Am I blacklisted in South Africa? What your credit record really shows

Is there an official blacklist in South Africa?

No. Nobody keeps one central register of people who are banned from borrowing. What exists instead is your credit record, held by credit bureaus, which lists your accounts, how you have paid them and any negative items.

The National Financial Ombud Scheme describes 'blacklisted' as a misleading term. It says the word came about when credit bureaus only kept negative information, whereas bureaus now also hold positive information such as accounts paid on time, all on one database.

The National Credit Regulator (NCR) uses the word in its consumer education as the public's shorthand. In its words, it is a term the general public uses for an adverse listing, a judgement listing or an administration order listing on a credit report. In plain terms it is a negative listing that will affect you when you apply for credit.

So the honest answer to 'am I blacklisted?' is a different question: does my credit record hold negative items, and what are they? You can answer that for free.

What do people mean when they say someone is blacklisted?

In everyday talk the word covers several different things. They do not carry the same weight, and some are not negative listings at all.

Knowing which one applies to you matters because each has its own way of being resolved.

• Adverse listing: an account recorded as in default or seriously behind, usually after a credit provider has warned you before reporting it.
• Judgement listing: a court has ruled that a debt must be paid and the ruling has been passed to the bureaus.
• Administration order listing: a court has ordered how your debts are to be paid.
• Debt review flag: a marker placed on your profile while you are under debt counselling. The NCR states that this flag is an indicator and not a negative listing.
• Trace alerts and collections: entries linked to debt collection activity, which the NCR also lists among the categories bureaus record.

What does your credit record actually show?

Your credit report is a history of your credit use. The NCR describes bureau records as covering accounts, payment history, defaults, judgements, trace alerts, collections and enquiries, together with your personal details.

Most of it is ordinary and positive: the loan you paid off, the store account you keep up to date, the cellphone contract. The negative items are a part of the picture and not the whole of it.

The bureaus do not decide whether you get credit. The NCR is clear that the decision to grant credit is made by the credit provider, which uses the bureau record as one input among several.

How do you check whether you have a negative listing?

Request your credit report. The National Credit Act gives you the right to one free copy of your record from a credit bureau in any twelve months. Further copies in the same period can carry a small fee under the rules.

Ask the bureau directly through its website or call centre, and be ready with your ID and a recent proof of address. Do not pay a third party to fetch it for you. The NCR lists four bureaus, and each keeps its own file, so look at more than one if you are chasing a problem.

When the report arrives, read it slowly with your own papers beside you. The point is to find out which items are negative, whether each one is really yours and whether the details are right. Our guide to checking your credit score walks through the report line by line.

• Check personal details first, because wrong details can mix your file with someone else's.
• Look at every account marked in default or arrears, and compare it with your bank statements.
• Note any judgement or administration order, with its date and the court.
• Look for a debt review flag if you have ever been through debt counselling.
• Write down anything you do not recognise. That may point to a mistake or to identity fraud.

How do lenders decide when your record has negative items?

Each lender sets its own criteria, so there is no single rule. Some lenders decline an application when a recent default shows, and others weigh it against income and the size of the loan.

What does not change is the legal duty. Before granting credit, a lender must assess whether you can afford the repayments. The NCR's affordability regulations require the lender to verify your income and to consider all debt repayment obligations shown on a registered credit bureau record.

That means a heavy existing debt load can count against you even with no negative listing, while an older problem that you have settled may count for less. If you are declined, the NCR says you have the right to be given reasons. If the reason is a negative listing, you can use that answer to decide what to fix first.

Remember that Mzansi Hub does not lend and does not decide. The lenders shown on this site make their own decisions after their own assessment, and nothing on our pages promises a result.

Should you trust offers aimed at blacklisted people?

Be careful. In a public warning the NCR said that fraudulent credit providers use slogans such as 'blacklisted' or 'debt review clients welcome' to attract people in financial difficulty. It added that the National Credit Act prohibits advertisements for credit from using such terms, and that consumers should avoid any provider that advertises this way.

For that reason Mzansi Hub does not advertise credit to a 'blacklisted' audience. We explain how the record works and how to compare registered lenders, and the decision always rests with the lender.

The warning signs are the same as in other loan fraud. A real credit provider does not ask for an upfront fee before paying out a loan. The NCR also advises against giving a PIN, OTP or banking password to anyone, and says you should never leave your bank card, SASSA card or identity document with a lender, because keeping them is a criminal offence under the Act.

• Check the lender on the NCR register before sending any document.
• Refuse to pay any fee in advance to release a loan.
• Keep your bank card, SASSA card and ID in your own hands.
• Be wary of messages that guarantee an outcome or push you to decide today.

How can you improve your record over time?

Improvement is usually slow and steady, and it rests on a few plain steps. The NCR advises that where the reason for a refusal is a negative listing, you need to pay the debt in question for the information to be removed, and that you do not need to pay a third party to remove information at the bureau.

Paying on time matters most going forward. The NCR warns that paying after the due date adversely affects your credit report and your chances of getting credit later.

Different kinds of information stay on a record for different periods, set out in the credit bureau regulations. Because the periods can change, confirm the current ones with the NCR instead of relying on a figure from an article.

• Dispute anything that is wrong and keep the proof, such as a settlement letter.
• Settle or agree a payment plan on accounts that are in arrears. Speak to the creditor early.
• Keep every current instalment up to date, even small ones.
• Avoid applying to many lenders in a short time. Each application is recorded as an enquiry on your file.
• If you cannot cope with your debts, speak to a registered debt counsellor. Under debt counselling you cannot apply for further credit until the process ends.

What can you do if you were listed unfairly?

You can challenge it. The National Financial Ombud Scheme explains that a debt collector may list a consumer only after following the steps in the Act, and that credit providers must notify you before passing adverse information to a bureau. If those steps were skipped, the listing can be wrong.

Start with the bureau that issued the report. Lodge the dispute, ask for a reference number and keep it. If the bureau cannot show that the information is accurate, it must remove it. The NCR and the NFOSA both give the bureau 20 business days to resolve the dispute.

If you are unhappy with the outcome, or the bureau does not respond, you can lodge a complaint with the Credit Ombud, whose service is free, or with the NCR on 0860 627 627. Only dispute what is actually wrong. A debt you really owe will not be removed because you disputed it.

What should you do before you apply for credit again?

Work out whether you need to borrow at all, and what you can repay from your income after living costs. A negative record makes this step more important, not less, because every extra debt adds pressure.

If you still decide to apply, compare registered lenders on the total cost in rands, read the quotation and agreement before you sign, and borrow only what your budget can carry. Our guides on how much you can afford to borrow and on loans with a low credit score cover these steps in more detail.