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Collecting from the Dead |
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by
LawDotNews
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Published
2009/04/02 12:00:00 AM
(Viewed
661
times) |
The world-wide credit crunch has, according to media reports from the U.S., had one particularly distasteful side effect, namely debt collection firms coaxing or cajoling people, often shortly after the death of a loved one, into paying their dead relatives' credit card bills or other debts.
If this practice spreads to South Africa, and if you are on the receiving end of such a call, don’t be bullied into paying. Any claim against a deceased estate must be lodged by the creditor with the estate’s executor, and cannot be collected from surviving relatives. Take advice also on whether you should report any offending debt collector to the Council for Debt Collectors, which enforces a strict code of conduct.
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