Frequently Asked Questions

·         Debt Review otherwise known as Debt Counselling is a process where assisting all South African citizens who is over-indebted, by reducing their total monthly installments up to 50% in according to the customers household budget or expenses.

·         Consumers can be placed under debt review in order to protect them from creditors and so that their assets cannot be repossessed.

·         Client must be permanently employed or self- employed.

·         Our legal team is responsible for combining all debt review court applications from documents, which are completed & signed by clients as well as their credit providers and the payments cascades that they have set up.

·         The legal team asks the attorney to place the offer on a roll for a specific date. Once this has been completed, the legal team will notify the clients and their credit providers about the court date for the review case to be reviewed.

·         Certain courts require the actual debt review clients to be present at the court at the time of the court order, however in the vast majority of cases, the Magistrate’s Court would rather allow the matter to be dealt with by your attorneys.

·        Our legal team is responsible for combining all debt review court applications from
documents, which are completed & signed by clients as well as their credit
providers and the payments cascades that they have set up.

·        The legal team asks the attorney to place the offer on a roll for a specific date.
Once this has been completed, the legal team will notify the clients and their
credit providers about the court date for the review case to be reviewed.

·        Certain courts require the actual debt review clients to be present at the court at the
time of the court order, however in the vast majority of cases, the Magistrate’s
Court would rather allow the matter to be dealt with by your attorneys.

·         First step would be to assess your situation and find out where in the process you  left off. Perhaps was there a court order granted or have you received a 17.2 document by your debt counsellor?

·         Thereafter a letter from your side giving the lawyer permission to begin the process of removing you from Debt Review.

1.       The client will forward all relevant documents pertaining to the debt review to Salham & Partners;

2.       You will be asked to consult with the attorneys office who will explain any concerns which may be unclear as well as what the process entails.

3.       The attorney will make contact with the debt counsellor in order to establish the status of the debt review, and specifically whether a Court order has been granted in respect of such consumer;

4.       Upon confirmation from the Debt Counsellor, the client is notified that the application may proceed and the client is informed which documents and information is required in order to draft the application.

5.       These documents are:

A.      The client’s salary advice;

B.      The client’s monthly budget;

C.      The monthly commitments in terms of credit agreements must be specified separately from the regular monthly expenses.

D.      Description of why the client encountered financial difficulty that led to debt review;

E.       Description of the change in circumstance resulting in this application.

6.       Once the relevant information is received, Salham & Partners will draft the affidavit and this will be transmitted to the client for perusal, comment and any changes that may be necessary

7.       The client will then commission the affidavit and deliver the original document to Vermeulen Attorneys either personally or by courier;

8.       On receipt of the affidavit, the application will be completed and a date for hearing will be obtained at Court;

9.       The application will be served on the debt counsellor;

10.   The attorney will represent the client at Court on the allocated date to present the application for consideration;

11.   The granted order will be uplifted from Court once ready and is sent to the debt counsellor in order that they may remove the flag from the credit bureaus;

12.   Once the flag is removed the debt counsellor will advise Vermeulen Attorneys and the client will be updated;

13.   This concludes the application process.