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Defaulting on the payment of a loan EMI and legal consequences

Dear Mr Hari,

Good day.

I took a loan from a bank one year back for AED 64,000 and now I have an outstanding amount of AED 48,500 which I am now unable to pay due to the loss of employment.

I have also missed 1 EMI until now and have not paid this EMI for the past 3 months, however, I somehow managed to pay all the EMIs until now but I am unable to pay any further.

Kindly let me know if the bank can file a criminal case against me or there are any new UAE rules according to which I only have to pay a certain fine.

Also, as I lost my job recently I am on a visit visa. Kindly let me know if I will be facing a travel ban if I don't pay? How to deal with the situation?

Al Nassar Advocates & Legal Consultants
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10 Mar 2019, 06:00

Dear Sir/ Madam,

Thank you for getting in touch with me on this.

Firstly, I would like to state that from your situation, there are two liabilities that can arise i.e. Criminal and Civil.

If there are constant defaults at your end to pay the EMI, then the bank will deposit your security cheque which will bounce.

Thereafter, the bank will file a police case against the cheque bounce. This will result in an automatic travel ban against you.

The bright side is that due to the new law applicable in the Emirate of Dubai, if the cheque amount is less than AED 200,000/-, then you are liable to pay a fine only and not face any imprisonment.

This will be applicable to you and you will be able to dispose of the case by paying a fine only.

Once you pay the fine amount, the criminal case and travel ban will be lifted. However, this will only extinguish your criminal liability.

The bank still has a right to pursue the outstanding through filing a civil case (in theory they can but the probability is low).

They will contact you, your employer and reach out to your home town too for chasing the amount.

As of now, I would only advise that you keep money handy for payment of fine when they file a criminal case against you.

I trust you will find the above satisfactory.

You can get in touch with me on 052-9495731 or email me for further assistance and clarification.

Regards,

Hari Wadhwana

10 Mar 2019, 06:11

Dear Sir,

thanks for clarifying.

If you don't mind, kindly let me know what will be the fine amount for me. Also, tell me why you said the chance of putting a civil case against me is less.

10 Mar 2019, 06:36

Dear Sir/ Madam,

The fine amount shall depend upon the cheque deposited and discretion of the Court. However, I would advise you to keep 10% of the cheque amount in hand.

The chances are less since the cost involved in the civil case is high plus there is no travel ban in the civil case.

However, this does not mean you escape the liability and in law, you will still have to repay the amount.

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