Overwhelming bombardment via phone calls, texts, emails and in-person visits as well as unpredictable yet substantial fees have been revealed among a range of harmful practices from debt collectors.
This is one of the findings of the Debt Collection in Aotearoa from the perspective of financial mentors report from Victoria University senior lecturer Victoria Stace and Liz Gordon, of Pukeko Research. The researchers worked in association with FinCap.
Based on the findings of this report FinCap continues our calls for the introduction of robust regulations for debt collection in Aotearoa. Robust regulations would mean people, whanau, and communities experiencing hardship and the financial mentors assisting them are treated fairly by debt collectors or can pursue timely and effective recourse when treated unfairly.
We have also republished some past research on related issues to our website
A longform version of previous expert analysis from Victoria Stace on approaches for best addressing harassment issues from debt collection in Aotearoa:
Two research papers produced with the support of the Michael and Suzanne Borrin Foundation exploring the law in the context of enforcement of lending laws and debt collection:
- Working Towards a Fairer Consumer Credit Market: A study of the issues in New Zealand’s consumer credit market and proposals for reform: Enforcement Issues
- Working Towards a Fairer Consumer Credit Market: A study of the issues in New Zealand’s consumer credit market and proposals for reform: Debt Collection
New research reveals harm caused by debt collection practices