Questions & Answers
Inspection of cases filed for credit card debts and way of settlement
I left the UAE last year with some credit card debt and despite emails to the bank asking for methods to pay from overseas, they never provided the information.
They handed the debt to debt-collectors who harassed some people in the UAE telling them there was a travel ban on me.
I always wanted to pay the debt, I have numerous emails (to two debt-collecting companies and the bank) offering to do this with a payment plan and yet none of them has responded.
My questions:
1. How do I find out if there is a case against me?
2. How do I find out if there is a travel ban? (I would like to return to work in the UAE).
3. How can I negotiate payment with establishments that refuse to communicate?
4. Can I put a complaint into the Central Bank and ask for the debts to be wiped out considering the lack of response to my attempts to pay?
Please advise and I will be happy to pay for the appropriate service.
Thank you.
Dear Sir/ Madam,
Thank you for reaching out to me on this.
I understand your situation and trust me, many face such issues from the bank and their collection agents. However, there is a solution to this and my advice would be as follows:
1- Since you are out of the UAE, you can appoint a lawyer in the UAE who can assist you with checking with the police department if you have any pending cases against you.
If there are police cases or civil court judgements on you, then you will have a travel ban as well.
2- You will have to give a Power of Attorney to a lawyer in UAE, who can assist you in clearing your cases by the payment of fines.
The Fines may vary on which Emirate your case is at and on the amount of the cheque bounced by the bank.
3- Once your police case is over, the travel ban will be lifted and you can safely return into the UAE to work/ travel.
4- You can negotiate with the bank to settle by instalments or one shot. Considering the travel ban is lifted, you will have more leverage on them to negotiate and banks have done the same in past.
5- You cannot complain to the Central Bank as it's the banks' right to claim the outstanding from you and they are merely doing the job (irrespective of how good or poor they might be).
To begin with, I would advise you to commence an inspection of the police records for cases against you as this will give more clarity of the situation in hand.
You can email me your passport copy, old UAE visa and Emirates ID if you require my assistance in checking the cases for you.
I hope you find the above response appropriate. Feel free to write back or get in touch directly in case of further clarity/ assistance.
Regards,
Hari Wadhwana
+971 52 9495731
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