Russia wants to prohibit the transfer of consumer loan debts to debt collectors

Russia wants to ban the transfer of consumer loan debts to debt collectors. Izvestia has learned that such a bill will be submitted to the State Duma on February 5 by Sergei Mironov, leader of the A Just Russia - For Truth faction, and deputies Alexander Terentyev and Yana Lantratova.

"According to the Bank of Russia, by the end of 2024, the level of overcrediting of the population has reached 62%, which means that more than half of borrowers are forced to take new loans to cover current obligations. Among the main reasons are the ease of obtaining loans, aggressive marketing by banks and microfinance organizations, as well as the continuing decline in real incomes of citizens," the explanatory note to the bill says.

The document notes that the average level of debt burden of the population remains high. And credit organizations, despite the possibility of using tools to improve the situation with overdue debt (restructuring, extension of loan terms, partial repayment of debt), often transfer the rights of claim to collection agencies.

"In this regard, the bill proposes to amend the law "On consumer credit (loan)", fixing the ban on the transfer by creditors of rights under consumer loan agreements to third parties, also to amend the law "On the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of individuals in the implementation of activities to recover overdue debt" and exclude the possibility of transferring the rights of claim for the return of overdue debt to third parties, including collection agencies, as well as to tighten the requirements for credit and microfinance institutions

As Mironov explained to Izvestia, more than half of borrowers take out new loans to service old ones, and if they have debts, they have to face collectors.

"With our bill we want this communication of borrowers with "debt bouncers" to minimize. In this regard, we propose to prohibit the transfer of debts on consumer loans to collectors and in principle prohibit them from working with overdue debts of individuals," he concluded.

Debt encroachment: lenders have become more likely to sell delinquent loans

They are bought by individuals, among others, who can "beat" money out harder than debt collectors can

Earlier, December 11, 2024, it became known that the Ministry of Justice of Russia proposed to introduce restrictions on the actions of collectors of microfinance organizations (MFO) and banks to connect bailiffs to the collection of debts from citizens within a year after their appearance.

Before that, in June, Evgeny Kvasov, a lawyer of the Consul company, told Izvestia what actions are permissible on the part of collectors and what actions are not. Thus, it is forbidden for collectors to call or write to a debtor without introducing themselves: they must give their full name and the name of the organization they represent. It is forbidden to call at night. Collectors' working hours are from 08:00 to 22:00 on weekdays and from 09:00 to 20:00 on weekends, Kvasov said.