- Posted by: Andre Misrole
- Category: Uncategorised
Many consumers who are struggling with debt, especially single parents who are renting, don’t want to apply for formal ‘Debt Counselling’ because they believe that once they’re under debt counselling, they will not qualify for rental accommodation.
Estate agents do credit checks, and they will pick up the flag on your credit profile that you are under debt counselling, but this does not disqualify you for applying.
We have many clients who are under debt counselling, and are successfully renting apartments and houses through registered estate agents…
The process is that we furnish our clients with a formal letter, on a company letterhead, stating that they can comfortably afford the rental amount and that it is worked into their budget.
As debt counsellors, we have a fiduciary responsibility to all our clients to give responsible financial advice and help them make responsible financial decisions.
So, before we issue the letter, we do an affordability assessment, and confirm that the client in fact can afford the rental property.
This isn’t a problem, as most client who apply to have their debt restructured, are already renting.
This means that it is not seen as debt, and provision for this is already made. So essentially, their rental forms part of their expenses in their budget.
Then we issue a formal letter to the estate agent, confirming this.
This letter, which is on a formal company letterhead serves as formal confirmation that our client can afford the rental amount. More importantly, this is common practice with clients who are under debt counselling with the estate agents.
To date, we have not had one single issue where one of our clients were declined for rental accommodation, while being under debt review.
The job and responsibility of a debt counsellor is to ensure that they make the lives of their clients easier, from a financial perspective, and this is simply one of the ‘after care’ services that debt counsellors have a responsibility to uphold.
Since you are paying the debt counsellor for these services each month, as the fee is worked into your monthly repayment.
If you’re already under debt counselling, and you need to move, but are unsure of the process, all you have to do is request a formal letter from your debt counsellor.
They should furnish you with this letter with no hassles…
The only time you will have issues with this letter from your debt counsellor, is if you are applying for rental accommodation, which you cannot afford.
But there is no reason why your debt counsellor should not be able to assist you with this.
If you have any queries or experiencing difficulty with this, or you feel your debt counsellor is not forthcoming in assisting you, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me via email at andre@exonerate.co.za or simply message us on our social media.
I hope you found this information useful and all the best with finding your ideal rental for the time being…
André