Frequently Asked Questions

If you have been late in paying your accounts or have failed to pay them, a negative listing can be recorded on your credit profile in the form of a notice, judgment or adverse listing. Both individuals and companies can be blacklisted.

If any of these listings appear on your credit profile, you will probably find it very difficult to buy anything on credit or to obtain finance of any kind. People who have been blacklisted can often not open bank accounts and might even struggle to find employment. If you are able to get finance, you might have to pay a higher interest rate or put down a large deposit. If you have been blacklisted it is important to clear your name as soon as possible.

Clearing your credit profile is unfortunately not as easy as just paying your outstanding debts. Once you have been blacklisted, you can have a bad credit report for up to ten years, depending on the type of listing that you have against your name. You need the assistance of a specialist legal practitioner to improve your credit rating. Credit Doctor has years of experience assisting individuals and entities with credit bureau clearance so we should be your legal practitioner of choice.

When you apply for a loan, bond or open an account you give your creditor permission to send your personal information to a credit bureau and from the very 1st month every payment missed or made is recorded at that Credit Bureau. A Credit Bureau is a ‘library’ of credit information, providing a centralized database of consumer credit behaviour i.e. how well you manage your credit commitments. This information could either be positive (i.e. accounts that are up to date, or fully paid up); or negative information pertaining to judgments and adverse credit information of defaulted credit accounts. Credit bureaus provide vital information to credit providers to prevent over-indebtedness of consumers and the granting of reckless credit. There are numerous credit bureaus in South Africa, the three main credit bureaus being TransUnion, Experian & Compuscan. Most of the major credit providing companies use these three credit bureaus to vet any prospective clients that may apply for their services. The ultimate goal of a credit bureau is to reduce the credit risk associated with a financial transaction. Information stored by a credit bureau is a combination of both positive and negative information.  A positive credit report will not only help you obtain credit, it will assist you in negotiating better interest rates on your accounts.

As a consumer undergoing Debt Review, you can exit the process and be issued a Debt Clearance certificate. This is done by successfully paying off all debt obligations listed in the repayment agreement or Debt Review court order. If you own a property and have a mortgage loan which is not in arrears according to the Debt Review court order or repayment plan, you can also be issued a Debt Clearance Certificate, as long as all relevant short-term credit agreements are paid back in full.

Debt review removal process is a legal process in removing the debt review status from your credit profile. This status is applied when you undergo debt Review to manage your debts more effectively. The removal of this credit bureau indicator or listing is necessary once you’ve regained financial stability and wish to access new credit or loans.

The process involves several steps, including:

Confirming all your debts under debt counselling have been settled, not settled or restructured according to your debt restructuring plan.
Applying to a court to have the debt counselling and overindebtness status lifted or removed from your credit profile.
Notifying all relevant parties, such as credit bureaus and creditors, once the court order is granted to update your credit status.

► Pay all your accounts monthly before the due date as arranged with your creditors when opening the account ► Notify all your creditors of a change of address. ► Attend to legal documents and letters immediately. ► Should you be unable to pay your debt, contact your creditor immediately to make suitable arrangements and keep to these arrangements. Where possible have your creditor confirm the new arrangements in writing and keep the correspondence for possible future reference. ► Be careful of what you sign. Peruse documents first and contact us for assistance should you require advice