Do Our Laws Not Apply To Cash Loan Providers?

I WOULD like to raise an issue in your popular newspaper, which probably affects many households in our country.

We all sometimes face financial constraints and money is a commodity that is not freely available for most of us. Therefore we can ask for loans, e.g.an overdraft, a housing loan or an instalment credit to buy a car or furniture.In any of these cases, if you are married in community of property, you have to, according to the Married Persons Equality Act No.1 of 1996, get your spouse’s consent in writing, before engaging in such a financial transaction.However, it seems that this Act does not apply to so-called cash-loan providers.I was approached recently by a man in the main street of Tsumeb, who told me that I should tell my wife to pay the outstanding instalment of N$400 for a loan she took from a cash-loan provider in Tsumeb.I was puzzled, because I never signed a loan agreement for my wife.Previously I had been requested by my bank to obtain the consent of my wife for an overdraft on my current account or an instalment sales agreement for our new car.I later went with my wife to this cash-loan provider and requested a copy of the contract that my wife had with this business to see the amount she borrowed, the interest rate, the conditions that applied and whether there was any question about her marital status or a place for the spouse’s consent.However, I was refused a copy (remember: I’m married IN community of property).I later returned with an officer of the Women and Child Unit of the Namibian Police.I finally was shown (not given!) the contract.The interest rate was 30% per month, no reference was made to the Married Persons Equality Act, no space provided for the spouse’s consent.I was told in the street that the outstanding amount my wife had to pay was N$400; my wife has been told over the telephone that it was N$385 and now (in the presence of the Police officer) we were told that my wife had to pay N$320.There was no proper record available of this loan (total amount to pay, outstanding balance and the calculation thereof) and I could not be shown a receipt of the amount my wife had already paid (N$ 200).For me it seemed that this business was operating according to maximum or minimum temperatures, or the mood of the people employed there.I later sent my wife with the outstanding N$320 (before the mood changed again).The receipt was a torn-off piece of paper with the comment “finish to pay” and a signature – no date or company stamp – and she was also refused the contract she had signed with these people.My concern: Are these people conducting their business in a legal no-man’s land or are they just ignoring the laws governing this country? Can anybody conduct financial business and charge interest rates as he/she likes? Should these interest rates not be displayed on a wall in their office that they can be seen by any customer? Is there nobody who cares what is going on out there, who cares about families facing bankruptcy or families who break apart because of ruthless financial entrepreneurs, who want to become rich from the mess they leave behind? Are the laws of this country only for some of us and commercial banks? The loans these people provide are not designed to help people, but to lead them into a never-ending dependency, which may ultimately result in marriages breaking apart and people committing suicide.Klaus Fleissner Tsumeb Note: Name of cash-loan provider given by writer.- EdTherefore we can ask for loans, e.g.an overdraft, a housing loan or an instalment credit to buy a car or furniture.In any of these cases, if you are married in community of property, you have to, according to the Married Persons Equality Act No.1 of 1996, get your spouse’s consent in writing, before engaging in such a financial transaction.However, it seems that this Act does not apply to so-called cash-loan providers.I was approached recently by a man in the main street of Tsumeb, who told me that I should tell my wife to pay the outstanding instalment of N$400 for a loan she took from a cash-loan provider in Tsumeb.I was puzzled, because I never signed a loan agreement for my wife.Previously I had been requested by my bank to obtain the consent of my wife for an overdraft on my current account or an instalment sales agreement for our new car.I later went with my wife to this cash-loan provider and requested a copy of the contract that my wife had with this business to see the amount she borrowed, the interest rate, the conditions that applied and whether there was any question about her marital status or a place for the spouse’s consent.However, I was refused a copy (remember: I’m married IN community of property).I later returned with an officer of the Women and Child Unit of the Namibian Police.I finally was shown (not given!) the contract.The interest rate was 30% per month, no reference was made to the Married Persons Equality Act, no space provided for the spouse’s consent.I was told in the street that the outstanding amount my wife had to pay was N$400; my wife has been told over the telephone that it was N$385 and now (in the presence of the Police officer) we were told that my wife had to pay N$320.There was no proper record available of this loan (total amount to pay, outstanding balance and the calculation thereof) and I could not be shown a receipt of the amount my wife had already paid (N$ 200).For me it seemed that this business was operating according to maximum or minimum temperatures, or the mood of the people employed there.I later sent my wife with the outstanding N$320 (before the mood changed again).The receipt was a torn-off piece of paper with the comment “finish to pay” and a signature – no date or company stamp – and she was also refused the contract she had signed with these people.My concern: Are these people conducting their business in a legal no-man’s land or are they just ignoring the laws governing this country? Can anybody conduct financial business and charge interest rates as he/she likes? Should these interest rates not be displayed on a wall in their office that they can be seen by any customer? Is there nobody who cares what is going on out there, who cares about families facing bankruptcy or families who break apart because of ruthless financial entrepreneurs, who want to become rich from the mess they leave behind? Are the laws of this country only for some of us and commercial banks? The loans these people provide are not designed to help people, but to lead them into a never-ending dependency, which may ultimately result in marriages breaking apart and people committing suicide.Klaus Fleissner Tsumeb Note: Name of cash-loan provider given by writer.- Ed