Is the law on collection activities adopted?

Many Russian citizens have probably heard about making changes to the law on collection activities. This article will tell you what is to be expected in the sphere of debt collection.

Collector activity: general characteristics

Really happy is the person who does not know who the collectors are and why they are needed. However, it is still worth mentioning about the collection activity. Regulate its commercial banks, wishing to quickly recover payment from debtors. Many bank employees argue that hiring reservoirs is one of the most effective ways to solve the problem of non-repayment of loans. However, debtors themselves do not evaluate the activity of collectors in the most positive way. What is the reason for this? In many respects, the negative attitude to collectors is due to the rigid and rough form of communication, and often even the absence of any kind of dialogue. So, debt collectors can even break the law, if only to be more intimidating to the debtor. The question of when the law on collection activities will come into force became more urgent.

Naturally, dissatisfaction with the activities of employees to collect debts could not but bear fruit. In 2016 and 2017, certain amendments were adopted, and the law on collection activities itself was introduced. About it and it is necessary to tell further.

Law of 2016

Even before 2016, the most important direction of legal assistance - the so-called anti-collector services - has developed. However, not every citizen could afford the help of a qualified lawyer. The situation became more and more aggravated, until finally, in 2016 (in July), federal law No. 230 was passed, regulating the activities of employees to collect debts. The question of when the law on collection activity would be adopted was, it would seem, closed. However, many experts, and even the citizens themselves found the content of the project insufficiently complete and voluminous. The only important decision that regulated the Federal Law of 2016 was the prohibition of private collectors.

Parliamentarians announced a new draft law on collection activities. It came into force on January 1, 2017. What can you tell about this project?

The first group of provisions of the law of 2017

What provisions are enshrined in the Federal Law on Collection Activities? This question should be answered based on the bill itself. The first thing worth highlighting is the provision on the nomination of claims to the debtor. From now on, all questions to the person who owes money, must be presented either by the creditor himself or by the official collection agency. At the same time, since July 2016, each such organization must be registered in a special state register. Here, by the way, it is necessary to give important advice to the debtors themselves: collectors need to require a registration number! Otherwise, you can contact an illegal group, now and then creating a problem. It is worth remembering that the creditor has no right to attract more than two persons to perform the functions of repaying debts.

With whom can, and with whom the collectors can not communicate? The law on collection activities regulates this moment. Thus, debt collection officers can not apply to the family or relatives of the debtor without the consent of the debtor himself. Otherwise, you can safely sue.

The second group of provisions of the law of 2017

The law prescribes the main norms of interaction between creditors and debtors. Thus, conversations between them can be conducted only at personal meetings, by phone, by written or voice messages. No other form of interaction is no longer possible, unless the debtor has agreed to do so. That is why it is worth noting the illegality of all the "unexpected encounters" in the form of the desire of collectors to break into the house, catch the debtor somewhere on the street,

The Federal Law on Collection Activities prescribes the basic requirements for the employees themselves to collect debts. So, collectors will not work in people with undelete or outstanding convictions. The persons in question must work only on the territory of the Russian Federation (for example, calls and letters from collectors abroad are illegal). At the same time, every debt collector should act calmly, reasonably, and, most importantly, legally.

What is forbidden to collectors?

The law on collection activities came into force in 2017, and the first thing that influenced it was the labor functions of the workers themselves. Henceforth, for collectors, there are a number of clear prohibitions established by law. What exactly does this concern?

• The use of physical force, threats or other methods of intimidation against debtors;

• Damage to property, threats to damage property;
• The application of hazardous measures for health and life;
• Psychological pressure on the debtor, humiliation of his honor and dignity;
• Misleading the debtor (regarding the amount of debt, the terms, the possibilities of applying punishment, etc.);
• the pursuit;
• Rendering other methods of unlawful infliction of harm, abuse of their official functions.

Thus, the list of prohibitions against the debtor is really great. However, prohibitions are far from the only thing a collector should know about.

When is the use of collection activities not permissible?

Every employee in the sphere of debt collection should remember a number of situations when his work is inadmissible in principle. What exactly is it about? The law on collection activities in the Russian Federation regulates the list of the following persons, in relation to which collection activities should not be applied:

• The citizen is declared bankrupt, and therefore he is no longer considered a direct debtor (they signed an agreement with the creditor on restructuring the debt);
• The debtor is not a capable person, or he is on treatment in a special medical institution, or he has the status of a disabled person;
• The citizen is underage.

In addition, the following rules are established:

• Collectors should not bother debtors from ten in the evening until eight in the morning on working days, and also from ten in the evening to nine in the morning on holidays and weekends;
• Meetings with collectors should not be made more often than once a week;
• Calls on the phone should not be made more than once a day;
• Written and voice messages are forbidden to send to the debtor at certain times (at the same time, when collectors should not visit people).

Form of communication to the debtor

Collectors have the right to send debtors various written messages. The law on collection activities (entered into force in 2017) regulates this point. So, a special form of the letter is set, it is by no means impossible to depart from it. What is this form? Here's what it should contain:

• Information about the creditor;
• OGRN (main state registration number), TIN, location of the creditor, name of the debtor;
• Contacts of the creditor: address, telephone, e-mail, etc.;
• Name of the person making up the message;
• Information on documents on the basis of which claims are made to the debtor;
• Amount of debt, maturity;
• The details of the bank account to which you can put money, in order to pay off the debt (or part of the debt).

None of the above should not be withheld. All necessary information should be contained in the letter.

Who can work as a collector?

The law strictly limits the number of persons who could work in the sphere of debt collection. So it will not be possible to carry out the profession of the collector in persons with outstanding or undeceased criminal record. In this case, the collector should cooperate directly with the bank or other financial organization.

A person who does not have compulsory insurance for inflicting losses to the debtor (but only if the amount of the debt is not less than 10 million rubles) can not work as a collector. Separately, it is worth highlighting the responsibilities of the collection organization itself. So, it should have its own website, mail, special equipment and software, certificate of entry into the state register and much more. Debt collection organizations are prohibited from disclosing information about the debtor, its debt or property.

The question of whether the law on collection activities has been adopted has been closed since January 1, 2017. However, another question is no less important and urgent: how effective is this law? After all, the news of the beaten or disgruntled debtors has not become less. Collectors continue to create arbitrariness, set fire to houses, damage property and commit other criminal acts. What kind of threat do they face, what punishment is set in this case?

Penalties for reservoirs

Responsibility for unlawful actions of employees to collect debts is prescribed in the Federal Law of July 3 last year. So, fines for violations threaten collector organizations, as well as creditors. The figures here are as follows:

• From 5 to 50 thousand rubles - citizens;
• From 10 to 100 thousand rubles - officials;
• From 20 to 200 thousand rubles - legal entities.

Here you can also include an administrative decision to stop the activity up to 3 months (90 days).