Wesbank has responded to claims that it is illegally repossessing cars using registration identification technology and unmarked cars.
This after The Star newspaper uncovered that local banks are using the International Vehicle Identification Desk (Ivid) system to track down vehicles that have fallen into arrears.
Organisations, including the South African Board of Sheriffs, have lashed back, accusing the banks of illegally repossessing the cars as only a sheriff of the court can hand out a court order.
Wesbank says it makes use of the Ivid system only to identify vehicles that are still under financing agreements that have fallen "significantly" into arrears. "In many cases, this means instalments have not been made for as long as five to six years and the client is unable to be contacted - even by external tracing companies - as they have moved house and changed contact details without notifying the lender."
It adds that banks do not employ Ivid technology to repossess vehicles that have fallen into arrears of a few months. "Rather, processes are in place to assist such customers by renegotiating payment terms or referring them to a debt counsellor."
Wesbank says banks, as well as the South African Police Service (SAPS), provide Ivid with information of vehicles that are being searched for. "The banks report their own absconded and alienated cars; the SAPS in turn reports vehicles where a criminal case has been opened against that particular vehicle, into the database. Each bank only has access to its own data."
The bank adds that the SAPS and Business Against Crime SA (BACSA), however, do not assist in the repossession of its absconded or alienated cars. BACSA on Wednesday distanced itself from the matter, saying it is not in any way involved in the tracking down of cars for repossession purposes.
Following the latest statement by Wesbank, BACSA said it had given its response and that "no one is making further statements on its behalf".
Wesbank maintains that if a car is absconded, the client is provided with the opportunity to voluntarily surrender the vehicle through the signing of what it calls a Voluntary Termination Notice. "Frequently, such cases are a direct result of action by fraud syndicates that sell vehicles on to unsuspecting third, fourth or fifth parties, who are unaware that they are in possession of a vehicle that is still under a financing agreement."
Wesbank has also distanced itself from reports that it's using tracing agents, who are not abiding by the law in the repossession process. "Wesbank would like to clarify that it strongly condemns any such tactics being employed. If any external tracers engaged by Wesbank are found to have used unlawful measures, or have acted in contravention of the Debt Collectors Act, or any other applicable legislation, action will be taken against them."
Tiptoeing
Howard Dembovsky, from the Justice Project SA, says it's all fair and well that Wesbank has explained its position, but it doesn't give any clarity on the court orders. "It's a little bit disingenuous, to be honest. First, they claimed BACSA was involved and now it's not. They are still not addressing the issue that the repo agents are not sheriffs."
He adds that Wesbank is simply tiptoeing around the legal aspect of what banks are doing. "It refers to the Debt Collection Act and repossession agents. I reiterate: only a sheriff of the court may execute a court order - period."
Wesbank spokesperson Rudolf Mahoney responded to the concerns this morning, saying its repo agents don't hand out court orders. "People who are tracked down through our repo agents voluntary surrender their cars."
If car owners, however, don't want to hand over their vehicles, Mahoney says the bank then gives their details to the court and an order for the vehicle is issued. "The agents receive a digital version of the court order which they print out and show to the car owners. But we can't act as a sheriff of the court, so if they don't hand over their cars, the sheriff would go out and give them the court order."
Mahoney added that the bank had not received any complaints about its repo agents since the report in The Star, and claims of blue lights on the unmarked vehicles have also been investigated and dismissed.
Added problems
Dembovsky says the unmarked cars open a whole new can of worms when it comes to crime syndicates. "What they don't understand is that guns will not be necessary. All criminals need is a fabricated court order."
He adds that most people won't even know what an official court order looks like. "So they just need to get a little bit of info on a person and get them to sign a voluntary repossession document and get them to hand over their car.
"We know for a fact that there's a huge debt problem in SA at the moment. It's been stated that people with high amounts of debt are in many cases at least a couple of payments behind. This will make it so easy for hijackers to jump on the bandwagon."
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