
In addition, the National Bank is going to establish a so-called code of ethics for debt collectors - a set of rules about what can and cannot be done when collecting debts.
What and how can you write to debt collectors on social networks?
Acceptable
Personal communication in private correspondence aimed at informing about the existing debt and clarifying the reason for non-payment. The conversation should take place calmly, without insults or threats. Information about possible criminal liability or seizure of property belonging to the debtor is legal and must be disclosed.
If personal communication cannot take place, then it is permissible to introduce yourself and contact friends or relatives on Odnoklassniki to obtain a phone number or address. You cannot talk about the amount of debt, the amount of the fine, the time and duration of the loan, much less about the goals and purchases made.
On the verge of what is acceptable is an attempt to start a dialogue in open discussions on Facebook, signatures under statuses.
It states that for insults expressed in humiliation of dignity, citizens are fined in amounts from 1 to 3 thousand rubles, persons in the performance of official duties - from 10 to 30 thousand rubles.
It is noteworthy that if such an insult is inflicted in the media or in a public speech, then the amount of fines increases exponentially. Thus, guilty citizens can pay in such circumstances from 3 to 5 thousand rubles, and persons in execution - from 30 to 50 thousand rubles. If an organization is caught in such a violation, the fine can be ruinous - from 100 to 500 thousand rubles.
- Criminal liability
This area is regulated by Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It provides for penalties for threats to cause serious harm to health (collectors cannot promise greater punishment). If such threats are received, no matter in what form - by telephone or through social networks, then the person making the threat can be sentenced to at least compulsory labor for up to 480 hours, and at a maximum - imprisonment for up to 2 years.
- How to act
To punish debt collectors who insulted or threatened you, you should collect evidence. To do this, transfer all messages from social networks to paper, while simultaneously saving all “correspondence” in cloud storage so that confirmation of the violation remains.
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Carefully analyze the entire test, looking for direct and hidden insults and threats. If the collectors did not mince words, then you can immediately write a statement to law enforcement agencies with a request, firstly, to find who is threatening (the police have a special department), and secondly, to bring him to justice. The police themselves will determine whether it is a violation or a crime, and then take action.
If they do not take any action, then they should go up to the prosecutor’s office and write a complaint to it.
It may happen that the insults are veiled. Then linguists should be brought in to analyze the text of the message and give a conclusion about the presence of a gross violation of ethics. In the future, this conclusion can be used in court.
The last stage will be the court hearing. But until then, you must be sure that the one who threatened you has been found, and these threats and insults are qualified as a violation or a crime.
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Business that brings in millions
As People's Deputy Yulia Tymoshenko rightly noted, collectors today are not much different from racketeers, and they act the same way. The collection company takes the problem client for 10% of the debt amount, and the bank closes the loan.
“Then everything is taken from this debtor, his friends, children, parents, and the collection company in the shadows shares with the bank what it took,” Tymoshenko said.
As lawyer Rostislav Kravets adds, buying the debts of liquidated banks and then collecting them with tens of thousands of interest is a business that has been put on stream and is run by respected people. And today it is more profitable than drug or weapons trafficking. Therefore, collection companies do what they want, and the laws help them with this.
“Today there is criminal liability for coercion of civil relations, as well as extortion of money from relatives, acquaintances and other people who are allegedly listed as guarantors, but did not sign these contracts. And all registers and ethical rules from the National Bank will be advisory in nature only. To correct the situation, the police need to start working to record all cases of psychological pressure and extortion. In addition, the previous version of the Law “On the Protection of Consumer Rights” should be returned, which prohibited all calls and other pressure on the debtor, but was adopted at the insistence of the NBU under the leadership of Gontareva. And then the NBU will not need to take any additional measures,” Rostislav Kravets tells Vesti.
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"I refused to interact with you"
In accordance with Part 1 of Article 8 of Federal Law No. 230-FZ of July 3, 2016 (link), the debtor has the right to refuse to interact with a representative of the bank and demand that another representative specified by him be appointed instead.
To do this, you must send an application (by registered mail with notification, by hand against signature, or through a notary). The debtor has the right to submit such an application 120 days after the debt arose. After the bank representative receives the application, he must immediately cease contact with the debtor. Otherwise, he will face serious problems with the law.
Therefore, you can tell the collector: “I have sent to your address a statement of refusal to cooperate with your agency (or bank). See you in court."
Even if you didn’t actually send such a statement, it will take quite a lot of time to find out, during which collectors will be afraid to contact you. But in a number of cases, when for one reason or another it is impossible to collect the debt, filing an application can save the debtor from debt collectors forever.
What to do if debt collectors come home?
If SMS messages, calls and letters do not bring collectors the desired result, they can move on to more active actions - personal visits. What to do if debt collectors come to your home?
First of all, there is no law that requires you to open the door for them. If you don't want to talk to them, don't. Secondly, even if you opened the door, you do not need to let collectors into your home; they have no right to enter there without your permission.
The conversation with the collector must be filmed, which will motivate him to stay within the law. For your part, do not show aggression, communicate as calmly as possible, argue for the inability to repay the debt.
Often, debt collectors come to your home to allegedly seize property. You need to understand that they do not have the right to do this. Only bailiffs can describe property, only if there is a court decision to collect the debt, and if you refuse to return it.
If collectors show aggression or break into your apartment without your desire, call the police. Report that unknown people are breaking into your apartment. When the police arrive, even if the collectors have already left by then, be sure to write a statement describing the situation.
According to the above-mentioned anti-collection law, personal visits by debt collectors in Russia are allowed no more than once a week.
Read more about how to behave during a personal visit from debt collectors in a separate article: Collectors came home, what to do?
