My debt has been overbought and they are demanding more money. What to do?

Do creditors have the right to sell debts?

Yes, banks, microfinance organizations (MFOs) and consumer credit cooperatives (kpcs) can indeed sell borrowers' debts. Moreover, both to other professional creditors or collectors, and to ordinary people — such as Zinaida.

But two conditions must be met at once:
  1.  You have already overdue the payment (for example, for a month).
  2.  There was a clause in the loan or loan agreement stating that the debt can be assigned (usually item No. 13), and you ticked it there.If the lender wants to transfer your debt not to a company or individual entrepreneur (IE), but to an individual, then one more condition is added:
  3.  You have given separate consent to transfer the debt to a specific person.

Moreover, a bank, an MFI or a CPC does not have the right to obtain permission to sell overdue debts to an individual in advance when they issue a loan. You may be asked to sign such a paper only after you have delayed the payment.

It is also possible to express consent to the resale of debt in another way, which replaces a personal signature. For example, when making an online loan, a code from an SMS message is used instead of a signature.

It is important to remember that you may not agree to the assignment of debt to another company or person. But you are obliged to fulfill the requirements of the signed contract and pay for the loan or loan.

I found out about the debt sale already from a new lender. How could this happen and what to do now?


If you have issued a loan or a loan in a legal organization and the sale of debt has come as a surprise to you, several options are possible:


  •  This is a mistake. Ask the caller and find out if it's really about your debt. Check the name of the organization where you borrowed money, the number of the loan agreement, the date and amount of the loan. If there is no contract at hand, ask for the full name and passport details of the borrower. Perhaps it's just a namesake, and your phone was given by mistake. Clear up the misunderstanding and you won't be bothered anymore.
  •  Scammers are trying to deceive you. An attacker could have taken possession of your personal data and is now trying to extort money from you. Even if he answered all your questions and correctly named the details of the loan agreement, it is worth calling back the previous lender. Specify whether the debt has been transferred and to whom exactly. Perhaps the alarm is false. Then you should file an application for fraudsters with the police. If the debt has indeed been transferred to another lender, there are two other options.
  •  The debt was sold with violations. It may turn out that a bank, an MFI or a CPC has really ceded your debt to someone and has not received your permission before. In this case, you have every right to refuse to communicate with the new lender and pay the loan to the old one. It is also worth complaining about it to the bank so that this situation does not happen again.
  •  You agreed, but forgot about it. Sometimes several months pass between the signing of a permit and a call from a new lender. Just in case, ask to be shown a signed paper. Or check your personal account on the website of the organization that issued you a loan or loan. If you have indeed given your consent, you will have to interact with the new lender.

What should I do if a new lender demands to pay several times more than I borrowed?

The procedure depends on who exactly bought your debt: professional creditors or other organizations and people.

Professional lenders — banks, MFOs and KPCS

They are obliged to adhere to the terms of your previous contract.

If you were unable to pay the loan on time due to financial difficulties, a new lender may offer you to restructure the debt - for example, extend the loan term and reduce monthly payments. To do this, you will need to conclude a new contract with him.

It is worth bearing in mind: the highest interest rates are on consumer loans and loans up to a year. But the amount of overpayment on such loans is limited. For loans, the maximum amount of overpayment should not exceed the loan amount by more than one and a half times.

If a new professional lender has counted you more, complain to the bank. In addition, for monetary disputes with MFOs, you can contact the Financial Ombudsman. Its decisions have the same force as court rulings, and the company is obliged to comply with them.

Non—professional creditors - collectors, non-financial companies or ordinary people

If your debt is in the hands of an unprofessional creditor and he demands from you an amount that is several times more than the loan taken, then the debt can be reduced only through the court.

Judges usually meet borrowers halfway and reduce the debt to reasonable limits. Most often, they focus on the initial terms of the loan agreement. And take into account the overpayment limit on short-term loans, which was in effect at the time of conclusion of the contract.

The law also allows the judge to reduce the amount of debt to a minimum — to recalculate the interest on the loan to the size of the key rate that was in effect during the period of the loan agreement. But judges rarely make such decisions, usually only in cases when the loan amount is very large and the overpayment is unbearable for the borrower.