Moldovan collectors – helpers or blackmailers in “law”

In Moldova there is a form of enterprise that is quite new to us – collection agencies. For a small fee, they are ready to help seize the necessary amount from the debtor in favour of the creditor.

Worldwide experience shows that the path of debt collectors towards law-abiding forms of activity is difficult and thorny – they emerged half a century ago in the US, then in Europe, after which a legislative base was formed, which defined their legal ways of working and distanced them from the various thugs and mafia debt collectors.

In the post-Soviet area, it has proved more complicated – the line between legitimate debt collectors’ activities and criminal ones has been blurred, to say the least – everyone remembers the noisy scandals about debt collectors terrorising citizens in Russia and Ukraine. It has led to serious bodily harm and even murder, with debtors and debt collectors themselves among the victims. At least, that was the case until recently.

In Russia, on 1 January 2017, a law regulating relations between debt collectors and debtors will enter into force. In Moldova, there is no such law, but collectors are working.

A Sputnik correspondent called one of the collection agencies in Chisinau and tried to clarify the situation, presenting himself as a creditor who cannot pay a debt of several thousand euros.

The collectors responded promptly, and the conditions under which they work are as follows: the potential client pays them a non-refundable contribution of 500 lei, after which a contract is concluded with them, and the collector’s interest is negotiated separately, usually 10%. Collectors do not give guarantees that debts will be repaid, but claim to work with 70% efficiency.

The interlocutors said they do not use illegal methods to influence debtors and that there will be no problems with the law – neither for them nor for the client.

Our correspondent asked the experts to explain to what extent the activity of debt collectors in Moldova is in line with the law. Lawyer Vitaly Nagachevschi said that collection agencies fit quite well within the legal field in Moldova.

“There is a presumption of legality – as long as one’s activity is not recognized as illegal, as long as it remains within the law. If an agency buys debts and confiscates them, I don’t see that as a crime or a departure from the law. It’s a different matter whether their activities fall under the license, but based on the liberal interpretation of the law, I don’t see any issue that would put the activities of these agencies outside the law,” Nagachevsky said.

Lawyer and professor Pavel Midrigan, for his part, expressed doubts about the legality of the existence and activity of collection agencies.

“We have a Department of bailiffs, it is the one that deals with the enforcement of court judgments, in my opinion, it is impossible to duplicate its activity in the absence of clear legislation. Collection agencies are a new form of earning for us, unlike bailiffs, their powers are very vague”, explained the expert.

Pavel Midrigan advises citizens not to engage in conversations with collectors and to immediately involve state law enforcement bodies if collectors are interested in your person.

“It is necessary to address the law enforcement bodies, to find out on what grounds this or that debtor is bothering, if there is no court order and there is no enforceable title, why are they appealing to a citizen? I have to say straight away that the writs of execution are executed by the bailiffs, and I am not going to talk to you. None of the debtors are obliged to have any conversation with the bailiffs. We need a serious legislative basis for their activities,” Midrigan summed up.

Expert opinion is divided, and it is most likely that in time a legal framework for civilised interaction between debtors and debt collectors will be formed in Moldova, as in other countries. But even now and after this event, it is better to always pay debts on time, and ideally – not to have debts and learn about the work of debt collectors and bailiffs only from TV series and paper books reported point.md on 24.10.2016.