If you have delayed the repayment of your loan and there is a delay on it, the lender can attract collectors, that is, specialists in the repayment of overdue debts. What to do if collectors contacted you and how to build a constructive dialogue with them in the legal field, this was told by the acting Chairman of the National Chamber of Collectors of Kazakhstan Nazgul Esteusizova.

The collection agency has the right to carry out its activities only after passing the registration with the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market. You can check whether the collection agency has a license from the financial regulator on the Agency's official Internet resource in the register of collection agencies.

You should not be afraid of legal collectors, you need to. Their activities are carried out on the basis of a contract, the subject of which is the provision of services to the creditor for the pre-trial collection and settlement of debts, as well as the collection of information related to the debt. They work according to the Standard Code of Professional Ethics of a collection agency Employee, developed on the recommendation of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan and adopted in Kazakhstan in 2021. Despite the fact that collection agencies have begun to use civilized and transparent mechanisms to repay debts, it is worth knowing some points when interacting with them.

The first moment. You should be aware of your rights

The Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Collection Activities" (hereinafter referred to as the Law) regulating the rights and obligations of debtors and collectors was adopted in 2017. In May 2021, legislative amendments were introduced, aimed primarily at the civilized building of relations between the debtor and the collector. In general, all the adopted norms are aimed at protecting the rights and interests of consumers of financial services.

For example, you, as a debtor, have the right:

– get information from the creditor about the collection agency that carries out pre-trial debt collection and settlement, its location, whether it has its personal data, the amount and structure of the debt;

– challenge the requirements of the collection agency both fully and partially. It is better, of course, to try to settle your debt in a pre-trial manner.

How to do it? After the collector contacted you and informed you, for example, that your overdue debt has been redeemed, within 30 calendar days you need to contact the collection agency with a written application to change the terms of the bank loan agreement or the micro-loan agreement. In your application, you must disclose information about the causes of the debt, the confirmed circumstances and the facts that cause this petition. It is also necessary to provide reliable information about education, income and expenses, family composition, place of residence, availability of property and other information that the lender may request. The collection agency, after receiving your written application, is obliged to send it to a bank or microfinance organization within 10 calendar days. The lender considers the conditions proposed by you for changing the bank loan agreement or the micro-loan agreement within 15 calendar days and informs the collection agency in writing:

– about consent;

– about their proposals to change the terms of the loan agreement;

– about the refusal to change, indicating the reasons.

As a result, the collection agency will inform you about it within 10 calendar days after receiving the decision made by the lender.

The second point. Do not forget about your responsibilities

According to the Law, you are obliged to: notify the collection agency about the change of your place of residence (legal address), about the change of name, surname, if any, patronymic, replacement of identity documents, in case of expiration, loss. If your contact information has changed, then you need to notify the collector about it. You should not hide from "debt collectors", because if creditors do not get in touch with you, they will be forced to go to the courts and subsequently to private bailiffs to repay debts. As a rule, CSOs can seize your bank account, make an inventory and seize property. And they can also present a "final invoice for payment", in which the amount of the debt will be increased. The thing is that the debtor's expenses will include the amount of the state fee and the cost of HSI services – from 3% to 25%, depending on the amount of recovery.

You are also required to disclose reliable information at the request of the collection agency:

– on the level of income and expenses, place of residence, availability of property, which, in accordance with Kazakh legislation, can be foreclosed on to repay the debt;

v to interact on debt settlement with the collection agency;

– within 15 working days, consider the terms of repayment proposed by the lender and inform the collection agency or the lender of the conditions suitable for you.

The third point. You should know what information about you collectors have no right to disclose to anyone

The collector is obliged to provide, upon your request, a document confirming the amount of the debt and copies of documents confirming the authority of the collection agency to carry out its activities in relation to the debt, with the exception of information related to commercial or other secret protected by the laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Secret collection activity is any information about the debtor, creditor, debt, third parties bound by obligations with the creditor under a bank loan agreement or a micro-loan agreement. Information on the terms of concluded debt collection agreements and other information received and compiled by the collection agency in the course of its activities are also confidential.

Remember that the secret of collection activity in relation to you can be disclosed only to you, and to a third party – solely on the basis of your written consent, including that given at the conclusion of a bank loan agreement to disclose bank secrecy or a micro-loan agreement to disclose the secret of providing a micro-loan.

The fourth point. You can interact with the collection agency in any convenient way

For example, you can contact the collector to obtain information about your debt by telephone, personal meetings, written or mail notifications, as well as by text, voice and other messages via cellular communication, via the Internet.

In order to prevent unfair actions of collection organizations, a ban has been imposed on collectors to make calls from other people's phone numbers. All telephone numbers of collection agencies for contacts with debtors are officially registered and listed in the official register of the financial regulator.

According to the Law, you have the right to independently record the process of interaction with employees of the collection agency using audio and (or) video equipment.

If a collector calls you, he must tell you the following information:

– name of the collection agency;

– registration number in the register of collection agencies;

– location of the collection agency;

– your surname, first name, patronymic (if it is indicated in the identity document) and position;

– the name of the creditor who transferred the debt to the collection agency;

– on the structure of the debt, the balance of overdue and current amounts of the principal debt, remuneration, commissions, penalties (fines, penalties) provided for by the loan agreement;

– about your responsibility and other obligations stipulated by the bank loan agreement or the microcredit agreement, the laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as the consequences of non-fulfillment or improper fulfillment of your financial obligations.

And if you are not related to the debt, but the collector contacted you, then ask him not to contact you and remove your number from the call database.

The fifth point. Study the rights of employees of the collection agency

The collection agency has the right to:

– collect information related to your debt, including obtaining documents (originals and copies), explanations from the creditor under the concluded debt collection agreements;

– to foreclose in court, unless otherwise provided by laws or a contract for mortgaged property that is collateral under a bank loan agreement or a micro-loan agreement;

– interact with you or a third party bound by obligations with the creditor under the contract in the same ways as you. At the same time, telephone conversations on the initiative of the collection agency should be carried out no more than three times from 8.00 to 21.00 on weekdays. And if we are talking about personal meetings, at your place of residence or place of registration, or at the premises of a collection agency (branch, representative office), then they should take place no more than three times a week and only on weekdays from 8.00 to 21.00 hours.

The sixth point. You can file a complaint with a collection agency

In case of disputes and conflict issues with collection agencies, you can leave a request on the website https://stop-collector.kz / National Chamber of Collectors of Kazakhstan, contact by phone number +7707 573 00 00 or contact the Association of Collectors of Kazakhstan by phone number +7776 508 33 00 .

To check for compliance by collection agencies with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan and to protect your rights, you can apply to the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market with a statement:

– in writing to the address: A15C9T5, Almaty, mkr-n Koktem-3, 21;

– through the e-government portal egov.kz;

– your surname, first name, patronymic (if it is indicated in the identity document) and position;

– the name of the creditor who transferred the debt to the collection agency;

– on the structure of the debt, the balance of overdue and current amounts of the principal debt, remuneration, commissions, penalties (fines, penalties) provided for by the loan agreement;

– about your responsibility and other obligations stipulated by the bank loan agreement or the microcredit agreement, the laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as the consequences of non-fulfillment or improper fulfillment of your financial obligations.

And if you are not related to the debt, but the collector contacted you, then ask him not to contact you and remove your number from the call database.

The fifth point. Study the rights of employees of the collection agency

The collection agency has the right to:

– collect information related to your debt, including obtaining documents (originals and copies), explanations from the creditor under the concluded debt collection agreements;

– to foreclose in court, unless otherwise provided by laws or a contract for mortgaged property that is collateral under a bank loan agreement or a micro-loan agreement;

– interact with you or a third party bound by obligations with the creditor under the contract in the same ways as you. At the same time, telephone conversations on the initiative of the collection agency should be carried out no more than three times from 8.00 to 21.00 on weekdays. And if we are talking about personal meetings, at your place of residence or place of registration, or at the premises of a collection agency (branch, representative office), then they should take place no more than three times a week and only on weekdays from 8.00 to 21.00 hours.

The sixth point. You can file a complaint with a collection agency

In case of disputes and conflict issues with collection agencies, you can leave a request on the website https://stop-collector.kz / National Chamber of Collectors of Kazakhstan, contact by phone number +7707 573 00 00 or contact the Association of Collectors of Kazakhstan by phone number +7776 508 33 00 .

To check for compliance by collection agencies with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan and to protect your rights, you can apply to the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market with a statement:

– in writing to the address: A15C9T5, Almaty, mkr-n Koktem-3, 21;

– through the e-government portal egov.kz ;

– in management regional representatives of the Agency (at the place of residence).

You can get advice by calling the Agency's short number "1459" or by using the mobile application "Fingramota Online".

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