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Estate and managing agents: When must your register as a debt collector?
by LawDotNews
Published 2009/12/07 12:00:00 AM (Viewed 661 times)

Many estate agents offer the service of collecting rentals and levies on behalf of clients such as landlords, Bodies Corporate, or Home Owners Associations.
 

No problem there, unless the service extends to collection – for remuneration - of arrear levies.  The Council for Debt Collectors, in finding an agent guilty of improper conduct for attempting to


recover collection costs from a defaulting sectional title owner, has effectively held that only registered debt collectors and attorneys are entitled to charge for collection of overdue levies and rentals. 


There is talk of an application for agents to be exempted from this requirement, but unless and until such exemption is granted, your choices seem to be: -


1. Refer the collection of arrears to your attorney/registered debt collector; or


2. Register yourself as a debt collector, in which event be aware that the fees you can charge are strictly limited; or


3. Don’t charge anything at all for collecting arrears.




 
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