Debt Review
Step One
You complete an application form and provide us with the details of all your credit providers. Consultations are usually done telephonically and by e-mail, but can also be done in person.
Step Two
We determine whether you are over-indebted, in other words, do your monthly expenses exceed your monthly income? (You have to be over-indebted to qualify for debt review.)
Step Three
If you are over-indebted, we shall inform all relevant credit providers and credit bureaus that you are undergoing the debt review process. Your credit providers will also be requested to provide us with a Certificate of Balance (COB) in respect of your accounts.
Immediately you will begin to pay a single provisional reduced monthly installment in respect of all your credit providers, which will be affordable to you. During the first 60 working days, legal action may not be taken against you in respect of the debts that are under review.
Step Four
After receiving all the COB’s, we will restructure your payment plan and negotiate with your credit providers where necessary. After negotiations, your new restructured payment plan will be sent to all your credit providers and this payment plan will take effect.
Your restructured payment plan will reduce your monthly debt repayments to an affordable amount, leaving you with sufficient money for your living expenses.
Step Five
We will instruct our specialist attorneys to apply at court in order to make your restructured payment plan a court order.
The process will now be completed and you must ensure that your monthly payments are made timeously in order to prevent credit providers from taking action against you
Financial Advice
After going through relevant evaluations with your expenses, your MSA debt counsellor may find certain ways to cut back on your spending or indentify key areas where you may save money.
As MSA works closely with other financial service providers to ensure our clients get the best service, our counsellors may advise you and refer you to a specialist that may be able to assist you with other key areas that may be of concern. This evaluation and financial advice is at no cost to you as the consumer.
Legal Services
Whilst the process of debt review comes to a climax, your MSA debt counsellor will advise you as to the legal procedure that will take place to ensure you are protected from any legal action on your accounts.
A meeting will be set up with one of our professional lawyers, in your jurisdiction, and will sit down with you and explain your legal rights in terms of debt review. At MSA we go even further to afford free legal advice to any issue that may be causal or linked to the current situation you find yourself in.
Advocacy
At MSA we ensure we keep in touch with any developments surrounding debt counselling and the debt counselling industry, and further to this, keep in touch with all developments in terms of legislation that may affect consumers in this regard, such as the Consumer Protection Act and the National Credit Act.
MSA engages with workshops and advocacy groups to champion consumer rights and educates both the commercial and NGO sectors on credit and financial issues that may face its employees.
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