LMLs Worst Than Loan Sharks !

[Mdm Tang]

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Mr Fadzil (not his real name) showing all the demand letters from 12 licensed moneylenders.
By Syahirah Anwar
The New Paper
Monday, Oct 29, 2012
SINGAPORE - One borrower had a debt collector standing outside his door and shouting at him to come out to settle his debts.

Another claimed she lost her job when a debt collector approached her human resources (HR) department about her money woes.

And here's the rub: They were talking about debt collectors working for licensed moneylenders.

The Registry of Moneylenders told The New Paper that the number of complaints against licensed moneylenders in the first nine months of this year is more than double that for the whole of last year.

The Registry is the regulatory body that grants moneylending licences and comes under the Insolvency and Public Trustee's Office, which is a department of the Ministry of Law.

It said that last year, it received 93 complaints against licensed moneylenders.

As of Sept 30 this year, it had already received 206 complaints.

TNP contacted eight licensed moneylenders but they declined comment, except for one.

Much has been published about the way illegal moneylenders, or Ah Longs, operate.

They harass borrowers by splashing paint on their doors or scrawling the dreaded O$P$ (owe money, pay money) sign on their walls.

Some have even hung animal heads at their gates and set fire to items outside their flats to pressure them into paying up.

Licensed moneylenders don't use such methods but six borrowers told TNP that they choose to name and shame, and inflict mental "torture" upon them.

 

[Mdm Tang]

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Rather borrow from loan sharks
Frustrated by the abuse, they said they would rather take loans from unlicensed moneylenders.

A borrower, Mr Fadzil (not his real name), 54, a security officer, called TNP to share the problems he faces with licensed moneylenders.

He claimed that he took a $350 loan from a licensed moneylender in July last year to pay off a late HDB conservancy fee.

He was expected to pay off the $350 loan within a week but he was unable to make that payment. He said he had to borrow from another licensed moneylender.

He said his debt began to snowball, to over $12,000, as he kept borrowing from one moneylender after another to repay his debts.

He also claimed that with each late payment, he was charged an average fee of $50 per week by different companies.

Said Mr Fadzil: "Their debt collection tactics really affect me mentally because they keep shouting and abuse me with vulgarities when they come to my house or call me.

"They also always threaten that they will come to my workplace and make me lose my job and send the 'bad' debt collectors to find me.

"They are worse than Ah Longs because their aggression is in your face. They will hunt you down like prey, showing up wherever they can find you."

He said that licensed moneylenders feel they can say and do anything and get away with it because they are legal.

"They are not afraid to show their faces, and will do so as many times as possible because they cannot get caught for bothering us.

"With Ah Longs, it's different because they are illegal and wouldn't want to risk getting arrested by showing their faces often. Their message is often through their acts of splashing paint or spraying O$P$ on your wall."

 

[Mdm Tang]

Mr Fadzil also claimed that one debt collector had gone to his house and pushed his door open, loudly demanding that he cough up whatever money he had.
When he said he was going to call the police because the neighbours were being disturbed, the debt collector allegedly told him to go ahead and as he had "nothing to fear" because he was licensed.

Having borrowed from unlicensed moneylenders as well, Mr Fadzil said that he saw no difference in the loan methods, interest and payment schemes between them.

He said he had faced threats from illegal moneylenders over the phone and had paint splashed on his door but claimed the harassment was not on a daily basis and he rarely ever saw them in the flesh.

On average, he says licensed moneylenders charge an interest of 15 to 17 per cent a month, which he claims is the same as illegal moneylenders.

One borrower claimed she even lost her job because of the harassment from a licensed moneylender.

Miss Tan (not her real name), 37, said she borrowed $50,000 from more than 40 licensed moneylenders to help her then-boyfriend, a Malaysian, who was an executive trainee at a bank here. She was helping him clear his gambling debt.

She said she was working as a secretary with a local company and earning $3,500 a month.

However, she said she was sacked several months ago, on the same day debt collectors paid a visit to her office.

Told HR

According to Miss Tan, they were looking for her but since she was out at a meeting, they made a beeline for her HR department to inform them about her debts and that unless she cleared them, they would keep showing up at the workplace.

She said: "I was devastated when I found out that they fired me. I was depending on this job to pay off my debts and now they have made it even worse and impossible for me to pay it off."

Miss Tan said she now works as a cashier, earning $2,000 a month.

She claimed her former boyfriend had fled the country and was uncontactable, leaving her to pay off the debts.

Miss Tan also claimed that, last week, the debt collectors paid her home another visit, pasting a letter of demand on her door with superglue, making it tough for her to remove the notice.

According to the Registry's spokesman, licensed moneylenders may take reasonable steps to recover their debt as long as they do not break the law.

She said: "Such steps include contacting the borrower to ask for repayment and taking legal action to enforce the loan contract.

 

[Mdm Tang]

However, she said that the Registry will review each complaint made by the public and if there are possible breaches of the law by the moneylender, such as violent behaviour, the matter will be referred to the police for investigation.

The spokesman added that if an offence was committed, the moneylender's licence may be suspended, not renewed or revoked by the Registry.

As of last month, the Registry has suspended four licences and revoked two as the businesses had operated in an improper manner, such as contravening unsecured credit rules, breaching conditions of the licence and failure to explain the terms and conditions of the contract.

Since last year, eight licensed moneylenders have been convicted and fined for breaching moneylending laws.

Those convicted can be fined up to $40,000 and/or be jailed up to two years per charge.

[email protected]

 

[Mdm Tang]

Borrowers say these are the typical tactics used by licensed moneylenders to collect debts:

Constant phone calls, mostly at night

Shouting and cursing at borrowers

Threatening to send "bad" debt collectors to their homes and workplaces

Shaming the borrowers at their workplaces by reporting them to the human resources department

Waiting for them at work

Pasting demand letters, which sometimes have their photographs, on their doors for neighbours to see

Creating a scene at their homes and loudly naming them for all to hear

 

[Mdm Tang]

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Staff members of JMS Rogers Associates, a debt collecting agency, talking to a debtor (in red T-shirt) who owes her former business partner $530,000, at the foot of her block in Commonwealth.
By Esther Ng
The New Paper
Monday, Oct 29, 2012
SINGAPORE - With their burly physique, tattoos across their arms and menacing demeanour, they can be an intimidating sight.

They have been made out to be the bane of other people's existence, debt collectors claim that their job is no walk in the park either.

Mr Moses Michael, 47, the corporate director of JMS Rogers Associates, a debt collecting agency, told The New Paper that borrowers sometimes try to frame them to avoid making payment.

His said that, aside from licensed moneylenders, his company also collects for multinational companies, small businessesand individuals who hire its services.

He said: "We had a case where the borrower had damaged his flower pots and then called the police to say that it was our men who did it.

"We managed to prove that we weren't at fault as we had a digital recording of the whole incident which was shown to the police officer."

Mr Michael also claimed that the lives of his men were sometimes at risk - when the borrowers pick up weapons such as knives and choppers, taunting them to step into their homes.

He said that by stepping into their homes, the borrowers are easily able to turn around and say that they are trespassing, which is an offence.

Operating in teams of four men, Mr Michael said his debt collection officers always have a plan of action before carrying out their job.

They will head to the nearest police station to inform police officers before visiting the borrower's home or workplace.

To avoid causing panic in public, they will put up a six-foot-high banner to notify people that a legal debt collection is in progress.

However, if the borrower is especially elusive, more than one team of four will be deployed.

For instance, on Thursday evening, 11 of his staff, including Mr Michael, met a borrower at Commonwealth Avenue West, while another team of four waited at another address in Bishan.

 

[Leongsam]

Should be "LMLs WORSE than loan sharks".

http://www.squidoo.com/worse-vs-worst

[h=2]Worse[/h][h=3]Learn the grammar rules for the word worse[/h]
Worse is a comparative word, just like better only in the negative instead of the positive. This means when comparing two things, one will always be "worse" and not "worst" than the other.

Here are examples of the word "worse" used properly in a sentence:

• Margaret's cooking is worse than Kim's cooking.
• Wooden roller coasters are much worse than steel coasters.
• Cheer is worse than Tide about getting stains out.
• Artificial sweeteners are worse for your health than sugar.

[h=2]Worst[/h][h=3]Learn the grammar rules for the word worst[/h]
While worse compares two items, worst is a superlative. Think of worst like best, only in the negative. When something is much more terrible than multiple items, it is the "worst" of them all.

Here are examples of worst used correctly in a sentence:

• That was the worst movie ever!
• I have the worst memory when it comes to names.
• The hottest part of the day is the worst time to do yard work in the summer months.
• Skunks are the worst smelling animals.

 

[Mdm Tang]

Thank you BosSam .

 

[Mdm Tang]

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Many of my Sisters kena harassed by this LML , company name start with a capital Letter ' U ' , located at Toa Payoh Central
nearer to NTUC Fair Price one .

i hope Registry of Moneylender go close this shop !!!

 

[Huat-Ah]

This news already came out at the straitstime few days ago !