Archives March 2018

Most of the time a debtor who is an employee, has a high DBR due to the high salary loan EMI and so upon remedial request, the response is always that the account is regular, and the customer cannot be restructured to reduce their EMI!

Naturally the account is regular, because the employee’s salary is directly credited to the account, where instantaneously the personal salary loan and any credit cards the customer has, are debited. So, if the customer has high EMI’s then more than 50% of their salary is debited, where remaining EMI’s cannot be serviced in full, resulting in the customer having no money to sustain themselves and their families.

You might say ‘well it’s their fault’, or ‘they should have thought first before applying for the salary loan and affording multiple top-ups”, but realistically, many customers applied for those loans and cards prior to the credit bureau being fully operational, resulting in over exposure, of which we are all very familiar with at this time.

They can’t reverse the situation, they can only request a review for consideration to reduce this EMI, where many instances it is blankly refused for the reason stipulated herein. If the customer’s salary continues to be credited to the same salary bank account, then what is the problem? High DBR? Well yes, they would have a high DBR and it is the core reason they are requesting a restructure, or does it not make any sense? The objective is to reduce their DBR, where this is a very key situation that must be reviewed by most creditor banks. I can count on half of my hand where some banks are approving such remedial requests, the rest refuses.

On the issue of delays in remedial requests, there are cases up to 1year that has been escalated to the highest management level, still with no outcome, only the customer continues to receive monthly collections calls, where the request is not being facilitated by anyone. So, my question is, how is this possible? If a customer is terminated from he’s employment, is unemployed for 8months, secures an investor and registers a company in he’s name, is fully operational and commences payment of he’s default EMI’s, but is unable to cope with ‘catching up’ on the old EMI’s, how is it possible not to review this very important case for approval?

The cases referred to in this article are not ridiculous requests, where the customer is totally over-exposed, in dire delinquency in all their accounts, quite the contrary, these are customer’s who were disciplined in controlling their EMI’s and had the foresight that soon that they would struggle to meet their existing EMI’s. Due diligence is applied, the possibility of restructure doable, so why is the customer’s request pending for such a long time with nobody taking responsibility?

When official complaints are lodged, they are pending for a while with an excuse that the case was closed as the customer is not responding to requested documents for submission, when the remedial company initial ensured that the bank had all the required official documentation?

There is a visible gap in this process, of no continuity, nobody taking responsibility for the outcome and if it is not diligently followed up, it will disappear in the mist, resulting in the customer facing legal action, which is not warranted, as the customer informed them that he is unable to cope with he’s existing EMI.

We have had an SME case where the customer was requested to present additional documents for 3months, with a promise that the restructure would be approved, only to attend a final meeting and be informed in 5mins that ‘their solution would be to secure a cash injection from some source!’, this when the customer had identified that in the following months they would be facing a problem meeting their EMI’s, which means they were not in default yet. Naturally it’s a logical assumption that the solution for anyone in this situation is a cash injection, so who would invest in company liable for debts and why would the owner apply for more credit from banks at this stage? Now 3months has passed, the case is escalated to the senior management, with zero response!

My question: “where is the bank’s senior management’s sense of responsibility to review the customer’s history together with the middle manager’s decision, to ascertain the viability of approving this case?

There is a dire lack awareness of a creditor’s entire debt exposure, versus their one liability with a specific bank, yet the bank is presented the entire exposure justifying the remedial request, so if a remedial company is facing this problem, what about debtors facing it on their own and struggling to secure an outcome?

There are many dire situations debtors who are willing to repay their debt face every day and they find the same form of adversity from many of the creditor doors they knock on and I just wonder when this will be a seamless process, where everyone joins hands to make this world a better place.

There are thousands of you still lurking in the shadows, fighting your debt-crisis silently, hoping for a miracle, because I know you have tried all ways with no positive outcome, but today is where I redirect your focus, on how you arrived at this crisis and how to transform your life. The steps I am sharing will form the sound foundation you need to emotionally prepare yourself, to face your debt-crisis. There is absolutely no way when you are engulfed in emotional fear, with zero clarity or focus, including being insecure and unstable, that you can make informed decisions to act.

This advice is not ‘a pie in the sky’, or a ‘delusion of grandeur’, but the true facts, which are, creation of realities, i.e. you are responsible for your situation, because simply, you created it!

a. “How did I get into this situation so fast, without even noticing?

b. How did my business just spiral, why was I not focusing and wasting time and not noticing that I had not set an intention to achieve anything, I was just spending money unconsciously, probably assuming there was a ‘bottomless pit’?

c. Why did I not see any ‘red flags’?

d. Why can I not account for most of this expenditure in detail?

Because, when money flows, we lose our mind, we never stop to ‘maintain records, or even think about a rainy day and as fast as that money flows into your life, if you don’t respect it, you will lose it and it doesn’t matter if it’s thousands, hundreds of thousands or millions.

I know this, because it happened to me, except, I was spending my own millions, not someone else’s, but I also never focused on the fact that my money flow was not a bottomless pit, I was too concerned to meet the needs of Tom, Dick and Harry, until my flow was depleted, where the shock was, they were all nowhere to be found once my pit was dry!

We are human, we make mistakes, so beating yourselves up about it, will ensure you continue to regress, the doors will continue to remain close, nothing will move and the tunnel will seem long and dark with no hope, because that is what you are creating, just like you created your debt, or lost your money – Blame yourself, take responsibility and once you have clarity, set your intention and take the much needed action to save yourself and your life.

Many will say talking is easy, yes, it is, but put action into your words and thoughts and keep them positive, because you need to do nothing else but change your thoughts to change your world. Nothing remains dark forever, so unless you make that move to step out and take action, nothing will change, you will simply revolve around in circles, with no progress, worsening your situation.

When you don’t have a plan, you are lost, because then it means you have no direction, therefore no forthcoming solution and it’s a sad day when just around the corner, you could have saved yourself.

When you are down and out, learn to saturate yourself with books pertaining to achieving wealth, abundance, prosperity and new success in your life, forget about beating the old drums of how you got to your debt-crisis, because it’s gone, you must learn to move forward and put the old behind you.

I never stop emerging myself in improving my own knowledge and experience and just this weekend I picked up my favourite “Think And Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill and it’s a book you should keep pushing yourself daily, because if you master the teachings in that book, you will master achieving tremendous wealth and transforming your life. So instead of prancing to the mall and spending money you don’t have on goods you don’t need, invest in this book, because it is a lifetime investment.

Let me share some significant points with you. There are six ways to turn desire into Gold, so follow those steps daily, no matter how depressed, suppressed and repressed you feel. Some powerful affirmations he shares in this book, that should resonate with those of you who live with huge hope, who know that you can transform your life, but maybe you don’t know how, so here they are:

“Every person who wins in any undertaking, must be willing to burn he’s ships and cut all sources of retreat…”

“You may as well know, right here, that you can never have riches in great quantities, unless you can work yourself into white heat of desire for money, and actually believe you will possess it…”

“When you begin to think and grow rich, you will observe that riches begin with a state of mind, with definiteness of purpose, with little or no hard work…”

“Before success comes in any man’s life, he is sure to meet with much temporary defeat…”

“I will never stop, because men say no…”

So, really, things are thoughts and powerful things at that, when they are mixed with a definiteness of purpose, persistence and a burning desire for their translation into riches. Which means that it doesn’t matter where you are right now with your debt-crisis, you can change your situation by changing your thoughts and the help you need will flow to you. This is not a fallacy, it is how the universe revolves for us humans who can connect at that level and somehow many of you remain clouded. I speak to many daily, but they are bent on rattling off their old story and beating their old drums, when they don’t realize, if they just stopped for 5minutes and listened to themselves, and remembered how many people they rattled that same story to, how may people stopped taking their calls or responding to their pleas for help, because most people will listen to your story, but they can’t get involved as they have their own lives and responsibilities.

The job is yours and only yours and nobody can do it for you and I am here to convince you, that your problem is miniscule versus the power you can acquire to be happy and at peace again. Just listen to yourself when you want to start on a rampage or rattle on about your problems and tell yourself, ‘nobody is really listening or want to help, because they have their problems’, I need to find the right solution for myself and start your daily practices, google, read up about transformation and start your new journey, because it’s that simple…

As a business owner and entrepreneur for more than 2 decades, I know what it’s like to face troubling times in business, with facing financial crisis, or just trying to revive your existing business to make the wheels turn again, focus on existing liabilities, trying to sustain yourself and your family and then still showing a good face every single day.

Hence for that very reason, I continue to reach out to help individuals change their lives and it’s a gift, or a calling which I have embraced. So weekly I try to come up with different forms of inspiration, which is meant for you to view your debt-crisis situation from a variation of perspectives, so you can exactly pin-point:

1. Where did I go wrong?

2. How bad is my true situation?

3. Have I taken enough action to remedy this situation?

4. If you have, do you need more help and where to go? Have I short-listed possible new actions that I can take, or are am I simply vegetating hoping it will fall from the sky? Nothing moves until you do, a miracle will not drop from the sky if you are sitting around day and night, complaining, hiding away from creditors and beating the old story, which is already dead!

5. Have I reviewed your current business enough? Even if downsized now, surely there are possibilities to create new revenue funnels, or did you try to emerge yourself into available online information on how to master the art of Game-Changing?

6. What am I prepared to sacrifice to turn your situation around?

7. Do I need to secure the advice of an experienced Coach/Mentor, to enlighten me how to take alternative action and what my new options can be?

It’s not easy, but reality is that you created this situation, so by the same token you can become ‘unstuck’ and be on your way to creating abundance and prosperity for yourself again and you might say ‘it’s easy for you to say!’ and I know, but when you have walked the talk, then it’s realism, I have been there, so I know that the advice tendered is real.

The golden nugget when facing a debt crisis is ask yourself: ‘How can I create new abundance, prosperity and wealth for myself, because I believe I have the ability to overcome and achieve the success I set out to achieve?’ When you read this phrase it’s completely a total contrast to the story you have been beating to death for months or a few years. The tone sounds lighter, it makes you feel better, like there is hope, some new path available for you to persue. So why aren’t you pursuing it? Go for what you want, forget about the old story, because it’s not serving you, just deepening the hole you’re already in!

The keys are and I have repeated myself so many times over the past almost decade, writing on this subject and sharing my views, including tendering my advice, because I know that when you read this over and over again, it will resonate with you, because you are guilty of not taking concrete action to correct your situation and transform your life.

Most of you will say it’s impossible, let me share with you that there is no such word, when you say it’s impossible, then you are imposing limiting beliefs on yourself, so you will continue to remain stuck, negative situations will continue to present itself, and it’s not as you all think ‘Law of Attraction’, absolutely not, because something was left out and that very key is ‘Unconscious Competence’.

It takes approximately 21 days to establish a new belief, pattern or behavior, which means to ingrain new positive habits into your subconscious, because that is the ‘recorder of your life beliefs, patterns an habits’, you must do and repeat it over and over again, resulting in ‘unconscious competence’, like brushing your teeth every morning, or driving your car and arriving at your destination, only to find you don’t know how you got there!’, because it’s habit.

To progress, you must have a definite plan and purpose to derive at your final destination, so here are key tips for today.

1. Create a new plan, even if your debt has already been restructured, do your best at a new plan and ensure it makes logical sense;

2. Record all information, commercials, current outstanding dues and balances, cheques that have bounced, next EMI’s due, any information that will help you see a new picture, because most times people facing a debt-crisis turn a blind eye to the truth, as it makes them feel better, but for sure it does not make the problem go away.

3. Go back to your creditors, present your new plan, ask with much emotion for help, plead to the human side of them, because they are and many have huge empathy, just sometimes debtors approaches to creditors are entitled, arrogant, demanding and disrespectful, so leave those habits at home, as it will not serve you.

4. Take copies of all your legal documents with you, so you have everything readily available.

5. Most of all, start believing in your ability to overcome, you must burn yourself into a hot sweat of unraveled determination to set your financial situation right, believe in your plan and do not let anything move your focus from what you wish to achieve.

You might say ‘You’re joking, right?’ No, I am not joking because ‘What the human mind believes, it can conceive…’ and another great inspiration is ‘I will not stop, because men say no…’

Too often, we stop because men say no, we get despondent, we feel like our world is falling apart and we feel hopeless and useless to move an inch. Let me ask you today, don’t find yourself in this position stopped in your tracks because someone else’s realistic response to your determined plan, is negative. Never give up, keep on keeping on because the tunnel never stays dark, light overcomes darkness any day of the week.

You’re important to you, people don’t become useless because they’ve made a mistake to accumulate debt, it’s a lesson, where hopefully, once you got out of it, you would have learnt invaluable nuggets, setting precedent for your next new journey!

For me, it’s soul destroying when I know that there are thousands of you facing a personal or business debt-crisis, but you’re just not mentally ready to act and find your peace.

My calling is to help you out of the destructive, soul destroying debt situation you have been facing for a very long time, where your attention is diverted to so many directions, except the right one, facing your own dire situation, coming to terms with it and finding the right solution for you.

People like me do something for so long, then they stop, because finally, who is appreciating the reach and doing something about the invaluable advice they tender most times? It’s a grave concern that you are out there, accepting your suffering, humiliation, degradation and the many emotional situations you face in a day, week, or month of the year.

So, there will come a day that I will close my door on this platform and divert my attention to where it is valued and appreciated, and that day is very soon. Therefore, today, my questions to you are listed below and my request is to email me your responses, because maybe I missed something, or I just don’t understand, when in fact I had mentioned numerous times that I have walked the talk, so there is very little you can convince me about.

Most of the time this job is thankless, because debtors whose problems are resolved and they are happy about the outcome, normally walk back into the sunshine with not much gratitude, as they don’t have a dire critical need anymore, so they forget that closing doors is the worst mistake they can make in their lives, but, it always comes back, so here are my questions for today:

1. What makes you not act to resolve your debt crisis?

2. Who are you listening to?

3. How has that turned out for you?

4. If you’re hiding, why do you think there is no solution for you, besides no longer having an income to serve that debt you must repay?

5. What is the worst mental state you are in or have experienced that makes you sit on the sidelines and watch the world pass, whilst you do nothing and allow despair to consume your being?

6. What is your real hope of saving yourself and getting out of this debt situation?

7. Where do you see yourself 1year from now?

8. What are your future plans?

9. Do you have goals and dreams, or do you just continue to exist?

10. Are you prepared to make more sacrifices and ground-breaking commitments to get out of debt?

11. If your answer was ‘yes’ above, then why have you not acted yet?

12. How can I help you to overcome this situation?

13. Do you think you know everything? The system of debt? The shortcuts? The best solution and exactly where you were a few months ago, or a year? Then why have you not followed your own advice?

14. Are you teachable and willing to learn new tools and techniques to help you?

15. Do you blame your situation on bad luck, your upbringing, creditors are not understanding? Nobody wants to help you? It’s a useless situation?

16. Are you a company owner and if you have lost, do you really think you are doomed right now with no hope to recreate your losses? If so, why?

17. What can I do to make you act? Humour me, because there is very little that will convince me at this stage?

18. If you’re a follower of my articles, then are you prepared to never read them again? If so, why?

19. Dire debt normally emotionally dehumanizes an individual in many aspects of their being, so what are the changes you wish to see in yourself in the future?

The outcome of these questions, normally drives an individual facing a debt crisis to search from within and that is the intention, because the mindset right now has lost the capability of probing and deriving at core truths and so it is my wish that the answers you give yourself, are onus to you, that you connect with them emotionally, because the key of the answers, is to direct your thoughts to upliftment, regaining some form of hope and positivity, which normally results in inspiration setting in, even minimal, but it fosters transformation and my request to you is to journal these answers, read them many times over and then take the needful actions you feel from within.

Helping someone in debt to take one step forward is the most difficult task, long before you get to convince them of the solution for their situation and most of the time, nobody has asked you all of these questions, so I hope it helped you today.

Barack Obama once quoted:

“CHANGE WILL NOT COME IF WE WAIT FOR SOME OTHER PERSON, OR OTHER TIME.

WE ARE THE ONE’S WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR, WE ARE THE CHANGE THAT WE SEEK…”

You can’t sway like the wind, first being co-operative and then not, because that same tide you’re creating, is negatively inflicting the lives of debtors who are really needing your help. If you want to see real change, then you must collectively start making a real concerted effort to realize that change, because recreating change with old habits is a door stopper!

So, here are a few real changes you need to revisit and apply:

1. If a debtor has presented their entire financial exposure, where they qualify for consolidation and/or restructure, but they’ve told you that right now they can’t meet the full overdues or high pending EMI’s, then I am sure you can make allowances to approve for them to pay a realistic partial overdue EMI and apply remedial to the remaining. Why is it necessary to apply victimizing actions and attitudes, including ego in most instances, just because you can? You don’t think that if you can recoup your organizations assets over a period, that you may just be able to see an improvement that would ensure you of some form of future stability? Or don’t you care? Don’t you assume that one day you could arrive at your office to find out that it is no more?

2. If the debtor has visited your office, met with you, is willing and able by presented commercial statements to meet he’s liabilities and you have done your due diligence and considering remedial, then on the flipside, why is it necessary for your team to continue calling the customer 58times in 20minutes most days?

3. In addition, to bounce their guarantee cheques and file legal action, whilst the case is submitted for review and approval by your management? Why are your systems not updated with this activity whilst the customer is awaiting your feedback? There is no consistency or handover from one months allocation to the next, regardless if you profess that all interactions with customers are recorded, it’s clear the ones where the customer requested help is not, because a remedial request can be pending from 6m to 1year, simply because how many really take an interest except to secure their target, then the same cycle continues with the next collector allocation.

4. Why once the legal action is completed, do you not follow your legal procedures, but instead harass the customer at their workplace, knowing that if your team specifically request to meet with your customer’s HR Manager, that they could be terminated? Am I correct in assuming that you don’t care and that it is irrelevant to you that the customer can lose their employment? So, if you have a good many customers in 1 month that you apply these measures to, how long could you hold onto your job? To be frank I have escalated such instances to senior management with no action or outcome.

5. Why is it that in many cases escalation to senior management is ignored and never actioned? I hear the excuse of being too busy, well, I don’t accept it, not when you are in a position of strength to make a difference and save a life and however much my sentiments have no significance to you because you have no empathy or compassion, then it’s time to do the full circle of the job assigned to you, because it’s not just about targets, or allowing internal power struggles and politics to affect key decisions made for debtors accounts, simply because you don’t like dealing with the remedial company requesting such reviews. We are not here to like anyone, but to build sound relationships to try to restore human faith and lives so everyone can recover, so it’s never personal, neither is what I am writing today.

These examples are not referencing debtors who are intentionally under-handed, rather the sincere debtor who has not only sought your help and was refused, but proceeded to seek alternative help from a remedial company who can review their entire exposure with the sole aim of reducing their DBR in line with their current monthly income, enabling them to service their EMI’s and not default.

I am saturated about customer’s having to hear from creditors as to why they are seeking the help of remedial companies, so let me inform you, here’s why, because if you did your job correctly in the first place, the customers would not have to seek alternative solutions and support out of sheer desperation.

Therefore, remedial is a full circle, it does not only pertain to the norm of consolidations, restructures or buy-outs, but also to the human factor of coping with psychological debt emotional fear, depression, anxiety, anger and also credit mentorship, because they get to understand how to transform themselves, hence, changing their situations where they learn how to emerge from their dark hole and recreate themselves and take ownership and responsibility of their lives in a full circle. It’s a serious issue, where it does not matter if a debtor opts to remain here or skip, even in the latter instance it can also be soul destroying if the debtor has a conscience and I know many have, so the choice some creditors had in the past should be a lesson today, rather to fully support until the debtors situation improves and realize that time is the healer of restoration, the debt was not accumulated overnight, so how come you want an overnight solution right now, when it is impossible?

When people are at your mercy, regardless of whether you assume that the situation was self-inflicted, the fact is that it won’t serve you to continue beating the old drums, rather your job is to save the moment, whilst saving your organization and yourself, because nothing else matters, except that the debtor is willing to repay he’s debt.

I find it very hard to consume when a debtor is offering to pay a partial EMI, where there is no legal action, just he knows that he is expecting income soon, but right now, he is willing to pay what he has in he’s hand, then the creditor refuses, in some cases, the collector will even demand that the creditor ‘go and lend it from someone!’. Really? So that you can achieve your target? The other big issue is demanding and EMI with a promise that once it is paid, the restructure will be processed, where once paid the debtor finds the account is then allocated to a new collector and history starts repeating itself and finally, the debtor faces legal action due to accumulated EMI balances.

When will we learn as human beings that being happy and in peace, also helping others to create that same equilibrium, will serve us all and that we are all on this one planet, supposedly to help each other, but some of us have cocooned ourselves in special aura of ego, that seems to be impenetrable, where those around us are already well trained not to cross that line. Realize that you’re not in an ego cocoon, just a delusional bubble that will burst in its time, then you will stand alone, unable to help yourself, because that’s the law of life.