Don’t fear the term ‘blacklist’
Pay back the money and get out of the bad books
BLACKLISTED is not a word that brings good things to mind.
First of all, let’s be very clear. There is no physical blacklist on which your name appears and it is not to be confused with any scandalous little black books floating around!
Blacklisted is, in fact, a very broad term used to describe someone who has fallen behind with paying their creditors and who now has anything from an account in arrears to a judgement against them reflecting on their credit report.
But even though BLACKLISTED and BLACKLISTING are seen as “informal” terms to indicate negative information on a credit report, there are major repercussions for those with negative listings on their credit profile.
Being blacklisted is not the end of the world, but it does come with some challenges.
Once you have a default or judgement on your credit profile, you will struggle to get credit from most registered financial institutions.
Check your credit report
If you are blacklisted, you may also encounter problems with things like rental agreements.
Most estate agents will run a credit check against your name when you are applying to rent a home. If you have been blacklisted, their internal processes will probably prevent them from doing business with you.
The same may apply for service agreements, especially with things like cellphone contracts.
Employment at a financial institution is sometimes downright impossible if you are blacklisted.
Banks and other financial institutions subject their potential employees to a higher level of scrutiny than other organisations.
While there are ways to work around the challenges you will face if you are blacklisted, the best way to overcome these obstacles is to repair your credit record.
You do this by paying back the money you owe as soon as you possibly can.
REK YOUR CHEQUE is a weekly column in the Daily Voice newspaper, written by Moeshfieka Botha: Head of Research and Consumer Education at National Debt Advisors.
