Is your 'garnishee' still valid?

04 August 2015 - 10:02 By Wendy Knowler

If you are paying one or more emoluments attachment orders (EAOs), or "garnishees" as they are popularly known, every month, where does the recent Western Cape High Court judgment - which found 15 Stellenbosch workers' EAOs to be unlawful and invalid - leave you? Is your EAO also unlawful and invalid?Should you tell your employer to stop deducting the money from your monthly salary?Credit ombud Nicky Lala Mohan says that, in the past, conflicting legal interpretations of the legislation governing EAOs made it difficult for his office to help consumers.The high court judgment changes that.Lala Mohan estimates that more than half of the EAOs currently being paid are unlawful, and should be cancelled, like those of the Stellenbosch workers."If the EAO was issued out of a court in some faraway town where the consumer could not reasonably get to in order to contest the EAO, or the amount being deducted, that EAO can now be contested," he says.The same goes for EAOs which were stamped by a clerk of the court rather than a magistrate.The office has a dedicated team to challenge the validity of EAOs on behalf of consumers.They will also investigate consumer claims that the credit was recklessly granted in the first place.The credit ombud's services are free of charge to consumers. You don't even have to bear the cost of calling the office.SMS your name and details to 44786 and they will call you.Or call 0861-662-817 or e-mail ombud@creditombud.org.za..

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