Black day "gray" collectors

In January 2017, a law has been in force in Russia that establishes the rules of communication between debtors and collectors - this is the name of private entrepreneurs and organizations who are taken to repay other people's debts for remuneration. The new law significantly limits the well -known methods of collectors. A large penalty, in particular, can be imposed for annoying calls, letters, including electronic, threats and psychological pressure.

In the past two years, the demand for collectors grew together with "bad" debts. By the end of 2016, the debt of Russians with a delay in payments on loans for more than three months exceeded 1.23 trillion rubles. It is almost impossible to return this money, and banks need to clean their portfolios, which they do, including selling bad debts to collectors.

According to collection agencies and their industry associations, the demand for debts until recently in Russia was engaged in about a thousand structures. Their activities, in fact, were not regulated in anything, and the methods of work of some collectors were often compared with those that racketeers used in the early 1990s. In January 2016, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, for example, announced tens of thousands of complaints of citizens who received to them the activities of collection agencies. And after the incident in Ulyanovsk, when one of the collectors threw a bottle of incendiary mixture out the debtor’s window, which was due to the two-year-old child, the Chairman of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko suggested completely suspend the activities of collection agencies. In any case, before the adoption of a special law.

The Duma adopted such a law in the summer, and although it is most often called the "Law on Collectors", in fact the document is called - the law "On the Protection of the Rights and Legal interests of individuals in the implementation of activities to repay debts." This document introduces the concept of “professional recovery” into a legal turnover, provides for a mandatory accounting of collection agencies and, which, perhaps, is especially important for citizens who have owed banks, tightly regulates the communications of professional recoverers with debtors.

Since January 1, 2017, collectors are not entitled to call debtors more than eight times a month, twice a week and one time a day. Night calls are prohibited - from 22 to 8 hours on business days and from 20 to 9 on weekends. Personal meetings of the claimant with the debtor are also limited once a week. It is strictly forbidden to call and meet with debtors if they are recognized as bankrupt, incompetent or are disabled by the 1st group, minors or are treated.

In addition, the law provides for the borrower the opportunity to generally abandon interaction with the collector. After 4 months from the date of the occurrence of overdue debt and after 2 months from the date of the court decision on the recovery, the debtor may send the relevant application. From the moment of its receipt, collectors are forbidden to disturb the debtor and recover the debt only with the help of bailiffs.

The bank, transferring debts to the work of the collection agency, is also responsible for to whom he transferred it

Only the organization will now be able to engage in professional debt collection and contact debtors in the Unified State Register of the Organization. To do this, the net assets of the recovery agency should amount to at least 10 million rubles, and for the same amount the claimant is obliged to insure responsibility to the debtors. Complete information about collection companies should be in the public domain.

According to the head of the Control Committee of the National Association of Professional Collection Agencies (Napka) Evgeny Korovin, this will lead to the fact that small players will leave the market.

FFP employees while bypassing apartments of non -payers of utilities

- With the advent of the registry, each collector agency will value its reputation so as not to be excluded from the registry, because banks will cooperate only with those who are in its composition. The law introduces the liability of the creditor. Accordingly, the bank, transferring debts to the work of the collection agency, is also responsible for to whom he transferred it. And as a result, banks will only work with professionals. Professionals will also value their reputation. Because in more than two cases of violation of the law, they will lose the status of a professional claimant and excluded from the registry. Collectors will be more interested in conducting negotiations than in attempts at all costs to increase the effectiveness of the penalty.

-The complaints of debtors are known that collectors call not only them demanding that they return the debt, but also their relatives, neighbors, to work, and some other familiar. Now that the law comes into force, will this practice stop?

-This practice can continue, firstly, because it can be guarantors of the borrower. Accordingly, they also sign an agreement under which they allow the transfer of their personal data to the creditor and professional collectors. But again, the law, protecting the interests of borrowers, provides for the possibility of their refusal to interact with the collectors, and with it, we predict, will actively use. Secondly, borrowers very often when receiving loans, especially negligent borrowers, indicate extraneous contacts. And not always the bank can check to whom they belong. Accordingly, the collector, calling and learning that this is not the debtor, will delete this data from the database. Very often, among other things, debtors change the phone numbers. And mobile operators in 3 months sell them again. Accordingly, such cases will remain. Calls will be unauthorized persons, but they will be removed immediately from the base.

-And some sanctions for violators are provided for by law?

Only professional agencies are satisfied with the law

- The fines are provided. But, as I said, with a two -time violation of the company, it will be excluded from the registry, which is much harder for a collection agency. This is actually a declaration of bankrupt. It will not be able to carry out its activities anymore. In any case, the law will benefit both borrowers and professional collectors. Let's just say that cases of incorrect communication, inscriptions in the entrances, etc. will leave the markets. Professional collectors do not use this in their work now. Our association has 43 collection professional agencies that adhere to the Ethics industry Code. It was created on the basis of European standards and fully reflects the requirements of the law, and in some places even more, let's say, cruel. Accordingly, we in the control committee control the recovery process not only for compliance with the legislation, but also for compliance with the even more stringent ethics Code. Only professional agencies are satisfied with the law. Firstly, because the negative background created by unscrupulous or "gray" collectors should decrease. The collection market will be slightly more limited than before. Accordingly, the effectiveness of the penalty for some indicators will most likely decrease, but in any case, this is a big step to the civilized and correct financial market in terms of recovering overdue debts, ”says Evgeny Korovin.

For violations by collectors of the requirements specified in the Law "On the Protection of the Rights and Legal interests of individuals in the implementation of activities to repay debts", fines in the amount of 50 thousand to 500 thousand rubles were introduced. And the penalty for illegal activities to return the problem debt by the company, not included in the Unified Register of Collection Agencies, may amount to 2 million rubles.