On January 7 of 2015, the Notice No.81, issued by the National Commission for the Protection and Defense of Financial Services (?CONDUSEF?), entered in to force, this Notice grants new tools to surveil collection practices, so any collection agency which violates these provisions, can be penalized or fined.
On October 07, 2014, the General Provisions applicable to Financial Entities in mater of Collection Agencies were published in the Official Journal of the Federation, and now financial institutions will have to adhere to these new rules in regard to the collection practices performed by the agencies that manage credit portfolios.
As a result of the Financial Reform, CONDUSEF now has more tools to surveil that the banks; financial companies of multiple object, regulated or not regulated; financial popular companies; cooperative companies of saving and lending; financial community companies, among others, apply healthier practices in collection in order to comply with the following conditions or acts
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- Be fully identified;
- Address the debtor in a respectful manner;
- Communicate or appear to collect only from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.;
- Document the payment agreement in writing with the debtor, endorser or joint obligor;
- Use recognizable telephone numbers which are of easy identification by the debtor;
- Refrain to use names or denominations similar to those of public institutions;
- Refrain from to threatening, offending or intimidating the debtor, his relatives, coworkers or any other person who does not have relation with the debt;
- Not to perform collection negotiations with third parties, included personal references and beneficiaries, with exception of joint debtors or endorsers;
- Avoid sending documents appearing to be judicial documents, or pretending to be representatives of judicial departments or authorities;
- Avoid establishing special records, different to those already existing, black lists, or announcements making public the denial of payment by Debtors;
- Avoid receiving by any mean and directly the payment of the debt:;
- Not to perform collection proceedings, negotiations or restructuration with minors or elderly adults, unless the latter case are the Debtors, and;
- Not to perform collection proceedings, negotiation or restructuration, of credits, loans or financings, at a domicile, telephone or email different to the one provided to the financial entity by the Debtor, joint obligor or endorser.
As a result of the publication of the above mentioned provisions, the financial institutions had a term of 90 calendar day, which concludes today, to be in complete compliance with the obligations established and to adapt the contracts for the rendering of services that they will have previously signed with their collection offices in order for their personnel to start complying with such provisions.
Not only obligations were imposed to the financial entities that do not comply with the above indicated, but also in case the personnel of the collection offices hired by such institutions do not apply the good practices of collection, they might be subject to economic sanctions. Fines my go from $13,548.00 pesos.
There has been a considerable increase in matters of actions of defense against improper collection of which from the period from January ? August, 14, the CONDUSEF has initiated 15 thousand 743 actions of defense on the subject of improper collection, from which 67% is regarding persons who are not debit clients, 14% in regard to abuse and insults and 13.4% by credits already paid.
From January 07, 2015, a considerable breakthrough initiated giving any person who is the subject of calls of intimidation which receive calls at a time outside of the established (7:00 to 22:00), which does not identify the firm, that threaten or offend relatives and/or coworkers, who displayed banners or ads with the name of the debtor, among other things, has now means of defense which may exercise against such financial entities before CONDUSEF.
Source: www.condusef.gob.mx
Foto: Alan Clark
